* Understanding the micro- and macro-economic foundation of labour markets
* Understanding the role and impact of different labour market institutions
* Understanding recent developments and policies with respect to labour markets such as technological change, discrimination, immigration, gender and income inequality
* Being able to critically discuss empirical labour market studies

People generate a large share of their income through working. The labour market is therefore a very crucial market in the economy, with important social consequences for unemployment, poverty, income inequality, gender differences. However, the labour market does not function as perfectly as assumed in most macro- and micro-economic models and there are many institutions influencing the functioning of the labour market, because of its social consequences. In this course, these imperfect labour markets and their institutions are studied to obtain a better understanding on how labour markets function and fail, and how certain policies can affect people lives.

Tito Boeri and Jan van Ours, The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets.

• Intermediate knowledge in macro- and microeconomic theory.
• Introductory level of statistics.
• An advanced level of English.

Labour economics; institutions; income inequality