HE 211 Labour Economics and Industrial Relations Course Syllabus COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SCOPE This course seeks to explain the inner workings of the labor market. The main part of the course focuses on the economics of the labor market. It covers the determination of labor market demand and supply, wage determination, wage differentials, human capital investment, migration and discrimination, as well as unemployment and labor policies. The course also aims to explain why workers join unions, trade union behavior, wage determination under the union, and the economic impact of unions.
PROPOSED LECTURE SCHEDULE All lectures will be recorded and posted on the Adventure. Period Lecture at 12.30 Readings Week 1 12-16 Jan Week 2 19-23 Jan Week 3 26-30 Jan Week 4 2-6 Feb 1 INTRODUCTION AND LABOR SUPPLY 1.1 Why study labor economics 1.2 Participants in the labor market 1.3 Labor market definitions 1.4 Labor-leisure choice and the labor supply curve 2 Public Policy and Work Effort 2.1 CPF and pension Schemes 2.2 Labor supply over the life and business cycles 2.3 Fertility Model Tutorial 1 3 Public Policy and Labour Supply 3.1 The Social Contract 3.2 Over time 3.3 Moon lighting 3.4 Labor market policies to encourage work and reduce poverty Tutorial 2 4 LABOR DEMAND 4.1 Labor demand 4.2 Elasticity of labor demand 4.3 Marshall s rules of derived demand Tutorial 3 GB, chs 1,2 1, 2 GB, ch2 MBM, ch 3 GB, ch 2 MBM, ch 3 GB, ch 3 MBM, ch 5
Week 5 9-13 Feb 5 Wage Determination, Mobility, Payroll Tax, Labour Exploitation 5.1 Wage determination 5.2 Mobility 5.3 Payroll and Labour Exploitation Tutorial 4 GB, chs 4, 5 6, 8 Week 6 16-20 Feb Week 7 23-27 Feb 6 ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF UNIONS 6.1 A model of union membership 6.2 Monopoly unionism 6.3 The union and labour demand 6.4 Union effects on wages and employment Tutorial 5 7 MACRO-FOCUSED UNIONS 7.1 Strategic Collective Bargaining 7.2 Free Ridership 7.3 Another model of union membership Tutorial 6 GB, ch 10 10,11 References will be provided Week 8 2-6 Mar Week 9 9-13 Mar RECESS 8 PAY AND EFFICIENCY 8.1 Incentive pay 8.2 Efficiency wages Quiz 1 will be conducted during Lecture 8 GB, ch 11 MBM, ch 7
Tutorial 7 Week 10 16-20 Mar Week 11 23-27 Mar Week 12 30 Mar - 3 Apr Week 13 6-10 Apr 9 HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT 9.1 Returns to education 9.2 On-the-job training 9.3 Skills Development Fund Tutorial 8 10 DISCRIMINATION 10.1 Labour market discrimination 10.2 Economics of Household Production 10.3 Gender wage gap in Singapore Tutorial 9 11 EMPLOYMENT,UNEMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR MARKET POLICY 11.1 Sources of unemployment 11.2 Impact of unemployment 11.3 Public policies and programmes 11.4 The inflation-unemployment tradeoff Tutorial 10 12 WAGE FIXING AND LABOUR MARKET ADJUSTMENT MECHANISMS 12.1 Natural unemployment rate and full employment output 12.2 National Wages Council Tutorial 11 GB, ch 6 MBM, ch 4 GB, ch 9 MBM, ch 14 GB, ch 12 17,18 References will be provided
Week 14 13-17 Apr 13 Revisions Quiz 2 will be conducted in Lecture 13 Tutorial 12 BASIC TEXT GB : Borjas, George J (2013) Labor Economics, sixth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill HD4901.B734 2010 SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS MBM : McConnell, Brue & Macpherson (2006) Contemporary Labor Economics, seventh edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. ES : Ehrenberg, RG and Smith RS (2003) Modern Labor Economics, Boston: Addison Wesley. JOURNAL ARTICLES ON SINGAPORE Chua Sin-Chet, Lim Yun-Wen, Ter Teng-Teng and Chew Soon Beng (2014), Efficiency Wage Theory: Evidence for Singapore Manufacturing Sector, Singapore Economic Review, June 2014; Vol 59, no 3, 145002-1 to 145002-12 Chew Soon Beng (2014), Influence of Trade Unions on Economic Strategy: The case of Singapore, Singapore Economic Review, September 2014. Yao Shuntian and Chew Soon Beng (2014), A Mathematical Model of a Macro- Focused Labour Union, Singapore Economic Review, September 2014. Chew Soon Beng (2012), Employment-based Social Protection in Singapore: Issues and Prospects, in ASEAN Economic Bulletin, Vol.29, no 3, pp 218-229.
Chew Soon Beng and Rosalind Chew (2012), An Analysis of Income Inequality, Social Security, and Competitiveness: An Essay on Dr Goh Keng Swee s Contributions to Singapore s Economic Strategy Singapore Economic Review, March 2012, pp. 1250002-1-17. Chew, Rosalind and Chew Soon Beng, 2011, From Adversarial Collective Bargaining To Strategic Collective Bargaining: The Case of a Small-Open Economy, Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations, pp 59-68. Chew, Rosalind and Chew Soon Beng, 2010, Union Social Responsibility: A Necessary Public Good in a Globalised World, International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations (Netherlands), Vol. 26, No. 4, pp 435-446. Groenewold, N and Tang SHK (2004), The Asian Financial Crisis and the Natural Rate of Unemployment; Estimates from a structural var for the newly industrializing countries, Pacific Economic Review, 9: 1 (2004) pp. 45 64 Other journal references will be indicated when required. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION Lectures : 2 hours per week Tutorials : 1 hour per week COURSE ASSESSMENT 2 Quizzes : 20% Class performance : 10% Final Examination : 70% Total : 100% Course Coordinator Professor Chew Soon Beng Lecturing/Tutoring Staff Professor Chew Soon Beng Room No. HSS-4-78 Extension 4761