ILRLE 5440 - [The Economics of Labor Markets and Workplace Management]

Fall or Spring (offered alternate even-numbered years). Not offered: 2020-2021. Next offered: 2021-2022. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Enrollment limited to: MPS students in New York City. Offered in New York City.

G. Fields.

This is a course in labor market economics for prospective managers in the corporate, union, not-for-profit, and public sectors. The course begins with demand and supply in labor markets, presenting the tools of decision analysis for workers and firms. It then goes on to consider various topics in workplace management including deciding on the optimal mix of capital and labor to employ, pay and productivity, hiring and training investments, strategic budget constraints, and bottom line metrics. The final section of the course covers other important labor market issues including analysis of public policies, unemployment, discrimination, poverty and inequality, and pensions and Social Security. Four-module course in which the first module covers the basic elements of supply and demand in the labor market, the second and third modules cover the “new personnel economics” (emphasizing economic issues in a firm that relate to selecting, training, assigning, motivating, and compensating workers), and the final module covers key institutions and economic security issues (including unemployment, pensions, disability, discrimination, and unions). The goals of this course are for students to learn to analyze both business and public policy problems, taking into account basic principles of economic theory and the relevant institutional environments.