Participants will gain a solid knowledge of labour economics and acquire an understanding of the functioning of labour markets. There will be an emphasis on the interaction between theoretical and empirical modelling. Students will become competent to critically evaluate economic theory in light of empirical evidence.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. A RE-EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND NEW COUNTERMEASURES BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT MIGHT FORCE COORDINATORS TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

The course sheds light on the employment decisions from the perspective of the firm and the worker. Topics that are covered in the course are the neoclassical labour supply model, labour demand, wages and employment determination with reference to labour market institutions (e.g. minimum wages, unemployment insurance, employment protection), search and matching theory, human capital theory, and the design of incentive schemes. There will be an emphasis on the interaction between theoretical and empirical modelling. Insights from state-of-the art empirical work will be discussed alongside theory.

Journal articles; chapters from Cahuc and Zylberberg (2004)

Microeconomics I