Human Resources Economics

Code:

1EC405

Acronym:

ERH

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Economics

Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Agrupamento Científico de Economia
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Economics

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LECO	156	Bologna Syllabus since 2012	3	-	3	42	81

Teaching language

Portuguese and english

Objectives

The purpose of the course is to help students understand how labor markets function. The aim is to provide students with analytical tools, recent empirical data, and the latest developments in relevant scientific research that contribute to understanding the behavior of agents and institutions in labor markets and their uniqueness compared to other markets addressed in microeconomics.

By combining facts and theories, at the end of the course, students should be able to identify the main characteristics and trends of the labor markets in European Union countries and the United States. They should be capable of discussing the implications of public policy interventions on the behavior of employers and workers, as well as identifying the economic foundations of human resource management practices.

Learning outcomes and competences

Students should understand how the configuration of incentives and labor market institutions shapes their behaviors and outcomes. It is expected that they will be better equipped to think critically about policies such as minimum wage, collective bargaining, income and family support, migration policies, anti-discrimination policies, and active labor market policies. They are also expected to be familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of the incentives that make up workers' compensation packages.

At the same time, the aim is to develop students' ability to analyze public policy documents or opinions of prominent economists and critically evaluate their content, drawing on theoretical and empirical developments in labor economics research.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

n.a.

Program

1. Introduction to the Course. a. Brief characterization of labor market concepts. b. Recent trends in OECD labor markets.

2. Labor Supply. a. Foundations of Consumer Theory (review). b. Individual Decision on Labor Supply. c. Individual Labor Supply. d. Labor Supply and Fiscal and Redistributive Policy. Applications: Social Insertion Income; Unconditional Basic Income; Earned Income Tax Credit; Implicit Tax Rate. Labor Supply and Economic Conditions; Domestic Work and Family Labor Supply.

3. Labor Demand. a. Short-term and Long-term Labor Demand. b. Technological Progress and Job Polarization.

4. Market Equilibrium. a. Competitive Market. b. Monopsony. c. Applications: International Migration.

5. Labor Market Institutions, Minimum Wage, Collective Bargaining, Wage Negotiation, and Unions.

6. Unemployment, Employment Policies, and Labor Protection.

7. Discrimination in the Labor Market. a. Discrimination and Prejudice. b. Statistical Discrimination. c. Measurement of Discrimination. d. Application: Anti-discrimination Policies.

7. Incentive Pay. a. Compensation as a Motivational Tool. b. Individual and Group Incentives. c. Efficiency Wages.

9. Education and Vocational Training.

10. Compensating Differentials.

Mandatory literature

Borjas George J.; Labor economics. ISBN: 978-1-259-25236-5
Tito Boeri; The economics of imperfect labor markets. ISBN: 978-0-691-20636-3

Teaching methods and learning activities

Exposition of theories and facts and discussion of social and labour market policy outcomes.

Software

n.a.

keywords

Social sciences > Economics > Labour economics

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	90,00
Participação presencial	10,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	42,00
Frequência das aulas	39,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

All enrolled students can obtain course attendance through:

1. Distributed assessment during the academic semester;


2. Final exam.

Note: In the distributed assessment, the minimum grade for each of the partial tests is 8.0 points. If a student obtains a grade lower than 8.0 in one of the partial tests, their maximum grade in the distributed assessment will be 8.0 points at most.

Calculation formula of final grade

A. Components of distributed assessment without a final exam:

• 2 partial examinations with free access to course materials, public policy materials that will serve as the basis for the examinations, provided a few days before each examination date, or others. The examinations will be conducted during the academic semester and will focus on the topics covered in the provided public policy materials. Online materials are not allowed for consultation, only physical materials.

• Class participation. This will be based on attendance and the relevance of participation in the classroom.

B. Calculation of the final grade in distributed assessment:

The student obtains the final grade corresponding to the highest of the following: (1) the weighted average of the examinations; (2) the weighted average of 45% for each examination and 10% for participation. Thus, the final grade (FG) obtained in distributed assessment is calculated as:

FG = max[(50% E1 grade) + (50% E2 grade); (45% E1 grade) + (45% E2 grade) + (10% participation grade)]

Note: In the distributed assessment, the minimum grade for each of the partial examinations is 8.0 points. If a student obtains a grade lower than 8.0 in one of the partial examination, their maximum grade in the distributed assessment will be 8.0 points at most.

C. Obtaining a final grade through a final exam:

The submission of examinations binds students to the distributed assessment regime.

Alternatively, in the absence of the delivery of 1 examination, or if the student does not pass the distributed assessment, it can decide to obtain a final grade through the normal or resit final exam, in which case the exam grade will be worth 100% of the final grade.

Examinations or Special Assignments

.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Knowledge assessment regulations (RAC) applies.

Classification improvement

Students may take an exam to improve their grade, according to the provisions set in the knowledge assessment regulations (RAC).

Students participating in distributed assessment or final exam assessment in the regular period may choose to attempt to improve their final grade by taking the final exam in any available period, with this exam accounting for 100% of the final grade.

Observations

The exam of the resit season is by default written. However by decision of the teaching team such exam can be made an oral exam. For that purpose the teaching teach will communicate it at the moment of the publication of the exam results of the regular exam season.