ECON 4360 A Labour Economics

2012 Winter Instructor: Prof. Chris Worswick, Department of Economics, Carleton University Office: B849, 8th floor of the Loeb Building Telephone: 613-520-2600 ext. 3776 Email: christopher_worswick@carleton.ca Office Hours: 10:00 11:00 am Mondays and 10:00 11:00 am Thursdays Prerequisite: ECON 2030 with a grade of C- or higher or ECON 2003 (no longer offered) with a grade of C- or higher. Students who believe they have taken a similar background course or courses from another university must provide appropriate documentation to the Department of Economics Undergraduate Advisor, Amanda Wright. Precludes additional credit for ECON 4305 (no longer offered) and ECON 4306 (no longer offered). The required textbook for this course is: Benjamin D., M. Gunderson, T. Lemieux and W.C. Riddell (2007) Labour Market Economics: Theory, Evidence and Policy in Canada, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. Up to five journal articles may also be assigned as required reading over the course of the term. Course description: The application of price theory to the labour market. Topics include models of labour supply and labour demand, human capital and the economics of education, and unions and their impact on the labour market. Evaluation: Midterm Exam Assignments (2) Final Exam 22 percent 30 percent 48 percent

The midterm will occur in the seventh lecture. The midterm and the final exam will evaluate the students understanding of the theoretical and empirical material covered in the lectures and also the students ability to relate this material to public policy issues. Two assignments will be handed out one before the midterm and one after the midterm. Marks will be deducted in the case of an assignment being handed in late without a valid reason. If an assignment is never handed in then the student will receive a mark of zero for that assignment. Students who can document a compelling reason for missing the mid-term examination will be excused and their final grade will be based on their performance in the rest of the course; i.e., the weight of each of the remaining evaluation instruments will rise by a factor of 50/39 ( 1.282). Students must inform the instructor of such an absence in advance, if possible.
Failure to write the final examination will result in a grade of ABS. In order to write a deferred exam, students must contact the Registrars Office.

Please be aware that plagiarism is serious offence at Carleton and should be recognized and avoided. For further information on how to do so, please see Pammett on Plagiarism and Paraphrasing at www.carleton.ca/economics/courses/writing-preliminaries/.

Students should be aware of the Writing Tutorial Service (229PA), and the Student Academic Success Centre (SASC, 302 Tory). Requests for Academic Accommodations: For Religious Observance For Pregnancy To be worked out on individual basis with instructor. Consult Equity Services Website or an Equity Advisor (ext. 5622) for Policy and list of Holy Days (www.carleton.ca/equity) Contact Equity Services (ext. 5622) to obtain letters of accommodations

For Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations are required to contact a coordinator at the Paul Menton Centre to complete the necessary letters of accommodation. The student must then make an appointment to discuss their needs with the instructor at least two weeks prior to the first class test. This is to ensure sufficient time is available to make the necessary accommodation arrangements.

Lecture Topics:
1. Introduction 2. Labour Supply 3. Labour Demand 4. Human Capital 5. Contracts and Information Problems 6. Unions 7. Unemployment 8. Immigration