INTEGRATED PROGRAMME IN MANAGEMENT (IPM)

COURSE OUTLINE COVER PAGE

AY 2024-25 TERM:IX
TITLE OF THE COURSE: Labor Economics
CREDITS: 4 (Elective)

Name of the Instructor/s Faculty Room No. Email Telephone Number

Rayees Ahmad Sheikh J-211 [email protected] 870
Before finalizing the course outline, please read the respective programme’s manual carefully where
individual component and group component evaluation details are mentioned.
Resources details required before commencement or during the course to be mandatorily purchased/arranged. In
case of non-submission of details in the below table, procurement/arrangement will not be made by the
Programme office:
SN Resources required for Details Unit required and
the conduct of course Approx. price (in Rs.)
1 Textbook (to be 1. Borjas, G. J. (2010). Labor Not Required. Reference
purchased by students) economics. Boston: McGraw- books already available
Hill/Irwin. (Borjas here after) in library.
2. Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S., &
Zylberberg, A. (2014). Labor
economics. MIT press. Second
Edition (Cahuc et al., 2014).
3. Hyclak, T., Johnes, G., & Thornton,
R. (2020). Fundamentals of Labor
Economics. 3rd edition. Cengage
Boston, USA. (HJT hereafter)
2 Stationery (to be List of items with units required
purchased by office)
3 Software (to be Company Name
purchased by office)
4 License (to be Service provider
purchased by office)
5 Simulation (to be Agency
purchased by office)
6 Field Visit (to be Purpose, Location & no. of sessions for the Transport/food
conducted by activity arrangements by the
Instructor) office or claim
reimbursement
7 Industry Expert/Guest CV to be enclosed with the course outline Mention no. of sessions
Speaker (being invited & memento or
by the Instructor) honorarium offering
Note regarding course resources and reading materials:
1. Only those cases/readings/articles will be procured by the programme office that are available in HBSP/ Darden Publishing/ IIMA case
unit website.
2. If Instructors (Internal faculty or Visiting faculty) plan to use their own cases/articles, they are expected to provide the same for
classroom use. These cases will not be procured by the Programme office.
3. Purchase of resources, only for the exam(s) purpose when the same is not used and debriefed in any of the classes in that course is not
allowed.
Please mention Yes/NO below to provide details about the course outline:
This is an old course outline: (Yes/NO)
This is a new course outline: (Yes/NO)
If it is an old course outline, then have you updated any content or reading material in it? (Yes/NO)
If any changes have been incorporated into the old course outline, please provide details below in which session
(number) you have made the changes:
 Session No. Details of the changes applied to the old course outline.

1-20 The readings for the sessions have been changed.

1 The session has been changed to present the current picture of labour – technology
and labour
Please indicate the changes made in the course outline based on the measurement of assurance of
learning (closing the loop)/student feedback:
1.
2.
Following details to be filled by the Visiting Faculty (VF) only:
Please provide feedback, in case the same course was taught earlier in the Programme:
S. No. Instructor’s name Course Name Course feedback Instructor’s feedback
1
Approved by: Course Coordinator/Area Chair
 INTEGRATED PROGRAMME IN MANAGEMENT (IPM)
COURSE OUTLINE

AY 2024-25 TERM: IX

TITLE OF THE COURSE: Labor Economics

COURSE TYPE (ELECTIVE/WORKSHOP/SKILL)

CREDIT(S): 4 NO. OF SECTION(s)
Name of the Faculty Faculty Room Email Telephone
No. Number
Rayees Ahmad Sheikh J-211 [email protected] +917312439870

CONSULTATION TIME FOR STUDENTS:

Name of the Faculty Timing
Rayees Ahmad Sheikh By Appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The emphasis of the course is to analyze the behavior of households and industry in supply and
demand of labour. The course introduces the participant to the actors in the labour market and
these actors interact with each other. Further the course will try to establish different
mechanisms which which explain the different labour market outcomes. Towards the end, the
course covers the contemporary issues on labour particularly Indian labour market.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. Understand the underlying processes by which workers supply labor and firms demand
labour
2. Understanding the labour market player and their actions.
3. Understanding of the Indian labour market- the labour market outcomes like
unemployment etc.

PEDAGOGY/TEACHING METHOD:

It is predominantly a lecture-based course.

EVALUATION :
Individual Component Group Component Weightage
Quiz(s) 30
Group Component Yes 20
Class Participation 10
End Term 40
Total 100%

COURSE PRE-REQUISITE/ REMARKS FOR PARTICIPANTS (if any)

NA

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
IIM Indore believes in Academic honesty. Academic dishonesty or misconduct is cheating that relates to
an academic activity. It is a violation of trust between the Institute and its stakeholders. Plagiarism,
fabrication, deception, cheating and sabotage are examples of unacceptable academic conduct. Please
consult the Programme manual for the section on academic dishonesty.

SCHEDULE OF SESSIONS

Module I: Introduction to Scope and Relevance of Labour Economics

Module Objective: Understanding Labour Market and Introducing the field of Labour Economics

Session 1 Overview of Labour

Objective: The Evolution of Work and Changing nature of Jobs- Creation and
destruction of jobs

Reading: Reeves, R. V. (2019, April 29). Capitalism is failing. People want a job with
a decent wage – why is that so hard? Brookings Institute Op-Ed. (pp. 1-
12)

Abraham, M., & Annunziata, M. (2017). Augmented reality is already

improving worker performance. Harvard Business Review.

Session 2 Introduction to Labour Economics

Objective: Why is Labor a special factor of Production, Creation and destruction of

jobs, Actors in Labour Market.

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). Introduction to Labor Economics. Labor economics.

Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Chapter1 -page no. 2-10
Module II Title: Supply and Demand of Labor

Module Objective: Understand the Labor Supply and Demand

Session 3 Demand for Labour

Objective: How do organization decide to hire labor in long and short run given the
goals of firm?

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). Labor Demand, Labor economics. Boston: McGraw-

Hill/Irwin. Chapter3 –page no. 81-123

Fuller, J. et. al., (2020). Rethinking the On-Demand Workforce. Harvard

Business Review.
Session 4 & 5 Supply of Labour

Objective: Intensive and Extensive Margins - Measuring Labour Force, Hours of

work, Preferences of worker

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). Labour Supply, Labor economics. Boston: McGraw-

Hill/Irwin. Chapter2 – page 23-75

Sasser, W. E. (1976). Match Supply and Demand in Service Industries.

Harvard Business Review.

Module III Labour Market

Module Objective: Understand different type of labour markets

Session 6 Labour Market Equilibrium

Objective: Equilibrium in Single Labor Market, Equilibrium across different Labor

Markets

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). Labour Market Equilibrium, Labor economics. Boston:

McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Chapter4 – page no. 129 -174

Shin, Y. (2023). Is the Tight Labor Market Due to Fewer Workers — or

Fewer Hours Worked?. Harvard Business Review.

Session 7 Equilibrium in different types of markets

Objective: Equilibrium in different types of markets- Competitive, and Monopsony;

Understanding Minimum Wages in Monopsony
Reading: Hyclak, T., Johnes, G., & Thornton, R. (2020). Fundamentals of Labor
Economics. 3rd edition. Cengage Boston, USA. Chapter 9- page no. 243-
272

Session 8 Internal Labour Markets

Objective: Evolution and Characteristics of internal labour markets; Implications of

Internal Labour Markets

Reading: Hyclak, T., Johnes, G., & Thornton, R. (2020). Internal Labour Markets,
Fundamentals of Labor Economics. 3rd edition. Cengage Boston, USA.
Chapter 10- page no. 243-272.

Davis, J.M.V. et. al. (2023). How to Design an Internal Talent

Marketplace. Harvard Business Review.

Session 9 Information and Job Search

Objective: Search for Jobs, Signaling and Matching models

Reading: Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S., & Zylberberg, A. (2014). Job Search, Labor
economics. MITpress. Second Edition Chapter 5 – page no. 253 -316

Hankel, I. 2005. A Five-Week Guide to Getting a Job. Harvard Business

Review.

Module IV: Issues in Labor Market

Module Objective: Understanding the different labour market outcome and issue.
Session 10 Human Capital Analysis – Education and Training

Objective: Understanding the role of education and training institutions in labour

markets

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). Human Capital , Labor economics. Boston: McGraw-

Hill/Irwin. Chapter6 page no. 213 – 246

Garton, E. (2017). The Case for Investing More in People. Harvard

Business Review.

Session 11 Wage Determination

Objective: Understanding how wages are determined in labour market, wage

distribution and wage structure

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). The Wage Structure, Labor economics. Boston:

McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Chapter7- page no. 252-281.

Rowley, C. (2017). Why Some Firms Pay Better Than Others. Harvard
Business Review.

Session 12 Union and Bargaining

Objective: Formation and working of the unions and how they bargain in labour
market

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). Labour Unions, Labor economics. Boston: McGraw-

Hill/Irwin. Chapter10- page no. 361 – 391

Stackpole ,T. (2023). Are We Seeing a Revival of Union Power?. Harvard

Business Review.

Session 13 Unemployment

Objective: Measure of unemployment, types of unemployment, policy issues with

unemployment

Reading: Borjas, G. J. (2010). Unemployment, Labor economics. Boston: McGraw-

Hill/Irwin.Chapter12, pages. 425 -459

Amior, Michael, and Alan Manning. 2018. “The Persistence of Local

Joblessness.” American Economic Review, 108(7): 1942–70.
Session 14 Inequality/Discrimination

Objective: Understanding the measurement of inequality and why is it important to

understand the inequality

Reading: Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S., & Zylberberg, A. (2014). Discrimination, Labor
economics. MITpress. Second Edition Chapter 8- page no. 479 -549

Quillian, L. (2017). Hiring Discrimination Against Black Americans Hasn’t

Declined in 25 Years, Harvard Business Review.

Session 15 Intergenerational Mobility

Objective: Higher wage persistence across generations, or lack of intergenerational
wage mobility

Reading: Chetty, R. Hendren, N. Kline, P. and Saez, E., (2014). Where is the Land of
Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United
States. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(4), 1553–1623.

Session 16 Personal Economics

Objective: Motivating Workers Efforts: Do incentives increase productivity?, Work

Life Incentive Schemes.

Reading: Hyclak, T., Johnes, G., & Thornton, R. (2020). Personal Economics,
Fundamentals of Labor Economics. 3rd edition. Cengage Boston, USA.
Chapter 10 page no. 243-272

Kohan, A. (1993). Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work?. Harvard Business

Review.

Session 17 & Active Labour Market Policies & Contemporary issues in Indian Labour
18 Market

Objective: Features of Labour market in India, Labour Market Discrimination: Caste

and gender; Unionism in India.

Reading: Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S., & Zylberberg, A. (2014). Active Labor Market
Policies, Labor economics. MITpress. Second Edition Chapter 14-
page no. 900-983.

Goldin C. The U-Shaped Female Labor Force Function in Economic

Development and Economic History, in Schultz T.P, Investment in
Women’s Human Capital and Economic Development University of
Chicago Press; 1995. pp. 61-90
 Session 19 Technology and Labor

Objective: Understand the impact of change on labor; Whether technology is labor

replacing or labor augmenting? Rise is gig economy and artificial
intelligence and its impact on labour.

Reading: Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S., & Zylberberg, A. (2014). Technological

Progress, Unemployment, and Inequality, Labor economics. MIT
press. Second Edition Chapter 10-page – 627-672

Autor, David H. 2015. “Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and
Future of Workplace Automation.” Journal of Economic Perspectives,
29(3): 3–30.

Session 20 Class Presentation

Objective: To evaluate the students on understanding of application of the learning

of the course

Text Book for the course: Please give the details of the book if students/IPM Office need to
buy the book

Author Title Publisher Edition Remarks, if any

Reference Text Book: The following books are recommended for supplementary reading:
1. Borjas, G. J. (2010). Labor economics. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
2. Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S., & Zylberberg, A. (2014). Labor economics. MIT press. Second
Edition
3. Hyclak, T., Johnes, G., & Thornton, R. (2020). Fundamentals of Labor Economics. 3rd
edition. Cengage Boston, USA.

Additional Readings:

Pozen, R. C., & Kothari S.P. (2017). Decoding CEO Pay*. Harvard BusinessReview.

Sodhi, J. S. (2013). Trade unions in India: changing role & perspective. The Indian Journal of Industrial
Relations, 169-184.

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