Professor: Gilles Grenier
Winter 2007
The purpose of this course is to present formally some of the main theoretical concepts of labour economics and to discuss a number of topics related to labour markets policies in Canada and elsewhere. One requirement of the course is a presentation by each student on one of the course topics. The course also aims at initiating the students to the empirical methods of analysis of labour economics. At the end of the course, the students should be able to use some of those methods.
Students taking the course are expected to have a solid background in
microeconomic theory and in econometrics. Those are necessary in order to read
the journal articles related to the course, many of which having an empirical
contents. An undergraduate course in labour economics is useful but not
necessary. However, students who have never taken a course in labour economics
should read, preferably before attending class, the relevant sections of a
standard undergraduate textbook in labour economics (see below).
The course will include both formal lectures and presentations by students. The first part of the course will consist of lectures on the basic aspects of the theory and empirical methods. During the following weeks, there will be students presentations on various applied topics. Each student will have to do a presentation based on some references in the bibliography and write a report on the topic of the presentation. There must be an agreement between the professor and the student on the topic. It is the students' interest to start thinking about a topic early in the session.
Presence and class participation 10%
Class presentation 15%
Written report 15%
Final exam (take-home) 60%
The required textbook is:
Cahuc, Pierre, and André Zylberberg, Labor Economics, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2004, 844 pages.
This book has been ordered by the University bookstore and there is also a copy at the reserve library. This is an advanced textbook that emphasizes mainly the theoretical aspects of labour economics and that discusses a number of labour market policies in various OECD countries, including Canada. In this course, we will put more weight on empirical contributions to labour economics and we will focus on Canada. To complement the textbook, readings are assigned from a number of journal articles.
In addition, there is also a copy at the reserve library of a
Canadian undergraduate textbook:
Benjamin, Dwayne, Gunderson, Morley, and W. Craig Riddell,
Labour Market Economics: Theory, Evidence and Policy in Canada (fifth
edition), McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Toronto, 2002.
The most important references will be indicated as the course goes on.
Some topics may receive more emphasis than others, and the order in which topics
will be discussed may be changed, depending on the choices made by the students
for their presentations.