| Unit name | Labour Economics with Data Applications |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ECONM0012 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Mr. Perez-Sanz |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Economic Analytics, Econometrics with Python |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Economics |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Labour is the most important factor in the operations of an economy. This unit will cover core aspects of the economic analysis of labour. Topics will include labour supply and demand, human capital, job search and unemployment, labour migration and further relevant issues. Particular emphasis is on the interaction of theoretical and empirical modelling and its relevance for economic policy. A major goal is to provide students with the necessary tools that help to analyse the labour market consequences of government interventions, such as minimum wages, social benefits, labour market policies, taxes etc. Recent results of the empirical literature will also be discussed and critically assessed. This course aims at enabling the students to build up evidence-based knowledge and tools to analyse economic issues relevant to labour markets in current economies.
This unit offers students the opportunity to apply acquired skills in economic and econometric analysis to developing a thorough understanding of the role of labour as a core factor in an economy. Modern labour economics strongly relies on data-intensive and evidence-based approaches to assess the functioning of labour markets and related policies. Consequently, the labour economics unit brings together the application of core skills of this programme – combining economic analytics with systematic data analysis, tailored to evaluating labour markets and policies. By means of a data-based empirical project students will gain insights into how data analytics tools can be fruitfully applied to labour market analysis and related policy evaluation
This unit provides a thorough and in-depth treatment of core topics in labour economics. Basic concepts in labour economics are introduced with particular emphasis on the interaction of theoretical and empirical modelling. For each addressed labour topic, it will be elaborated how a thorough theory-guided empirical analysis can be applied, with the aim of evaluating related policies and labour market effects.
The students will learn to understand and critically discuss current research papers and reports in the area of labour economics and develop intuition how labour topics can be assessed by systematic data analysis. They will be equipped with knowledge and tools improving their ability to systematically set up analyses and evidence assessments of labour-related issues. Such skills will be important in future jobs, including roles like analysts and responsibilities like evaluating processes and policies based on data.
At the end of the unit, successful students will be able to:
(1) critically assess empirical findings on the impacts of labour market activities, institutions and policy interventions.
(2) understand and critically discuss current research papers and reports in the area of labour economics.
(3) demonstrate knowledge on how to design an economic evaluation analysis of labour policy interventions.
The unit comprises a combination of asynchronous and synchronous lectures, workshops, discussion classes and individual study.
- A set of lectures (synchronous and asynchronous) covering each of the addressed core labour topics. - Discussion sessions to cover targeted aspects of the asynchronous material. The aspects to be targeted are driven by student demand. - Workshop classes to discuss exercises, which highlight important applications in the core topics. Also, the research papers presented by students are discussed and critically reflected in these workshop sessions. - Student group presentations in the workshop sessions. They train the systematic synthetisation of empirical studies and their critical reflection. - Regular checks with review questions, which help students assess how well they have met learning outcomes. - Revision Q&A session at the end of the teaching term. Helps students to further understand on what they need to focus on in preparation of the assessments.Systematic individual study of asynchronous material.
There are three key components to formative assessment:
· Group presentations on important research papers covering topics of the unit. You will receive oral and/or written feedback on this group work to help you when creating your individual summative coursework.
· Feedback and discussion of sets of exercises, highlighting key aspects of covered topics.
· Discussion and reflection on review questions through the term. They provide particularly preparation for the MCQ and short questions assessment.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
75% Empirical coursework with a data analytics component (1500-2000 words)
25% MCQs and short questions.
Both summative tasks assess all the ILOs (1) to (3) each.
When assessment does not go to plan
The reassessment for students who have not been able to take or pass the unit summative assessments will take the form of a single empirical coursework assessing all the ILOs.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ECONM0012).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
