Aims
The module aims to present the economic study of the labour market and issues in the economics of human resources to students on degree schemes in economics or business-related subjects. Given that human resources are unlike other goods and services this presents particular issues and problems. The module will primarily analyse "micro" aspects of the determination of wages and employment, rather than "macro" aspects. While the latter are important, since they affect policy goals such as the alleviation of uemployment, and the reduction of wage inflationary pressure these are covered in more detail in other modules. As with other markets the labour market can be thought of as possessing suppliers (workers or organised groups of workers) and demanders (employers/firms). The module will look at each of these in turn and examinethe important influences onthem and then analyse how they fit together to determine observed levels of wages and employment.

Learning outcomes
Through lecture presentation, seminar discussion and reading students should grasp a working understanding of how economists explain the determintion of wage levels and employment levels through the interaction of supply and demand for labour. Students should also become familiar with some of the extensions and complications to this - in particular being able to understand how "imposition" such as minimum wage laws or "imperfections" such as sex and race discrimination or segmentation of workers affect outcomes. Students will gain an understanding of the following topics:

• The basis of labor supply and its applications
• Long-run influences on labour supply, especially that of education and training
• The basis of labour demnd and its applications
• The matching of workers to jobs in the labour market
• Wage determination: incomplete pay adjustment and pay rules such as minimum wages
• Wage inequalities betweenworkers and the importance of compensating differentials
• Internal and segmented labour markets
• Pay and hiring discrimination
• In the tutorials, in particular, we will focus on contemporary policy issues, in particular considering European social legislation of various kinds and its impact onthe labour market. Students should, by the end of the module, be able to critically assess the impact of these.

Module description
The current year's module outline can be found via The School's website