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University of Alberta – Department of Economics – Winter 2014 ECON 431 – Labor Economics – B1 – Marchand
COURSE OUTLINE Website
http://www.ualberta.ca/~jmarchan/teaching.htm
Instructor Meetings Office Hours
Joseph Marchand Monday, Wednesday, Friday Monday
[email protected] Tory B-113: 10:00 - 10:50am Tory 7-29: 4:00 - 5:30pm Description
Labor Economics (ECON 431) at the University of Alberta serves as senior-level undergraduate exposure to the market for labor, in order to establish a comprehensive understanding of the field. ECON 431 will explore the traditional topics of labor economics, including the supply and demand of labor, labor market equilibrium, compensating wage differentials, human capital, the wage structure, and labor market discrimination.
Prerequisites
Individuals enrolled in this course should have taken Intermediate Microeconomic Theory I (ECON 281) and Elementary Calculus I (MATH 113 or SCI 100), or should have the consent of the Department. Your registration may otherwise be canceled.
Materials There is one required textbook for this course:
Borjas, George J. (2013). Labor Economics, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 576 pgs.
(http://www.mcgrawhill.ca/highereducation/products/9780073523200/)
The U of A bookstore will offer the hard-cover, sixth edition (~$220) and may offer a custom, soft-cover copy of the first nine chapters of the textbook (~$80) as well.
Other outside options that may be available are the hard-cover, fifth edition (~$150), a soft-cover, international version, or maybe an e-book or online version.
The lecture notes will serve as complementary material to the textbook (see Lectures).
Several research papers will also serve as relevant material (see Research Papers).
A non-graphing, scientific calculator will be needed for assignments and examinations.
Evaluation
Your overall grade for the course will be determined by using the absolute grades for two assignments and two examinations and evaluating them through a suggested grade distribution for a 400-level course with the following relative weights:
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12.5% Assignment 1 (due Wednesday, Feb. 5th, by 4pm to dept.) 25.0% Exam 1 – Mid-term (on Wednesday, Feb. 12th, during class meeting) 12.5% Assignment 2 (due Wednesday, Apr. 2nd, by 4pm to dept.) 50.0% Exam 2 – Final (on Wednesday, Apr. 23rd, during exam period)
Assignments
All individuals enrolled in this course must complete two assignments during the semester, which will include both calculation and essay questions. These assignments are intended to guide you in your understanding of the subject of labor economics, as well as provide you with a form of exam preparation. They will be closely related to the material from the textbook and lectures. Assignments can be handed in to either the instructor during the class meeting or to the Economics Department office by 4pm on the scheduled due date. All of the work contained within the assignment must be original and be shown. Tardiness and plagiarism will be severely penalized. All assignments and their keys will be posted on the course website in a timely manner.
Exams
All individuals enrolled in this course must complete two exams, a mid-term and a final, on their scheduled dates. The purpose of these exams is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the course concepts through calculation and essay questions.
These exams will be closely related to the material from the textbook and lectures.
Any individual who will miss the mid-term exam and has a critical need to be excused must obtain permission and make arrangements with the instructor one week ahead of the scheduled exam date. Any individual who will miss the final exam and has a critical need to be excused may apply for a deferred final exam through their Faculty. A deferred final exam will not be approved if an individual has completed less than half of the assigned work, excluding the final exam. Both of these situations should only arise in the most extreme of circumstances. Any student who misses an exam under any other circumstances will receive an exam grade of zero. The final exam will be cumulative. Previous exams will not be provided, but sample mid-term questions will.
Lectures
The lectures given during the class meetings provide explanation and context for each of the course topics. Attendance is recommended, as the lecture notes will not be provided in any other format. More importantly, active individual participation through the asking and answering of relevant questions that may arise along the way is strongly encouraged. These lectures are the best opportunity to openly go through the material, so the more active the dialogue, the greater the benefit for everyone involved.
Office Hours
Office hours are also available for any follow-up questioning that is not addressed during the class meeting. Any relevant question about the material may be asked. At no point, however, will the instructor view or evaluate ungraded assignment answers.
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Tentative Schedule
January
6th Mon (1) Introduction to Labor Economics – Chapter 1 8th Wed (2) Introduction to Labor Economics – Chapter 1 10th Fri (3) Labor Supply – Chapter 2
13th Mon (4) Labor Supply – Chapter 2 15th Wed (5) Labor Supply – Chapter 2 17th Fri (6) Labor Supply – Chapter 2 20th Mon (7) Labor Supply – Chapter 2 22nd Wed (8) Labor Demand – Chapter 3 24th Fri (9) Labor Demand – Chapter 3
27th Mon (10) Labor Demand – Chapter 3 [A1 begins]
29th Wed (11) Labor Market Equilibrium – Chapter 4 31st Fri (12) Labor Market Equilibrium – Chapter 4
February
3rd Mon (13) Labor Market Equilibrium – Chapter 4
5th Wed (14) Labor Market Equilibrium – Chapter 4 [A1 due]
7th Fri (15) Review of Exam 1 Material
10th Mon (16) Labor Market Equilibrium – Chapter 4
12th Wed [E1] [Exam 1 – Mid-term] (during class meeting) (10-10:50am) 14th Fri (17) Review of Exam 1
17th Mon * (Reading Week – no class meeting) 19th Wed * (Reading Week – no class meeting) 21st Fri * (Reading Week – no class meeting) 24th Mon * (Ottawa Conference – no class meeting) 26th Wed (18) Compensating Wage Differentials – Chapter 5 28th Fri (19) Compensating Wage Differentials – Chapter 5
March
3rd Mon (20) Compensating Wage Differentials – Chapter 5 5th Wed (21) Human Capital – Chapter 6
7th Fri (22) Human Capital – Chapter 6 10th Mon (23) Human Capital – Chapter 6 12th Wed (24) Human Capital – Chapter 6 14th Fri (25) Human Capital – Chapter 6 17th Mon (26) The Wage Structure – Chapter 7 19th Wed (27) The Wage Structure – Chapter 7 21st Fri (28) The Wage Structure – Chapter 7
24th Mon (29) Labor Market Discrimination – Chapter 9 [A2 begins]
26th Wed (30) Labor Market Discrimination – Chapter 9 28th Fri (31) Labor Market Discrimination – Chapter 9 31st Mon (32) Labor Market Discrimination – Chapter 9
Apr.
2nd Wed (33) Labor Market Discrimination – Chapter 9 [A2 due]
4th Fri (34) Review of Exam 2 Material 7th Mon (35) Open Lecture Topic
9th Wed (36) Open Lecture Topic
23rd Wed [E2] [Exam 2 – Final] (during exam period) (9-11am)
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Research Papers
Humphreys, Brad and Marchand, Joseph (2013). “New Casinos and Local Labor Markets: Evidence from Canada,” Labour Economics, 24, 151-160. (Working paper version available at: http://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/albaec/2012_016.html.)
Angrist, Joshua and Evans, William (1998). “Children and Their Parents’ Labor Supply: Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Family Size,” American Economic Review, 88(3), Jun., 450-477.
Acemoglu, Daron, Autor, David, H., and Lyle, David (2004). “Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury,”
Journal of Political Economy, 112(3), 497-551.
Belasen, Ariel R. and Polacheck, Solomon W. (2008). “How Hurricanes Affect Wages and Employment in Local Labor Markets,” American Economic Review, 98(2), May, 49-53.
Gruber, Jonathan (1994). “The Incidence of Mandated Maternity Benefits,” American Economic Review, 84(3), Jun., 622-641.
LaLonde, Robert (1986). “Evaluating the Econometric Evaluations of Training Programs with Experimental Data,” American Economic Review, 76(4), Sep., 604- 620.
Piketty, Thomas and Saez, Emmanuel (2003). “Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1), Feb., 1-39.
Neal, Derek and Johnson, William. (1996). “The Role of Pre-Market Factors in Black- White Wage Differences,” Journal of Political Economy, 104(5), Oct., 869-895.
Marchand, Joseph (2013). “The Distributional Impacts of an Energy Boom in Western Canada.” (Paper available at: http://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/albaec/2013_013.html.)
University Policy
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior (www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behavior which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and may result in suspension or expulsion from the University (GFC 29 SEP 2003).
Policy about course outlines can be found in §23.4(2) of the University Calendar (GFC 29 SEP 2003).
