Published Aug 16, 2022
This course examines the role of labour markets in the macro-economy. It focuses on the analysis of aggregate employment, unemployment, labour force participation, and earnings inequality. The main goal of the course is to understand current labour-market outcomes both in Canada and around the world.
Prereq: ECON 306, ECON 393; ECON 322 or one of STAT 221, STAT 231, STAT 241
| Articulate a coherent view of the functioning of the labor market |
| Assess the effects of the Covid-19 recession on the labor market |
Week | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
1 | Sept. 8 | introduction |
2 | Sept. 13 – Sept. 15 | self-selection |
3 | Sept. 20 – Sept. 22 | compensating differentials |
4 | Sept. 27 – Sept. 29 | local labor markets |
5 | Oct. 4 – Oct. 6 | |
| Oct. 4 | Midterm #1 |
| Oct. 6 | skill premium |
6 | Oct. 11 – Oct. 13 | READING WEEK |
7 | Oct. 18 – Oct. 20 | labor market stocks and flows |
8 | Oct. 25 – Oct. 27 | unemployment fluctuations |
9 | Nov. 1 – Nov. 3 | wage dispersion |
10 | Nov. 8 – Nov. 10 | |
| Nov. 8 | Midterm #2 |
| Nov. 10 | duration dependence |
11 | Nov. 15 – Nov. 17 | jobs versus careers |
12 | Nov. 22 – Nov. 24 | recessions |
13 | Nov. 29 – Dec. 1 | the Covid-19 crisis |
14 | Dec. 6 | conclusion |
1. Self-selection
Andrew Roy: “Some thoughts on the distribution of earnings,” Oxford Economic Papers, June 1951, 135-146.
2. Equalizing wage differentials
Sherwin Rosen: “The equilibrium approach to labor markets,” NBER Working Paper No. 1165, July 1983.
3. Local labor markets
Jennifer Roback: "Wages, rents, and the quality of life," Journal of Political Economy, December 1982, 1257-1278.
4. Human capital and technology
David Autor: “Skills, education and the rise of earnings inequality among the other 99 percent,” Science, May 2014, 843-851.
5. Labor market flows
Steven Davis, Jason Faberman and John Haltiwanger: “The flow approach to labor markets: new data sources and micro-macro links,“ Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2006, 3-26.
6. Labor market fluctuations
Robert Shimer: “The cyclical behavior of equilibrium unemployment and vacancies,” American Economic Review, March 2005, 25‐49.
William J. Carrington and Bruce Fallick: “Why do earnings fall with job displacement?” Industrial Relations, October 2017, 688-722.
Hilary Hoynes, Douglas Miller, and Jessamyn Schaller: “Who suffers during recessions?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2012, 27-48.
Stephania Albanesi and Jiyeon Kim: “Effects of the COVID‐19 Recession on the US Labor Market: Occupation, Family, and Gender,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2021, 3‐24.
Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, Nathaniel Hendren, Michael Stepner, and the Opportunity Insights Team: “The economic impacts of COVID-19: evidence from a new public database built using private sector data,” Harvard University, November 2020.
David Autor, David Cho, Leland D. Crane, Mita Goldar, Byron Lutz, Joshua Montes, William B. Peterman, David Ratner, Daniel Villar, and Ahu Yildirmaz: “The $800 Billion Paycheck Protection Program: Where Did the Money Go and Why Did It Go There?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2022, 55‐80.
| Component | Value |
|---|---|
| Midterm #1 | 25% |
| Midterm #2 | 25% |
| Assignments | 50% |
Assignments:
A1. Discuss Shimer (2005, Section I. U.S. Labor Market Facts).
A2. Discuss Carrington and Fallick (2017).
A3. Discuss Hoynes et al. (2012) and Albanesi & Kim (2021).
A4. Discuss the COVID‐19 crisis.
Detailed information about each assignment is found in LEARN under “Assignments”. Late submission of assignments is not accepted.
| Assignment | Due date | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Oct. 25 | 10% |
| A2 | Nov. 15 | 10% |
| A3 | Nov. 22 | 10% |
| A4 | Dec. 6 | 20% |
| Total | 50% |
No assignment screening will be used in this course.
All deferred Final Exam requests for economics courses are administered by the Economics Undergraduate Office. Please consult the Deferred Exam Policy at
https://uwaterloo.ca/economics/undergraduate/resources-and-policies/deferred-final-exam-policy.
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It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are provided, wish to submit alternate assignment.