Course description
This course introduces students to the field of labor economics, with an emphasis on current policy issues and new research. Issues discussed include the effects of minimum wages, mandated benefits, immigration, taxes, and transfer programs on wages and employment; human capital and the labor market returns to education; measurement of the value added of teachers and colleges; the effect of unemployment insurance on unemployment durations; the effect of disability insurance on labor force participation; new evidence on income, wage, and wealth inequality and intergenerational mobility. Students learn current econometric and theoretical methods used in applied microeconomics and how to write about and apply these methods in their own research.
