New Economic School

Labor Economics

Spring 2001

Irina Denisova

The course will cover main topics in labor economics.

Requirements: There will be 3-4 problem sets, distributed on Thursdays and to be handed in to the teaching assistant in sections a weak later. There will be a final exam given at the end of the module. Problem sets will comprise 30% of the final grade and the exam will account for 70%.

Office hours: My office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 17.30-18.30, and by appointment. My e-mail address is idenisov@nes.ru

Syllabus and Reading

1. Introduction: the Nature of Labor Market Analyses; Labor Market Flows; Labor Market Developments in Selected Industrial Nations. [1 lecture]

  • Pencavel, John (1986), “Labor Supply of Men: A Survey” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1 (Amsterdam: North Holland).
  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapter 1.

2. The Basic Static Labor Supply Model. Home Production and Time Allocation Models. Non-Linear Budget Constraints. Family Models. Empirical Analyses. [3 lectures]

  • Killingsworth, Mark R. (1983), “Labor Supply”: Chapters 1- 4 (Cambridge University Press).
  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapter 2.
  • Pencavel, John (1986), “Labor Supply of Men: A Survey” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1 (Amsterdam: North Holland).
  • Killingsworth, Mark R., and James J. Heckman (1986), “Female Labor Supply: A Survey” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1(Amsterdam: North Holland).
  • Mincer, Jacob (1962) “Labor Force Participation of Married Women,” in NBER, Aspects of Labor Economics.
  • Becker, Gary (1965) “A Theory of Allocation of Time”, Economic Journal, September, pp.493-517
  • Gronau, Reuben (1977) “Leisure, Home Production, and Work - the Theory of the Allocation of Time Revisited,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol.85, No.6, pp.1099-1123
  • Heckman, James (1974) “Shadow Prices, Market Wages, and Labor Supply”, Econometrica, Vol.42, No.4, pp.679-94

3. Human Capital and Long-Run Labor Supply. Occupational and Educational Choice [2 lectures]

  • Killingsworth, Mark R. (1983), “Labor Supply”: Chapter 5 (Cambridge University Press).
  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapter 3.
  • Pencavel, John (1986), “Labor Supply of Men: A Survey” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1, pp.45-50 (Amsterdam: North Holland)
  • Freeman, Richard (1986), “Demand for Education” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1 (Amsterdam: North Holland).
  • MaCurdy, Thomas (1981) “An Empirical Model of Labor Supply in a Life-Cycle Setting,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol.89, No.6, pp.1059-1085
  • Ben-Porath, Yoram. (1967) “The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle Earnings,” Journal of Political Economy, pp.352-65
  • Mincer, Jacob, and Solomon Polachek (1974) “Family Investment in Human Capital: Earnings of Women”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol.82, No.2, Part 2, pp.S76-S108
  • Mincer, Jacob and Haim Ofek (1979) “The Distribution of Lifetime Labor Force Participation of Married Women: Comment”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol.87, No.1, pp.197-201

4. Wages and Earnings. Returns to Experience. [2 lectures]

  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapters 12, 14.
  • Willis, Robert J. (1986), “Wage Determinants: A Survey and Reinterpretation of Human Capital Earnings Function” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1, pp.45-50 (Amsterdam: North Holland)
  • Weiss, Yoram (1986), “The Determination of Life Cycle Earnings: A Survey” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1 (Amsterdam: North Holland).
  • Rosen, Sherwin (1986), “The Theory of Equalizing Differences” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.1 (Amsterdam: North Holland).
  • Topel, Robert (1991) “Specific Capital, Mobility and Wages: Wages Rise with Seniority,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol.99, No.1, pp.145-76

5. Labor Demand: the Basic Theory; Some Extentions; Empirical Evidence [2 lectures]

  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapters 4-5.
  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. (1993), “Labor Demand”: Chapters 2, 3 (Princeton University Press)
  • Nickell, Stephen, and James Symons (1990) “The Real Wage-Employment Relationship in the United States,” Journal of Labor Economics, Vol.8, No.1, pp.1-15
  • Rosen, Sherwin (1968) “Short-Run Employment Variation on Class-I Railroads in the US, 1947-1963,” Econometrica, Vol.36, No.3-4, pp.511-29
  • Grant, James H., and Daniel S. Hamermesh (1981) “Labor Market Competition Among Youths, White Women and Others,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol.63, pp.354-60

6. Introduction to Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and Adjustment. [1 lecture]

  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapter 6.
  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. (1993), “Labor Demand”: Chapter 6 (Princeton University Press).
  • Burgess, Simon M. (1988) “Employment Adjustment in UK Manufacturing,” Economic Journal, Vol.98, pp.81-103

7. Unemployment. Incidence of Unemployment. Duration of Unemployment. [1 lecture]

  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapter 8.
  • Keifer, N.M. (1988) “Economic Duration Data and hazard Functions,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 26, June, pp. 646-79
  • Berg, G. L., and G. V. Ours (1993) “Unemployment Dynamics and Duration Dependence,” Economic Journal, Vol.104, pp.432-43
  • Topel, R. (1993) “What Have We Learned from Empirical Studies of Unemployment and Turnover?” American Economic Association. Papers and Proceedings, Vol.83, No.2, pp.110-115
  • Card, David, and Daniel Sullivan (1988) “Measuring the Effect of Subsidized Training Programs on Movements In and Out of Employment,” Econometrica, Vol. 56, No.3, pp. 497-530
  • Siebert, Horst (1997) “Labor Market Rigidities: At the Root of Unemployment in Europe,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11, Number 3, pp. 37-54
  • Nickell, Stephen (1997) “Unemployment and Labor Market Rigidities: Europe versus North America,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11, Number 3, pp. 55-74

8. Discrimination and Segmentation. [1 lecture]

  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Albert Rees (1984) “The Economics of Work and Pay”: Chapter 13.
  • Taubman, Paul, and Michael L.Wachter (1986) “Segmented Labor Market” /in Ashenfelter, O. and Layard P.R.G. (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.2 (Amsterdam: North Holland).
  • Ashenfelter, Orley (1972) “Racial Discrimination and Trade Unionism,” Journal of Political Economy,pp. 435-64

9. Labor Markets in Transitional Economies [1 lecture]

  • Boeri, Tito, Michael C. Burda, and Janos Kollo (1998) “Mediating the Transition: Labor Markets in Central and Eastern Europe,” CEPR Economic Policy Initiative No.4 (London: CEPR)
  • Svejnar, Jan (1999) “Labor Markets in the Transitional Central and Eastern European Economies” /in Ashenfelter, O. and D.Card (eds.) Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol.3B (Amsterdam: North Holland).

h America,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11, Number 3, pp. 55-74

8. Discrimination and Segmentation. [1 lecture]

9. Labor Markets in Transitional Economies [1 lecture]

Courses 2001/02

Courses offered
in 2000/01
:

Advanced Topics in Econometrics

Applied Econometrics

Contract Theory

Corruption

Development Economics*

Econometrics-1

Econometrics-2

Econometrics-3

Econometrics-4 (obligotary)

Economic Statistics

Economics of Transition
(elective)

Elements of the Economics
of Transition
*

English

Financial Economics

Game Theory

Growth Theory*

Health Economics*

History of Economic
Thought (obligotary)

International Finance*

Industrial Organization-1*

Industrial Organization-2*

Institutions

International Trade*

Labor Economics*

Macroeconomics-1

Macroeconomics-2

Macroeconomics-3

Macroeconomics-4

Macroeconomics-5

Macroeconomics-6 (obligotary)

Mathematical Statistics

Mathematics for Economists

Microeconomics-1

Microeconomics-2

Microeconomics-3

Microeconomics-4

Microeconomics-5

Microeconomics-6
(obligotary)

Natural Resources

Non-Cooperative Games

Open Macroeconomics*

Political Economy

Probability Theory

Public Economics-1*

Public Economics-2*

Public Finance*

Research Seminar

Russia in global environment:
past and present (rus)

ÐÝØ, 117418, Ìîñêâà, Íàõèìîâñêèé ïð. 47, çäàíèå ÖÝÌÈ,
(ì.Ïðîôñîþçíàÿ) 17 ýòàæ, ê.1721
Òåë: 332 - 4423, 129-3911,
129-1700, ôàêñ: 129-3722, nes@nes.ru
NES, Nakhimovsky Prospekt, 47, Suite 1721,
117418, Moscow Russian Federation
Tel: (7-095) 129-3911, Fax: (7-095) 129-3722
05.03.02
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