EN
IT
Obiettivi Formativi
OBIETTIVI FORMATIVI: Introdurre gli studenti ai fondamenti di Economia del Lavoro, con un approccio sia teorico che empirico. La struttura del corso approfondisce, da un lato, i problemi teorici relativi al comportamento dei lavoratori e delle imprese nella determinazione dei salari e dell'occupazione; dall'altro, introduce lo studente alla metodologia di analisi applicata ai problemi del mercato del lavoro. Particolare attenzione è data alle tematiche relative all’economia dell’istruzione. Il corso affronta inoltre le tematiche legate alla gestione delle risorse umane ed alle relazioni industriali.
CONOSCENZA E CAPACITÀ DI COMPRENSIONE: L'obiettivo finale è quello di far acquisire una padronanza degli strumenti analitici per poter comprendere ed analizzare il mercato e le politiche del lavoro.
CAPACITÀ DI APPLICARE CONOSCENZA E COMPRENSIONE: Alla fine del corso, lo studente avrà acquisito il necessario bagaglio teorico e metodologico per analizzare e comprendere il mercato del lavoro sia nelle sue caratteristiche strutturali che nelle sue recenti evoluzioni.
AUTONOMIA DI GIUDIZIO: Gli studenti devono saper utilizzare sul piano concettuale le conoscenze acquisite per interpretare i fenomeni che accadono nella realtà che li circonda.
ABILITÀ COMUNICATIVE: Gli studenti devono acquisire il linguaggio tecnico tipico dell’economia del lavoro per comunicare in modo chiaro e senza ambiguità i concetti appresi.
CAPACITÀ DI APPRENDIMENTO: Alla fine del corso, lo studente avrà approfondito gli strumenti necessari per disegnare, implementare e valutare le politiche del lavoro.
Learning Objectives
LEARNING OUTCOMES: The main goal of the course is to introduce the student to the main concepts of Labor Economics, with both a theoretical and an empirical approach. The course deals with the theoretical problems related to the behavior of workers and firms when determining wages and employment; additionally, it introduces the student to the empirical methodology applied to the labor market problems. Particular attention is given to issues related to the economics of education. The course also covers topics in human resource management and industrial relations.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The final goal is to gain knowledge of the analytical tools to study and understand labor markets.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: As a result, students will acquire the tools to study and understand labor market policies and operate in the field of labor economics.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS: At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the theoretical and methodological tools to analyze and understand the labor market both in its structural characteristics and in its recent developments. She will also have gained familiarity with the tools necessary to design, implement and evaluate labor policies.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Students must be able to use the tools learned during the course to interpret the labor market phenomena.
LEARNING SKILLS: Students must acquire the technical language typical of labor economics to elaborate in a clear and unambiguous way the concepts learned during the course.
Prerequisiti
È necessario aver coperto il materiale di un buon programma di economia a livello di laurea triennale: una buona conoscenza della microeconomia avanzata (non faremo quasi mai uso della macroeconomia), matematica, comprensione di base dell'econometria, almeno regressione multipla (capire come interpretare i coefficienti di regressione e conoscere i problemi nel loro utilizzo) e conoscenza di STATA.
Prerequisites
The student should have covered the material of a good undergraduate economics program: a good working knowledge of advanced microeconomics (we will make almost no use of macroeconomics), mathematics, as a basic understanding of econometrics, at least multiple regression (the student should understand how to interpret regression coefficients and be aware of possible pitfalls in their use) and STATA practice.
Programma
Offerta di lavoro (pensionamento, famiglia), domanda di lavoro, equilibrio del mercato del lavoro (salario minimo, imposte sui salari, immigrazione, distribuzione salariale), istruzione (capitale umano, signaling, qualità dell'istruzione), discriminazione (razza, genere), retribuzioni in base alle prestazioni (piece-rate, team), modelli di disoccupazione.
Program
Labor supply (retirement, family), labor demand, labor market equilibrium (minimum wages, payroll taxes, immigration, wage distribution), education (human capital, signaling), discrimination (race, gender), pay based on performance (piece-rate, team), unemployment.
Testi Adottati
Il materiale per questo corso (programma, note, annunci, materiale) è pubblicato sulla pagina web del corso. Nessun singolo libro di testo copre tutto il materiale presentato nel corso. Un numero di letture consigliate saranno costituite da articoli di riviste. I libri che verranno utilizzati più frequentemente sono i seguenti:
- Borjas, "Economia del lavoro", McGraw-Hill, 2010 (possono essere usate anche nuove edizioni). Il libro di testo è un libro di livello di laurea triennale, quindi la copertura del materiale sarà un po' meno avanzata di quello che verrà fatto in classe.
- Un testo di livello di laurea specialistica in economia del lavoro è Cahuc, Carcillo e Zylberberg, "Labour Economics", MIT Press, 2004 (possono essere utilizzate anche nuove edizioni).
- L'economia del lavoro è un campo con uso intenso di applicazioni empiriche e molte nuove tecniche empiriche sono state sviluppato per rispondere a domande di economia del lavoro. Il testo di riferimento è Angrist and Pischke, "Mostly Harmless Econometrics", Princeton University Press, 2009.
Tutti i testi sono disponibili presso la Biblioteca Vilfredo Pareto, situata nell'edificio B. Le note di classe, così come ogni altro materiale / lettura, saranno disponibili sul sito del corso.
Books
The material for this course (syllabus, notes, announcements, materials) will be posted on the course webpage. No single textbook covers all the material presented in this course. A number of the recommended readings will consist of journal articles. The books that will be used more frequently are the following:
- One suggested text is Borjas, “Labor Economics”, McGraw-Hill, 2010. (previous and new editions can also be used). The textbook is an undergraduate-level textbook, so the coverage of the material will be a bit less advanced than what will be done in class.
- A graduate-level text in labor economics is Cahuc, Carcillo and Zylberberg, “Labor Economics”, MIT Press, 2004 (new editions can also be used).
- Labor economics is a data-intensive field, and many new empirical techniques have been developed to answer labor economics questions. The reference book is: Angrist and Pischke, “Mostly Harmless Econometrics”, Princeton University Press, 2009.
All readings are available through the Biblioteca Vilfredo Pareto, located in the building B. Class notes, as well as any other additional material/reading, will be available on the course web page.
Bibliografia
Questa lista è indicativa e può essere soggetta a cambiamenti. In particolare, letture addizionali possono essere fornite durante il corso. Letture segnate con * (o con Required Readings) rappresentano letture obbligatorie, tutte le altre letture (o indicate con Additional Readings) rappresentano suggerimenti.
Introduction and Methods
- Borjas (chapter 1)
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1999): “Empirical Strategies in Labor Economics”, in
Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. Ashenfelter and Card, vol 3, North Holland,
Amsterdam.
Labor Supply
- Borjas (chapter 2)
- Imbens, G. W., D. B. Rubin and B. Sacerdote (2001): “Estimating the Effect of Unearned
Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery
Players.” American Economic Review, 91, 778-94.*
- Eissa, N. and J. B. Liebman (1996): “Labor Supply Response to the Earned Income Tax
Credit.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, 605-37.*
- Krueger, A. and S. Pischke (1992): “The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A
Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 10, 412-437.*
Labor Demand
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Hamermesh, D. S. (1986): “The Demand for Labor in the Long Run.” Handbook of Labor
Economics, vol. 1, pp. 429-71.
- Acemoglu, D.; Autor, D. H. and D. Lyle (2004): “Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of
Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury.” Journal of Political Economy,
112, 497-551.*
Minimum Wage
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Kennan, J. (1995): “The Elusive Effect of Minimum Wages.” Journal of Economic
Literature.
- Card, D. and A.B. Krueger (1994): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of
the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84,
772-793.*
- Neumark, D. and W. Wascher (2006): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of
Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research.” NBER WP 12663.*
- Allegretto, S., Dube, A., Reich, M. and B. Zipperer (2013): “Credible Research Designs for
Minimum Wage Studies.” IZA DP 7638.
Payroll-taxes
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Gruber, J. (1997): “The Incidence of Payroll Taxation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 72-
101.
Immigration
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Card, D. (1990): “The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market.”
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43, 245-57.*
- Borjas, G. J. (2003): “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the
Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1335-
1374.*
- Ottaviano G. and G. Peri (2012): “Rethinking the Gains from Immigration: Theory and
Evidence from the U.S.” Journal of the European Economic Association, 10, 152-197.*
Inequality
- Borjas (chapter 7)
- Atkinson, A., Piketty T. and E. Saez (2011): “Top Incomes in the Long Run of History.”
Journal of Economic Literature, 49, 3-71.*
- Autor, D. H., L. F. Katz and M. S. Kearney (2008): “Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising
the Revisionists.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 90, 300-323.
- Autor, D. H., Dorn, D. and G. H. Hanson (2013): “The China Syndrome: Local Labor
Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States.” American Economic Review,
103, 2121-2168.*
- Krueger, A. B. (2005): “The Economics of Real Superstars: The Market for Rock Concerts
in the Material World.” Journal of Labor Economics, 23, 1-30.*
- Autor, D.H., Katz L.F. and A. B. Krueger (1998): “Computing Inequality: Have Computers
Changed the Labor Market?.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, 1169-1213.*
Human Capital
- Borjas (chapter 6)
- Griliches Z. (1977) “Estimating the Returns to Schooling: Some Econometric
Problems” Econometrica, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 1-22
- Ashenfelter, O. and C. Rouse (1998) “Income, Schooling, and Ability: Evidence
from a New Sample of Identical Twins”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 113, No.
1, pp. 253-284*
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1991) “Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect
Schooling and Earnings?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 979-
1014*
- Card, D (1995) “Using Geographic Variation in College Proximity to Estimate the
Return to Schooling”, In L.N. Christofides, E.K. Grant, and R. Swidinsky, editors, Aspects of
Labor Market Behaviour: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkamp, University of Toronto
Press, Toronto. http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/geo_var_schooling.pdf*
- Griliches, Z. and M. William (1972): “Education, Income and Ability.” Journal of
Political Economy, 80, 74-103.
- Ashenfelter, O. and A. B. Krueger (1994): “Estimates for the Economic Returns to
Schooling for a New Sample of Twins.” American Economic Review, 84, 1157-1173.
- Altonji, J. G. and C. R. Pierret (2001): “Employer Learning and Statistical
Discrimination.” Quarterly Journal of Economics,
Signaling
- Card, D. “The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings”, Handbook of Labour
Economics, vol. 3, Chapter 30, eds. O. Ashenfelter and D. Card.
http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/causal_educ_earnings.pdf*
- Tyler, J., R. Murnane, J. Willet (2000) “Estimating the Signaling Value of the GED”,
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 115, no.2, pp. 431-468.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2586999.pdf*
- Lang, K. And D. Kropp (1986) “Human Capital Versus Sorting: The Effects of
Compulsory Attendance Laws”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 101, no.3, pp.
609-624. http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/classes/eco7321/papers/lang%20kropp.pdf
- Jaeger, D. A. and M. E. Page (1996): “Degrees Matter: New Evidence on Sheepskin
Effects in the Returns to Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, 733-740.
More on college investment
- Christopher Avery and Sarah Turner. 2012. “Student Loans: Do College Students
Borrow Too Much--Or Not Enough?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(1): 165–92
- Hoxby, “The Return to Attending a More Selective College: 1960 to the Present,”
in Forum Futures: Exploring the Future of Higher Education”, eds. Maureen Devlin and
Joel Meyerson (Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001): 13-42.
- Hoekstra M. (2009) “The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on
Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach”, Review of Economics and Statistics 2009, 91
(4): 717-724*
- Cadena and Keys (2013) “Can Self-Control Explain Avoiding Free Money? Evidence
from Interest-Free Student Loans”, Review of Economics and Statistics 95 (4), 1117-1129
- Deming, Goldin and Katz (2012) “The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector:
Nimble Critters or Agile Predators?” Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 26, Pages
139–164
- Lang, K. and Weinstein, R. (2013) “The Wage Effects of Not-for-Profit and For-
Profit Certifications: Better Data, Somewhat Different Results,” Labour Economics: 230-
43.
- Hoxby, Caroline, and Christopher Avery. forthcoming. "The Missing "One-offs":
The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low Income Students," Brookings Papers on
Economic Activity. (Also NBER Working Paper 18586.)
- Bettinger, Eric, Bridget Long, Phil Oreopoulos and Lisa Sanbonmatsu, (2012) "The
Role of Simplification and Information: Evidence from the FAFSA Experiment.” Quarterly
Journal of Economics 127 (3), 1205-1242.
- Caroline Hoxby and Sarah Turner. 2013. “Expanding College Opportunities for
High-Achieving, Low Income Students”, SIEPR Discussion Paper 12-014*
Discrimination
- Borjas (chapter 9)
Facts
- Bertrand, Goldin and Katz, (2010) “Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young
Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors”, American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics 2: 228–255*
- Neal, Derek and Johnson, William. (1996) " The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-
White Wage Differences", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 104, No. 5, pp. 869-895
- Fryer R, Levitt S. (2004) “Understanding The Black-White Test Score Gap in the First
Two Years of School”, The Review of Economics and Statistics. 86(2): 447–464
Theory
- Hamermesh and Biddle, (1994) “Beauty and the Labor Market”, The American
Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, (Dec., 1994), pp. 1174-1194
- Phelps, (1972) “The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism”, The American Economic
Review, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 659-661
- Arrow, K.J., (1973). The Theory of Discrimination. In: Ashenfelter, O., Rees, A. (Eds.),
Discrimination in Labor Markets. Princeton University Press, pp. 3–33.
- Aigner, D., Cain, G., (1977) “Statistical Theories of Discrimination in the Labor Market”
Ind. Labor Relat. Rev. 30 (2), 175–187
Empirics
- Kerwin Kofi Charles & Jonathan Guryan, (2008). "Prejudice and Wages: An Empirical
Assessment of Becker's The Economics of Discrimination," Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 773-809
- Sandra E. Black and Philip E. Strahan (2001) “The Division of Spoils: Rent-Sharing and
Discrimination in a Regulated Industry” The American Economic Review Vol. 91, No. 4, pp.
814-831
- Levine, R., A. Levkov and Y. Rubinstein (2009), Racial Discrimination and Competition,
Working Paper 14273
- Goldin C. and C. Rouse (2000) Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind"
Auditions on Female Musicians, American Economic Review , vol 90 (4): 715-741*
- Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan (2004) “Are Emily and Greg More
Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination”,
The American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 4, pp. 991-1013*
Incentive Contracts
- Borjas (chapter 11)
- Lazear, E. P., (2000): “Performance Pay and Productivity.” American Economic Review, 90,
1346-1361.*
- Falk, A., and A. Ichino (2006) “Clean Evidence on Peer Effects.” Journal of Labor Economics
24, no. 1: 39-57.
- Mas, A and E. Moretti, (2009), “Peers at Work”, American Economic Review 99(1), 112-45
- Bandiera, O., I. Barankay, and I. Rasul. (2005) “Social Preferences and the Response to
Incentives: Evidence from Personnel Data.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 120, no. 3:
917-962*
Bibliography
This list is indicative, and can be subject to some changes. In particular, further readings may be provided during the lectures. Readings marked with a * (or with Required Readings) represent compulsory reading, all other readings (or under Additional Readings) are just suggestions.
Introduction and Methods
- Borjas (chapter 1)
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1999): “Empirical Strategies in Labor Economics”, in
Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. Ashenfelter and Card, vol 3, North Holland,
Amsterdam.
Labor Supply
- Borjas (chapter 2)
- Imbens, G. W., D. B. Rubin and B. Sacerdote (2001): “Estimating the Effect of Unearned
Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery
Players.” American Economic Review, 91, 778-94.*
- Eissa, N. and J. B. Liebman (1996): “Labor Supply Response to the Earned Income Tax
Credit.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, 605-37.*
- Krueger, A. and S. Pischke (1992): “The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A
Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 10, 412-437.*
Labor Demand
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Hamermesh, D. S. (1986): “The Demand for Labor in the Long Run.” Handbook of Labor
Economics, vol. 1, pp. 429-71.
- Acemoglu, D.; Autor, D. H. and D. Lyle (2004): “Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of
Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury.” Journal of Political Economy,
112, 497-551.*
Minimum Wage
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Kennan, J. (1995): “The Elusive Effect of Minimum Wages.” Journal of Economic
Literature.
- Card, D. and A.B. Krueger (1994): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of
the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84,
772-793.*
- Neumark, D. and W. Wascher (2006): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of
Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research.” NBER WP 12663.*
- Allegretto, S., Dube, A., Reich, M. and B. Zipperer (2013): “Credible Research Designs for
Minimum Wage Studies.” IZA DP 7638.
Payroll-taxes
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Gruber, J. (1997): “The Incidence of Payroll Taxation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 72-
101.
Immigration
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Card, D. (1990): “The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market.”
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43, 245-57.*
- Borjas, G. J. (2003): “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the
Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1335-
1374.*
- Ottaviano G. and G. Peri (2012): “Rethinking the Gains from Immigration: Theory and
Evidence from the U.S.” Journal of the European Economic Association, 10, 152-197.*
Inequality
- Borjas (chapter 7)
- Atkinson, A., Piketty T. and E. Saez (2011): “Top Incomes in the Long Run of History.”
Journal of Economic Literature, 49, 3-71.*
- Autor, D. H., L. F. Katz and M. S. Kearney (2008): “Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising
the Revisionists.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 90, 300-323.
- Autor, D. H., Dorn, D. and G. H. Hanson (2013): “The China Syndrome: Local Labor
Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States.” American Economic Review,
103, 2121-2168.*
- Krueger, A. B. (2005): “The Economics of Real Superstars: The Market for Rock Concerts
in the Material World.” Journal of Labor Economics, 23, 1-30.*
- Autor, D.H., Katz L.F. and A. B. Krueger (1998): “Computing Inequality: Have Computers
Changed the Labor Market?.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, 1169-1213.*
Human Capital
- Borjas (chapter 6)
- Griliches Z. (1977) “Estimating the Returns to Schooling: Some Econometric
Problems” Econometrica, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 1-22
- Ashenfelter, O. and C. Rouse (1998) “Income, Schooling, and Ability: Evidence
from a New Sample of Identical Twins”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 113, No.
1, pp. 253-284*
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1991) “Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect
Schooling and Earnings?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 979-
1014*
- Card, D (1995) “Using Geographic Variation in College Proximity to Estimate the
Return to Schooling”, In L.N. Christofides, E.K. Grant, and R. Swidinsky, editors, Aspects of
Labor Market Behaviour: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkamp, University of Toronto
Press, Toronto. http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/geo_var_schooling.pdf*
- Griliches, Z. and M. William (1972): “Education, Income and Ability.” Journal of
Political Economy, 80, 74-103.
- Ashenfelter, O. and A. B. Krueger (1994): “Estimates for the Economic Returns to
Schooling for a New Sample of Twins.” American Economic Review, 84, 1157-1173.
- Altonji, J. G. and C. R. Pierret (2001): “Employer Learning and Statistical
Discrimination.” Quarterly Journal of Economics,
Signaling
- Card, D. “The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings”, Handbook of Labour
Economics, vol. 3, Chapter 30, eds. O. Ashenfelter and D. Card.
http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/causal_educ_earnings.pdf*
- Tyler, J., R. Murnane, J. Willet (2000) “Estimating the Signaling Value of the GED”,
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 115, no.2, pp. 431-468.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2586999.pdf*
- Lang, K. And D. Kropp (1986) “Human Capital Versus Sorting: The Effects of
Compulsory Attendance Laws”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 101, no.3, pp.
609-624. http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/classes/eco7321/papers/lang%20kropp.pdf
- Jaeger, D. A. and M. E. Page (1996): “Degrees Matter: New Evidence on Sheepskin
Effects in the Returns to Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, 733-740.
More on college investment
- Christopher Avery and Sarah Turner. 2012. “Student Loans: Do College Students
Borrow Too Much--Or Not Enough?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(1): 165–92
- Hoxby, “The Return to Attending a More Selective College: 1960 to the Present,”
in Forum Futures: Exploring the Future of Higher Education”, eds. Maureen Devlin and
Joel Meyerson (Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001): 13-42.
- Hoekstra M. (2009) “The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on
Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach”, Review of Economics and Statistics 2009, 91
(4): 717-724*
- Cadena and Keys (2013) “Can Self-Control Explain Avoiding Free Money? Evidence
from Interest-Free Student Loans”, Review of Economics and Statistics 95 (4), 1117-1129
- Deming, Goldin and Katz (2012) “The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector:
Nimble Critters or Agile Predators?” Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 26, Pages
139–164
- Lang, K. and Weinstein, R. (2013) “The Wage Effects of Not-for-Profit and For-
Profit Certifications: Better Data, Somewhat Different Results,” Labour Economics: 230-
43.
- Hoxby, Caroline, and Christopher Avery. forthcoming. "The Missing "One-offs":
The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low Income Students," Brookings Papers on
Economic Activity. (Also NBER Working Paper 18586.)
- Bettinger, Eric, Bridget Long, Phil Oreopoulos and Lisa Sanbonmatsu, (2012) "The
Role of Simplification and Information: Evidence from the FAFSA Experiment.” Quarterly
Journal of Economics 127 (3), 1205-1242.
- Caroline Hoxby and Sarah Turner. 2013. “Expanding College Opportunities for
High-Achieving, Low Income Students”, SIEPR Discussion Paper 12-014*
Discrimination
- Borjas (chapter 9)
Facts
- Bertrand, Goldin and Katz, (2010) “Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young
Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors”, American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics 2: 228–255*
- Neal, Derek and Johnson, William. (1996) " The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-
White Wage Differences", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 104, No. 5, pp. 869-895
- Fryer R, Levitt S. (2004) “Understanding The Black-White Test Score Gap in the First
Two Years of School”, The Review of Economics and Statistics. 86(2): 447–464
Theory
- Hamermesh and Biddle, (1994) “Beauty and the Labor Market”, The American
Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, (Dec., 1994), pp. 1174-1194
- Phelps, (1972) “The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism”, The American Economic
Review, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 659-661
- Arrow, K.J., (1973). The Theory of Discrimination. In: Ashenfelter, O., Rees, A. (Eds.),
Discrimination in Labor Markets. Princeton University Press, pp. 3–33.
- Aigner, D., Cain, G., (1977) “Statistical Theories of Discrimination in the Labor Market”
Ind. Labor Relat. Rev. 30 (2), 175–187
Empirics
- Kerwin Kofi Charles & Jonathan Guryan, (2008). "Prejudice and Wages: An Empirical
Assessment of Becker's The Economics of Discrimination," Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 773-809
- Sandra E. Black and Philip E. Strahan (2001) “The Division of Spoils: Rent-Sharing and
Discrimination in a Regulated Industry” The American Economic Review Vol. 91, No. 4, pp.
814-831
- Levine, R., A. Levkov and Y. Rubinstein (2009), Racial Discrimination and Competition,
Working Paper 14273
- Goldin C. and C. Rouse (2000) Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind"
Auditions on Female Musicians, American Economic Review , vol 90 (4): 715-741*
- Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan (2004) “Are Emily and Greg More
Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination”,
The American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 4, pp. 991-1013*
Incentive Contracts
- Borjas (chapter 11)
- Lazear, E. P., (2000): “Performance Pay and Productivity.” American Economic Review, 90,
1346-1361.*
- Falk, A., and A. Ichino (2006) “Clean Evidence on Peer Effects.” Journal of Labor Economics
24, no. 1: 39-57.
- Mas, A and E. Moretti, (2009), “Peers at Work”, American Economic Review 99(1), 112-45
- Bandiera, O., I. Barankay, and I. Rasul. (2005) “Social Preferences and the Response to
Incentives: Evidence from Personnel Data.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 120, no. 3:
917-962*
Modalità di svolgimento
Lezioni ed esercitazioni in classe
Teaching methods
Lessons and practices in class
Regolamento Esame
L'esame finale è una prova scritta di due ore composta da quattro domande (esercizi matematici, possibilmente la discussione di un articolo scelto tra quelli discussi in classe). Ogni domanda potrebbe essere divisa in ”sottodomande”. Per superare l'esame è necessario ottenere un punteggio di 18 in almeno tre domande. Il voto finale è dato dal voto medio delle quattro domande. In ogni domanda la scala dei voti va da 0 a 34, quindi gli studenti possono ottenere un punteggio finale di 30 anche senza rispondere perfettamente a tutte le domande. Le domande sono rivolte a verificare che lo studente abbia acquisito una solida conoscenza del funzionamento dei mercati del lavoro moderni, sia dal punto di vista teorico che empirico, con particolare attenzione agli sviluppi più recenti. C’è un solo esame nelle sessioni estive ed autunnali (e un mid-term exam subito dopo la fine del corso). Nella sessione invernale ci sono due esami ma lo studente può scegliere di sostenerne solo uno. Inoltre, gli studenti possono decidere di fare delle presentazioni durante il corso. Ad ogni presentazione verrà assegnato un punteggio da 0 a +3, arrotondato al numero intero più vicino per determinare il voto finale degli studenti. Il punteggio per le presentazioni viene considerato valido solo per la prima sessione d'esame dopo il corso. Ritiri da presentazioni programmate saranno contrassegnati con -1. Gli studenti che decidono di non fare una presentazione dovranno completare un esercizio empirico in STATA su uno degli argomenti trattati durante il corso. Sarà classificato con un fail o pass. La registrazione del voto finale è subordinata all'ottenimento di un pass in questa sezione di esercizi. Il materiale dell’esercizio empirico sarà reso disponibile all'inizio del corso e dovrebbe essere presentato almeno una settimana prima dell'esame.
Exam Rules
The final exam is a two-hours written test consisting of four questions (mathematical exercises, possibly the discussion of an article chosen among those discussed in class). Within each question there might be a choice of "subquestions". To pass the exam it is necessary to obtain a mark of 18 in at least three questions. The mark for the written exam is given by the average mark of the four questions. In each question the scale of marks goes from 0 to 34, so students can obtain a final mark of 30 even without answering all the questions perfectly. Questions are aimed at assessing whether the student has acquired a solid knowledge of the functioning of a modern labor market, both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view, with a special attention to the recent developments. There is one exam in the Summer and Fall sessions (also a midterm exam right after the end of the course). In the Winter term there are two exams but you can sit only in one. Additionally, students can volunteer to give presentations and have their mark added to the mark of the exam. Each presentation will be given a mark from 0 to +3, which is added to the mark of the first exam session (and midterm) after the course only and rounded to the nearest integer to determine the final mark of the students. Withdrawals from scheduled presentations will be marked with -1. Students who do not give a presentation will have to complete an empirical exercise in STATA on one of the topics covered during the course. It will be graded with a fail or pass. Final mark registration is conditional on obtaining a pass in this exercise section. The exercise material will be made available at the beginning of the course and should be submitted at least one week before the exam.
EN
IT
Obiettivi Formativi
OBIETTIVI FORMATIVI: Introdurre gli studenti ai fondamenti di Economia del Lavoro, con un approccio sia teorico che empirico. La struttura del corso approfondisce, da un lato, i problemi teorici relativi al comportamento dei lavoratori e delle imprese nella determinazione dei salari e dell'occupazione; dall'altro, introduce lo studente alla metodologia di analisi applicata ai problemi del mercato del lavoro. Particolare attenzione è data alle tematiche relative all’economia dell’istruzione. Il corso affronta inoltre le tematiche legate alla gestione delle risorse umane ed alle relazioni industriali.
CONOSCENZA E CAPACITÀ DI COMPRENSIONE: L'obiettivo finale è quello di far acquisire una padronanza degli strumenti analitici per poter comprendere ed analizzare il mercato e le politiche del lavoro.
CAPACITÀ DI APPLICARE CONOSCENZA E COMPRENSIONE: Alla fine del corso, lo studente avrà acquisito il necessario bagaglio teorico e metodologico per analizzare e comprendere il mercato del lavoro sia nelle sue caratteristiche strutturali che nelle sue recenti evoluzioni. Avrà inoltre approfondito gli strumenti necessari per disegnare, implementare e valutare le politiche del lavoro.
AUTONOMIA DI GIUDIZIO: Gli studenti devono saper utilizzare sul piano concettuale le conoscenze acquisite per interpretare i fenomeni che accadono nella realtà che li circonda.
ABILITÀ COMUNICATIVE: Gli studenti devono acquisire il linguaggio tecnico tipico dell’economia del lavoro per comunicare in modo chiaro e senza ambiguità i concetti appresi.
Learning Objectives
LEARNING OUTCOMES: The main goal of the course is to introduce the student to the main concepts of Labor Economics, with both a theoretical and an empirical approach. The course deals with the theoretical problems related to the behavior of workers and firms when determining wages and employment; additionally, it introduces the student to the empirical methodology applied to the labor market problems. Particular attention is given to issues related to the economics of education. The course also covers topics in human resource management and industrial relations.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The final goal is to gain knowledge of the analytical tools to study and understand labor market policies and operate in the field of labor economics.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS: At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the theoretical and methodological tools to analyze and understand the labor market both in its structural characteristics and in its recent developments. She will also have gained familiarity with the tools necessary to design, implement and evaluate labor policies.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Students must be able to use the tools learned during the course to interpret the labor market phenomena.
LEARNING SKILLS: Students must acquire the technical language typical of labor economics to elaborate in a clear and unambiguous way the concepts learned during the course.
Prerequisiti
È necessario aver coperto il materiale di un buon programma di economia a livello di laurea triennale: una buona conoscenza della microeconomia avanzata (non faremo quasi mai uso della macroeconomia), matematica, comprensione di base dell'econometria, almeno regressione multipla (capire come interpretare i coefficienti di regressione e conoscere i problemi nel loro utilizzo) e conoscenza di STATA.
Prerequisites
The student should have covered the material of a good undergraduate economics program: a good working knowledge of advanced microeconomics (we will make almost no use of macroeconomics), mathematics, as a basic understanding of econometrics, at least multiple regression (the student should understand how to interpret regression coefficients and be aware of possible pitfalls in their use) and STATA practice.
Programma
Offerta di lavoro (pensionamento, famiglia), domanda di lavoro, equilibrio del mercato del lavoro (salario minimo, imposte sui salari, immigrazione, distribuzione salariale), istruzione (capitale umano, signaling, qualità dell'istruzione), discriminazione (razza, genere), retribuzioni in base alle prestazioni (piece-rate, team), modelli di disoccupazione.
Program
Labor supply (retirement, family), labor demand, labor market equilibrium (minimum wages, payroll taxes, immigration, wage distribution), education (human capital, signaling), discrimination (race, gender), pay based on performance (piece-rate, team), unemployment.
Testi Adottati
Il materiale per questo corso (programma, note, annunci, materiale) è pubblicato sulla pagina web del corso. Nessun singolo libro di testo copre tutto il materiale presentato nel corso. Un numero di letture consigliate saranno costituite da articoli di riviste. I libri che verranno utilizzati più frequentemente sono i seguenti:
- Borjas, "Economia del lavoro", McGraw-Hill, 2010 (possono essere usate anche nuove edizioni). Il libro di testo è un libro di livello di laurea triennale, quindi la copertura del materiale sarà un po' meno avanzata di quello che verrà fatto in classe.
- Un testo di livello di laurea specialistica in economia del lavoro è Cahuc, Carcillo e Zylberberg, "Labour Economics", MIT Press, 2004 (possono essere utilizzate anche nuove edizioni).
- L'economia del lavoro è un campo con uso intenso di applicazioni empiriche e molte nuove tecniche empiriche sono state sviluppato per rispondere a domande di economia del lavoro. Il testo di riferimento è Angrist and Pischke, "Mostly Harmless Econometrics", Princeton University Press, 2009.
Tutti i testi sono disponibili presso la Biblioteca Vilfredo Pareto, situata nell'edificio B. Le note di classe, così come ogni altro materiale / lettura, saranno disponibili sul sito del corso.
Books
The material for this course (syllabus, notes, announcements, materials) will be posted on the course webpage. No single textbook covers all the material presented in this course. A number of the recommended readings will consist of journal articles. The books that will be used more frequently are the following:
- One suggested text is Borjas, “Labor Economics”, McGraw-Hill, 2010. (previous and new editions can also be used). The textbook is an undergraduate-level textbook, so the coverage of the material will be a bit less advanced than what will be done in class.
- A graduate-level text in labor economics is Cahuc, Carcillo and Zylberberg, “Labor Economics”, MIT Press, 2004 (new editions can also be used).
- Labor economics is a data-intensive field, and many new empirical techniques have been developed to answer labor economics questions. The reference book is: Angrist and Pischke, “Mostly Harmless Econometrics”, Princeton University Press, 2009.
All readings are available through the Biblioteca Vilfredo Pareto, located in the building B. Class notes, as well as any other additional material/reading, will be available on the course web page.
Bibliografia
Questa lista è indicativa e può essere soggetta a cambiamenti. In particolare, letture addizionali possono essere fornite durante il corso. Letture segnate con * (o con Required Readings) rappresentano letture obbligatorie, tutte le altre letture (o indicate con Additional Readings) rappresentano suggerimenti.
Introduction and Methods
- Borjas (chapter 1)
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1999): “Empirical Strategies in Labor Economics”, in
Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. Ashenfelter and Card, vol 3, North Holland,
Amsterdam.
Labor Supply
- Borjas (chapter 2)
- Imbens, G. W., D. B. Rubin and B. Sacerdote (2001): “Estimating the Effect of Unearned
Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery
Players.” American Economic Review, 91, 778-94.*
- Eissa, N. and J. B. Liebman (1996): “Labor Supply Response to the Earned Income Tax
Credit.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, 605-37.*
- Krueger, A. and S. Pischke (1992): “The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A
Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 10, 412-437.*
Labor Demand
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Hamermesh, D. S. (1986): “The Demand for Labor in the Long Run.” Handbook of Labor
Economics, vol. 1, pp. 429-71.
- Acemoglu, D.; Autor, D. H. and D. Lyle (2004): “Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of
Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury.” Journal of Political Economy,
112, 497-551.*
Minimum Wage
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Kennan, J. (1995): “The Elusive Effect of Minimum Wages.” Journal of Economic
Literature.
- Card, D. and A.B. Krueger (1994): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of
the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84,
772-793.*
- Neumark, D. and W. Wascher (2006): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of
Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research.” NBER WP 12663.*
- Allegretto, S., Dube, A., Reich, M. and B. Zipperer (2013): “Credible Research Designs for
Minimum Wage Studies.” IZA DP 7638.
Payroll-taxes
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Gruber, J. (1997): “The Incidence of Payroll Taxation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 72-
101.
Immigration
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Card, D. (1990): “The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market.”
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43, 245-57.*
- Borjas, G. J. (2003): “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the
Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1335-
1374.*
- Ottaviano G. and G. Peri (2012): “Rethinking the Gains from Immigration: Theory and
Evidence from the U.S.” Journal of the European Economic Association, 10, 152-197.*
Inequality
- Borjas (chapter 7)
- Atkinson, A., Piketty T. and E. Saez (2011): “Top Incomes in the Long Run of History.”
Journal of Economic Literature, 49, 3-71.*
- Autor, D. H., L. F. Katz and M. S. Kearney (2008): “Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising
the Revisionists.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 90, 300-323.
- Autor, D. H., Dorn, D. and G. H. Hanson (2013): “The China Syndrome: Local Labor
Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States.” American Economic Review,
103, 2121-2168.*
- Krueger, A. B. (2005): “The Economics of Real Superstars: The Market for Rock Concerts
in the Material World.” Journal of Labor Economics, 23, 1-30.*
- Autor, D.H., Katz L.F. and A. B. Krueger (1998): “Computing Inequality: Have Computers
Changed the Labor Market?.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, 1169-1213.*
Human Capital
- Borjas (chapter 6)
- Griliches Z. (1977) “Estimating the Returns to Schooling: Some Econometric
Problems” Econometrica, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 1-22
- Ashenfelter, O. and C. Rouse (1998) “Income, Schooling, and Ability: Evidence
from a New Sample of Identical Twins”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 113, No.
1, pp. 253-284*
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1991) “Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect
Schooling and Earnings?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 979-
1014*
- Card, D (1995) “Using Geographic Variation in College Proximity to Estimate the
Return to Schooling”, In L.N. Christofides, E.K. Grant, and R. Swidinsky, editors, Aspects of
Labor Market Behaviour: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkamp, University of Toronto
Press, Toronto. http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/geo_var_schooling.pdf*
- Griliches, Z. and M. William (1972): “Education, Income and Ability.” Journal of
Political Economy, 80, 74-103.
- Ashenfelter, O. and A. B. Krueger (1994): “Estimates for the Economic Returns to
Schooling for a New Sample of Twins.” American Economic Review, 84, 1157-1173.
- Altonji, J. G. and C. R. Pierret (2001): “Employer Learning and Statistical
Discrimination.” Quarterly Journal of Economics,
Signaling
- Card, D. “The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings”, Handbook of Labour
Economics, vol. 3, Chapter 30, eds. O. Ashenfelter and D. Card.
http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/causal_educ_earnings.pdf*
- Tyler, J., R. Murnane, J. Willet (2000) “Estimating the Signaling Value of the GED”,
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 115, no.2, pp. 431-468.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2586999.pdf*
- Lang, K. And D. Kropp (1986) “Human Capital Versus Sorting: The Effects of
Compulsory Attendance Laws”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 101, no.3, pp.
609-624. http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/classes/eco7321/papers/lang%20kropp.pdf
- Jaeger, D. A. and M. E. Page (1996): “Degrees Matter: New Evidence on Sheepskin
Effects in the Returns to Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, 733-740.
More on college investment
- Christopher Avery and Sarah Turner. 2012. “Student Loans: Do College Students
Borrow Too Much--Or Not Enough?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(1): 165–92
- Hoxby, “The Return to Attending a More Selective College: 1960 to the Present,”
in Forum Futures: Exploring the Future of Higher Education”, eds. Maureen Devlin and
Joel Meyerson (Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001): 13-42.
- Hoekstra M. (2009) “The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on
Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach”, Review of Economics and Statistics 2009, 91
(4): 717-724*
- Cadena and Keys (2013) “Can Self-Control Explain Avoiding Free Money? Evidence
from Interest-Free Student Loans”, Review of Economics and Statistics 95 (4), 1117-1129
- Deming, Goldin and Katz (2012) “The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector:
Nimble Critters or Agile Predators?” Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 26, Pages
139–164
- Lang, K. and Weinstein, R. (2013) “The Wage Effects of Not-for-Profit and For-
Profit Certifications: Better Data, Somewhat Different Results,” Labour Economics: 230-
43.
- Hoxby, Caroline, and Christopher Avery. forthcoming. "The Missing "One-offs":
The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low Income Students," Brookings Papers on
Economic Activity. (Also NBER Working Paper 18586.)
- Bettinger, Eric, Bridget Long, Phil Oreopoulos and Lisa Sanbonmatsu, (2012) "The
Role of Simplification and Information: Evidence from the FAFSA Experiment.” Quarterly
Journal of Economics 127 (3), 1205-1242.
- Caroline Hoxby and Sarah Turner. 2013. “Expanding College Opportunities for
High-Achieving, Low Income Students”, SIEPR Discussion Paper 12-014*
Discrimination
- Borjas (chapter 9)
Facts
- Bertrand, Goldin and Katz, (2010) “Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young
Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors”, American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics 2: 228–255*
- Neal, Derek and Johnson, William. (1996) " The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-
White Wage Differences", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 104, No. 5, pp. 869-895
- Fryer R, Levitt S. (2004) “Understanding The Black-White Test Score Gap in the First
Two Years of School”, The Review of Economics and Statistics. 86(2): 447–464
Theory
- Hamermesh and Biddle, (1994) “Beauty and the Labor Market”, The American
Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, (Dec., 1994), pp. 1174-1194
- Phelps, (1972) “The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism”, The American Economic
Review, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 659-661
- Arrow, K.J., (1973). The Theory of Discrimination. In: Ashenfelter, O., Rees, A. (Eds.),
Discrimination in Labor Markets. Princeton University Press, pp. 3–33.
- Aigner, D., Cain, G., (1977) “Statistical Theories of Discrimination in the Labor Market”
Ind. Labor Relat. Rev. 30 (2), 175–187
Empirics
- Kerwin Kofi Charles & Jonathan Guryan, (2008). "Prejudice and Wages: An Empirical
Assessment of Becker's The Economics of Discrimination," Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 773-809
- Sandra E. Black and Philip E. Strahan (2001) “The Division of Spoils: Rent-Sharing and
Discrimination in a Regulated Industry” The American Economic Review Vol. 91, No. 4, pp.
814-831
- Levine, R., A. Levkov and Y. Rubinstein (2009), Racial Discrimination and Competition,
Working Paper 14273
- Goldin C. and C. Rouse (2000) Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind"
Auditions on Female Musicians, American Economic Review , vol 90 (4): 715-741*
- Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan (2004) “Are Emily and Greg More
Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination”,
The American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 4, pp. 991-1013*
Incentive Contracts
- Borjas (chapter 11)
- Lazear, E. P., (2000): “Performance Pay and Productivity.” American Economic Review, 90,
1346-1361.*
- Falk, A., and A. Ichino (2006) “Clean Evidence on Peer Effects.” Journal of Labor Economics
24, no. 1: 39-57.
- Mas, A and E. Moretti, (2009), “Peers at Work”, American Economic Review 99(1), 112-45
- Bandiera, O., I. Barankay, and I. Rasul. (2005) “Social Preferences and the Response to
Incentives: Evidence from Personnel Data.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 120, no. 3:
917-962*
Bibliography
This list is indicative, and can be subject to some changes. In particular, further readings may be provided during the lectures. Readings marked with a * (or with Required Readings) represent compulsory reading, all other readings (or under Additional Readings) are just suggestions.
Introduction and Methods
- Borjas (chapter 1)
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1999): “Empirical Strategies in Labor Economics”, in
Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. Ashenfelter and Card, vol 3, North Holland,
Amsterdam.
Labor Supply
- Borjas (chapter 2)
- Imbens, G. W., D. B. Rubin and B. Sacerdote (2001): “Estimating the Effect of Unearned
Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery
Players.” American Economic Review, 91, 778-94.*
- Eissa, N. and J. B. Liebman (1996): “Labor Supply Response to the Earned Income Tax
Credit.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, 605-37.*
- Krueger, A. and S. Pischke (1992): “The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A
Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 10, 412-437.*
Labor Demand
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Hamermesh, D. S. (1986): “The Demand for Labor in the Long Run.” Handbook of Labor
Economics, vol. 1, pp. 429-71.
- Acemoglu, D.; Autor, D. H. and D. Lyle (2004): “Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of
Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury.” Journal of Political Economy,
112, 497-551.*
Minimum Wage
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Kennan, J. (1995): “The Elusive Effect of Minimum Wages.” Journal of Economic
Literature.
- Card, D. and A.B. Krueger (1994): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of
the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84,
772-793.*
- Neumark, D. and W. Wascher (2006): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of
Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research.” NBER WP 12663.*
- Allegretto, S., Dube, A., Reich, M. and B. Zipperer (2013): “Credible Research Designs for
Minimum Wage Studies.” IZA DP 7638.
Payroll-taxes
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Gruber, J. (1997): “The Incidence of Payroll Taxation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 72-
101.
Immigration
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Card, D. (1990): “The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market.”
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43, 245-57.*
- Borjas, G. J. (2003): “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the
Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1335-
1374.*
- Ottaviano G. and G. Peri (2012): “Rethinking the Gains from Immigration: Theory and
Evidence from the U.S.” Journal of the European Economic Association, 10, 152-197.*
Inequality
- Borjas (chapter 7)
- Atkinson, A., Piketty T. and E. Saez (2011): “Top Incomes in the Long Run of History.”
Journal of Economic Literature, 49, 3-71.*
- Autor, D. H., L. F. Katz and M. S. Kearney (2008): “Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising
the Revisionists.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 90, 300-323.
- Autor, D. H., Dorn, D. and G. H. Hanson (2013): “The China Syndrome: Local Labor
Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States.” American Economic Review,
103, 2121-2168.*
- Krueger, A. B. (2005): “The Economics of Real Superstars: The Market for Rock Concerts
in the Material World.” Journal of Labor Economics, 23, 1-30.*
- Autor, D.H., Katz L.F. and A. B. Krueger (1998): “Computing Inequality: Have Computers
Changed the Labor Market?.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, 1169-1213.*
Human Capital
- Borjas (chapter 6)
- Griliches Z. (1977) “Estimating the Returns to Schooling: Some Econometric
Problems” Econometrica, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 1-22
- Ashenfelter, O. and C. Rouse (1998) “Income, Schooling, and Ability: Evidence
from a New Sample of Identical Twins”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 113, No.
1, pp. 253-284*
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1991) “Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect
Schooling and Earnings?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 979-
1014*
- Card, D (1995) “Using Geographic Variation in College Proximity to Estimate the
Return to Schooling”, In L.N. Christofides, E.K. Grant, and R. Swidinsky, editors, Aspects of
Labor Market Behaviour: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkamp, University of Toronto
Press, Toronto. http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/geo_var_schooling.pdf*
- Griliches, Z. and M. William (1972): “Education, Income and Ability.” Journal of
Political Economy, 80, 74-103.
- Ashenfelter, O. and A. B. Krueger (1994): “Estimates for the Economic Returns to
Schooling for a New Sample of Twins.” American Economic Review, 84, 1157-1173.
- Altonji, J. G. and C. R. Pierret (2001): “Employer Learning and Statistical
Discrimination.” Quarterly Journal of Economics,
Signaling
- Card, D. “The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings”, Handbook of Labour
Economics, vol. 3, Chapter 30, eds. O. Ashenfelter and D. Card.
http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/causal_educ_earnings.pdf*
- Tyler, J., R. Murnane, J. Willet (2000) “Estimating the Signaling Value of the GED”,
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 115, no.2, pp. 431-468.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2586999.pdf*
- Lang, K. And D. Kropp (1986) “Human Capital Versus Sorting: The Effects of
Compulsory Attendance Laws”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 101, no.3, pp.
609-624. http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/classes/eco7321/papers/lang%20kropp.pdf
- Jaeger, D. A. and M. E. Page (1996): “Degrees Matter: New Evidence on Sheepskin
Effects in the Returns to Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, 733-740.
More on college investment
- Christopher Avery and Sarah Turner. 2012. “Student Loans: Do College Students
Borrow Too Much--Or Not Enough?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(1): 165–92
- Hoxby, “The Return to Attending a More Selective College: 1960 to the Present,”
in Forum Futures: Exploring the Future of Higher Education”, eds. Maureen Devlin and
Joel Meyerson (Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001): 13-42.
- Hoekstra M. (2009) “The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on
Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach”, Review of Economics and Statistics 2009, 91
(4): 717-724*
- Cadena and Keys (2013) “Can Self-Control Explain Avoiding Free Money? Evidence
from Interest-Free Student Loans”, Review of Economics and Statistics 95 (4), 1117-1129
- Deming, Goldin and Katz (2012) “The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector:
Nimble Critters or Agile Predators?” Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 26, Pages
139–164
- Lang, K. and Weinstein, R. (2013) “The Wage Effects of Not-for-Profit and For-
Profit Certifications: Better Data, Somewhat Different Results,” Labour Economics: 230-
43.
- Hoxby, Caroline, and Christopher Avery. forthcoming. "The Missing "One-offs":
The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low Income Students," Brookings Papers on
Economic Activity. (Also NBER Working Paper 18586.)
- Bettinger, Eric, Bridget Long, Phil Oreopoulos and Lisa Sanbonmatsu, (2012) "The
Role of Simplification and Information: Evidence from the FAFSA Experiment.” Quarterly
Journal of Economics 127 (3), 1205-1242.
- Caroline Hoxby and Sarah Turner. 2013. “Expanding College Opportunities for
High-Achieving, Low Income Students”, SIEPR Discussion Paper 12-014*
Discrimination
- Borjas (chapter 9)
Facts
- Bertrand, Goldin and Katz, (2010) “Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young
Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors”, American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics 2: 228–255*
- Neal, Derek and Johnson, William. (1996) " The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-
White Wage Differences", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 104, No. 5, pp. 869-895
- Fryer R, Levitt S. (2004) “Understanding The Black-White Test Score Gap in the First
Two Years of School”, The Review of Economics and Statistics. 86(2): 447–464
Theory
- Hamermesh and Biddle, (1994) “Beauty and the Labor Market”, The American
Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, (Dec., 1994), pp. 1174-1194
- Phelps, (1972) “The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism”, The American Economic
Review, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 659-661
- Arrow, K.J., (1973). The Theory of Discrimination. In: Ashenfelter, O., Rees, A. (Eds.),
Discrimination in Labor Markets. Princeton University Press, pp. 3–33.
- Aigner, D., Cain, G., (1977) “Statistical Theories of Discrimination in the Labor Market”
Ind. Labor Relat. Rev. 30 (2), 175–187
Empirics
- Kerwin Kofi Charles & Jonathan Guryan, (2008). "Prejudice and Wages: An Empirical
Assessment of Becker's The Economics of Discrimination," Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 773-809
- Sandra E. Black and Philip E. Strahan (2001) “The Division of Spoils: Rent-Sharing and
Discrimination in a Regulated Industry” The American Economic Review Vol. 91, No. 4, pp.
814-831
- Levine, R., A. Levkov and Y. Rubinstein (2009), Racial Discrimination and Competition,
Working Paper 14273
- Goldin C. and C. Rouse (2000) Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind"
Auditions on Female Musicians, American Economic Review , vol 90 (4): 715-741*
- Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan (2004) “Are Emily and Greg More
Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination”,
The American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 4, pp. 991-1013*
Incentive Contracts
- Borjas (chapter 11)
- Lazear, E. P., (2000): “Performance Pay and Productivity.” American Economic Review, 90,
1346-1361.*
- Falk, A., and A. Ichino (2006) “Clean Evidence on Peer Effects.” Journal of Labor Economics
24, no. 1: 39-57.
- Mas, A and E. Moretti, (2009), “Peers at Work”, American Economic Review 99(1), 112-45
- Bandiera, O., I. Barankay, and I. Rasul. (2005) “Social Preferences and the Response to
Incentives: Evidence from Personnel Data.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 120, no. 3:
917-962*
Modalità di svolgimento
Lezioni ed esercitazioni in classe
Teaching methods
Lessons and practices in class
Regolamento Esame
L'esame finale è una prova scritta di due ore composta da quattro domande (esercizi matematici, possibilmente la discussione di un articolo scelto tra quelli discussi in classe). Ogni domanda potrebbe essere divisa in ”sottodomande”. Per superare l'esame è necessario ottenere un punteggio di 18 in almeno tre domande. Il voto finale è dato dal voto medio delle quattro domande. In ogni domanda la scala dei voti va da 0 a 34, quindi gli studenti possono ottenere un punteggio finale di 30 anche senza rispondere perfettamente a tutte le domande. Le domande sono rivolte a verificare che lo studente abbia acquisito una solida conoscenza del funzionamento dei mercati del lavoro moderni, sia dal punto di vista teorico che empirico, con particolare attenzione agli sviluppi più recenti. C’è un solo esame nelle sessioni estive ed autunnali (e un mid-term exam subito dopo la fine del corso). Nella sessione invernale ci sono due esami ma lo studente può scegliere di sostenerne solo uno. Inoltre, gli studenti possono decidere di fare delle presentazioni durante il corso. Ad ogni presentazione verrà assegnato un punteggio da 0 a +3, arrotondato al numero intero più vicino per determinare il voto finale degli studenti. Il punteggio per le presentazioni viene considerato valido solo per la prima sessione d'esame dopo il corso. Ritiri da presentazioni programmate saranno contrassegnati con -2. Gli studenti che decidono di non fare una presentazione dovranno completare un esercizio empirico in STATA su uno degli argomenti trattati durante il corso. Sarà classificato con un fail o pass. La registrazione del voto finale è subordinata all'ottenimento di un pass in questa sezione di esercizi. Il materiale dell’esercizio empirico sarà reso disponibile all'inizio del corso e dovrebbe essere presentato almeno una settimana prima dell'esame.
Exam Rules
The final exam is a two-hour written test consisting of four questions (mathematical exercises, possibly the discussion of an article chosen among those discussed in class). Within each question there might be a choice of "subquestions". To pass the exam it is necessary to obtain a mark of 18 in at least three questions. The mark for the written exam is given by the average mark of the four questions. In each question the scale of marks goes from 0 to 34, so students can obtain a final mark of 30 even without answering all the questions perfectly. Questions are aimed at assessing whether the student has acquired a solid knowledge of the functioning of a modern labor market, both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view, with a special attention to the recent developments. There is one exam in the Summer and Fall sessions (also a midterm exam right after the end of the course). In the Winter term there are two exams but you can sit only in one. Additionally, students can volunteer to give presentations and have their mark added to the mark of the exam. Each presentation will be given a mark from 0 to +3, which is added to the mark of the first exam session (and midterm) after the course only and rounded to the nearest integer to determine the final mark of the students. Withdrawals from scheduled presentations will be marked with -2. Students who do not give a presentation will have to complete an empirical exercise in STATA on one of the topics covered during the course. It will be graded with a fail or pass. Final mark registration is conditional on obtaining a pass in this exercise section. The exercise material will be made available at the beginning of the course and should be submitted at least one week before the exam.
Updated A.Y. 2021-2022
Updated A.Y. 2021-2022
Introduction and Methods
- Borjas (chapter 1)
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1999): “Empirical Strategies in Labor Economics”, in Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. Ashenfelter and Card, vol 3, North Holland, Amsterdam.
Labor Supply
- Borjas (chapter 2)
- Imbens, G. W., D. B. Rubin and B. Sacerdote (2001): “Estimating the Effect of Unearned Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players.” American Economic Review, 91, 778-94.*s
- Eissa, N. and J. B. Liebman (1996): “Labor Supply Response to the Earned Income Tax Credit.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, 605-37.*
- Krueger, A. and S. Pischke (1992): “The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 10, 412-437.*
- Biddle, J. and D. Hamermesh (1989): “Sleep and the Allocation of Time.” Journal of Political Economy, 98, 922-943
Labor Demand
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Hamermesh, D. S. (1986): “The Demand for Labor in the Long Run.” Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 1, pp. 429-71.
- Acemoglu, D.; Autor, D. H. and D. Lyle (2004): “Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury.” Journal of Political Economy, 112, 497-551.*
Minimum Wage
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Kennan, J. (1995): “The Elusive Effect of Minimum Wages.” Journal of Economic Literature.
- Card, D. and A.B. Krueger (1994): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84, 772-793.*
- Neumark, D. and W. Wascher (2006): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research.” NBER WP 12663.
- Allegretto, S., Dube, A., Reich, M. and B. Zipperer (2013): “Credible Research Designs for Minimum Wage Studies.” IZA DP 7638.
Payroll-taxes
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Gruber, J. (1997): “The Incidence of Payroll Taxation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 72-101.
Immigration
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Card, D. (1990): “The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43, 245-57.*
- Borjas, G. J. (2003): “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1335-1374.
- Ottaviano G. and G. Peri (2012): “Rethinking the Gains from Immigration: Theory and Evidence from the U.S.” Journal of the European Economic Association, 10, 152-197.
- Tabellini, M. (2020): "Gifts of the Immigrants, Woes of the Natives: Lessons from the Age of Mass Migration." Review of Economic Studies, 87, 454–486.
Human Capital
- Borjas (chapter 6)
- Griliches, Z. and M. William (1972): “Education, Income and Ability.” Journal of Political Economy, 80, 74-103.*
- Ashenfelter, O. and A. B. Krueger (1994): “Estimates for the Economic Returns to Schooling for a New Sample of Twins.” American Economic Review, 84, 1157-1173.*
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1991): “Does compulsory school attendance affect schooling and earnings?. ” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106, 979-1014.
- Jaeger, D. A. and M. E. Page (1996): “Degrees Matter: New Evidence on Sheepskin Effects in the Returns to Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, 733-740.*
- Altonji, J. G. and C. R. Pierret (2001): “Employer Learning and Statistical Discrimination.” Quarterly Journal of Economics,.*
Inequality
- Borjas (chapter 7)
- Atkinson, A., Piketty T. and E. Saez (2011): “Top Incomes in the Long Run of History.” Journal of Economic Literature, 49, 3-71.*
- Autor, D. H., L. F. Katz and M. S. Kearney (2008): “Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising the Revisionists.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 90, 300-323.
- Autor, D. H., Dorn, D. and G. H. Hanson (2013): “The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States.” American Economic Review, 103, 2121-2168.*
- Krueger, A. B. (2005): “The Economics of Real Superstars: The Market for Rock Concerts in the Material World.” Journal of Labor Economics, 23, 1-30.*
- Autor, D.H., Katz L.F. and A. B. Krueger (1998): “Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, 1169-1213.*
Intergenerational Mobility
- Solon, G. (1992): “Intergenerational Income Mobility in the United States.” American Economic Review, 82, 393-408.*
- Corak, M. (2013). “Inequality from Generation to Generation,” in (R. Rycroft, ed.) The Economics of Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination in the 21st Century, ABC-CLIO.
- Chetty, R., Hendren, N., P. Kline and E. Saez (2014): “Where Is The Land Of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility In The United States.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, forthcoming. *
Discrimination
- Borjas (chapter 9)
- Bertrand, M. and S. Mullainathan (2004): “Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination.” American Economic Review, 94, 991-1013. *
- Goldin, C. and C. Rouse (2000): “Orchestrating impartiality: The impact of "blind" auditions on female musicians.” American Economic Review, 90, 715-741.*
- Azmat, G., and R. Ferrer (2017): “Gender Gaps in Performance: Evidence from Young Lawyers.” Journal of Political Economy, 125, 1306-1355.
- Heckman, J., Pinto, R., and P. Savelyev (2013). “Understanding the Mechanisms through Which an Influential Early Childhood Program Boosted Adult Outcomes.” American Economic Review, 103, 2052-2086.
Incentive Contracts
- Borjas (chapter 11)
- Lazear, E. P., (2000): “Performance Pay and Productivity.” American Economic Review, 90, 1346-1361.
Unemployment
- Borjas (chapter 12)
Updated A.Y. 2019-2020
Updated A.Y. 2019-2020
Material
In the following pages you will find the detailed reading list for each topic. This list is indicative, and can be subject to some changes. In particular, further readings may be provided during the lectures. Readings marked with a * (or with Required Readings) represent compulsory reading, all other readings (or under Additional Readings) are just suggestions.
Introduction and Methods
- Borjas (chapter 1)
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1999): “Empirical Strategies in Labor Economics”, in Handbook of Labor Economics, ed. Ashenfelter and Card, vol 3, North Holland, Amsterdam.
Labor Supply
- Borjas (chapter 2)
- Imbens, G. W., D. B. Rubin and B. Sacerdote (2001): “Estimating the Effect of Unearned Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players.” American Economic Review, 91, 778-94.*
- Eissa, N. and J. B. Liebman (1996): “Labor Supply Response to the Earned Income Tax Credit.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111, 605-37.*
- Krueger, A. and S. Pischke (1992): “The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 10, 412-437.*
Labor Demand
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Hamermesh, D. S. (1986): “The Demand for Labor in the Long Run.” Handbook of Labor Economics, vol. 1, pp. 429-71.
- Acemoglu, D.; Autor, D. H. and D. Lyle (2004): “Women, War, and Wages: The Effect of Female Labor Supply on the Wage Structure at Midcentury.” Journal of Political Economy, 112, 497-551.*
Minimum Wage
- Borjas (chapter 3)
- Kennan, J. (1995): “The Elusive Effect of Minimum Wages.” Journal of Economic Literature.
- Card, D. and A.B. Krueger (1994): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84, 772-793.*
- Neumark, D. and W. Wascher (2006): “Minimum Wages and Employment: A Review of Evidence from the New Minimum Wage Research.” NBER WP 12663.*
- Allegretto, S., Dube, A., Reich, M. and B. Zipperer (2013): “Credible Research Designs for Minimum Wage Studies.” IZA DP 7638.
Payroll-taxes
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Gruber, J. (1997): “The Incidence of Payroll Taxation.” Journal of Labor Economics, 15, 72-101.
Immigration
- Borjas (chapter 4)
- Card, D. (1990): “The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 43, 245-57.*
- Borjas, G. J. (2003): “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1335-1374.*
- Ottaviano G. and G. Peri (2012): “Rethinking the Gains from Immigration: Theory and Evidence from the U.S.” Journal of the European Economic Association, 10, 152-197.*
Human Capital
- Borjas (chapter 6)
- Griliches Z. (1977) “Estimating the Returns to Schooling: Some Econometric Problems” Econometrica, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 1-22
- Ashenfelter, O. and C. Rouse (1998) “Income, Schooling, and Ability: Evidence from a New Sample of Identical Twins”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 113, No. 1, pp. 253-284*
- Angrist, J. D. and A. B. Krueger (1991) “Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 979-1014*
- Card, D (1995) “Using Geographic Variation in College Proximity to Estimate the Return to Schooling”, In L.N. Christofides, E.K. Grant, and R. Swidinsky, editors, Aspects of Labor Market Behaviour: Essays in Honour of John Vanderkamp, University of Toronto Press, Toronto. http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/geo_var_schooling.pdf*
- Griliches, Z. and M. William (1972): “Education, Income and Ability.” Journal of Political Economy, 80, 74-103.
- Ashenfelter, O. and A. B. Krueger (1994): “Estimates for the Economic Returns to Schooling for a New Sample of Twins.” American Economic Review, 84, 1157-1173.
- Altonji, J. G. and C. R. Pierret (2001): “Employer Learning and Statistical Discrimination.” Quarterly Journal of Economics,
Signaling
- Card, D. “The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings”, Handbook of Labour Economics, vol. 3, Chapter 30, eds. O. Ashenfelter and D. Card. http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/causal_educ_earnings.pdf*
- Tyler, J., R. Murnane, J. Willet (2000) “Estimating the Signaling Value of the GED”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 115, no.2, pp. 431-468. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2586999.pdf*
- Lang, K. And D. Kropp (1986) “Human Capital Versus Sorting: The Effects of Compulsory Attendance Laws”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 101, no.3, pp. 609-624. http://faculty.smu.edu/millimet/classes/eco7321/papers/lang%20kropp.pdf
- Jaeger, D. A. and M. E. Page (1996): “Degrees Matter: New Evidence on Sheepskin Effects in the Returns to Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 78, 733-740.
School Quality
- Card, D. and A. Krueger (1992) “Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States”, The Journal of Politcal Economy, vol. 100, no. 1, pp. 1-40. http://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/school-quality.pdf*
- Krueger, A. “Experimental Estimates of Education Production Functions”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 114, no. 2, pp. 497-532. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2587015?origin=JSTOR-pdf
- Angrist, J. And V. Lavy (1999) “Using Maimonides Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size on Scholastic Achievement”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 114, no. 2, pp. 533-575.http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/003355399556061*
- Angrist, J., Battistin E., D. Vuri (2014) “In a Small Moment: Moral Hazard and Class Size in Italian Elementary School”, NBER WP 20173
More on college investment
- Christopher Avery and Sarah Turner. 2012. “Student Loans: Do College Students Borrow Too Much--Or Not Enough?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(1): 165–92
- Hoxby, “The Return to Attending a More Selective College: 1960 to the Present,” in Forum Futures: Exploring the Future of Higher Education”, eds. Maureen Devlin and Joel Meyerson (Jossey-Bass Inc., 2001): 13-42.
- Hoekstra M. (2009) “The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach”, Review of Economics and Statistics 2009, 91 (4): 717-724*
- Cadena and Keys (2013) “Can Self-Control Explain Avoiding Free Money? Evidence from Interest-Free Student Loans”, Review of Economics and Statistics 95 (4), 1117-1129
- Deming, Goldin and Katz (2012) “The For-Profit Postsecondary School Sector: Nimble Critters or Agile Predators?” Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 26, Pages 139–164
- Lang, K. and Weinstein, R. (2013) “The Wage Effects of Not-for-Profit and For-Profit Certifications: Better Data, Somewhat Different Results,” Labour Economics: 230-43.
- Hoxby, Caroline, and Christopher Avery. forthcoming. "The Missing "One-offs": The Hidden Supply of High-Achieving, Low Income Students," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. (Also NBER Working Paper 18586.)
- Bettinger, Eric, Bridget Long, Phil Oreopoulos and Lisa Sanbonmatsu, (2012) "The Role of Simplification and Information: Evidence from the FAFSA Experiment.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 127 (3), 1205-1242.
- Caroline Hoxby and Sarah Turner. 2013. “Expanding College Opportunities for High-Achieving, Low Income Students”, SIEPR Discussion Paper 12-014*
Discrimination
- Borjas (chapter 9)
Facts
- Bertrand, Goldin and Katz, (2010) “Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors”, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2: 228–255*
- Neal, Derek and Johnson, William. (1996) " The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-White Wage Differences", Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 104, No. 5, pp. 869-895
- Fryer R, Levitt S. (2004) “Understanding The Black-White Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School”, The Review of Economics and Statistics. 86(2): 447–464
Theory
- Hamermesh and Biddle, (1994) “Beauty and the Labor Market”, The American Economic Review, Vol. 84, No. 5, (Dec., 1994), pp. 1174-1194
- Phelps, (1972) “The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism”, The American Economic Review, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 659-661
- Arrow, K.J., (1973). The Theory of Discrimination. In: Ashenfelter, O., Rees, A. (Eds.), Discrimination in Labor Markets. Princeton University Press, pp. 3–33.
- Aigner, D., Cain, G., (1977) “Statistical Theories of Discrimination in the Labor Market” Ind. Labor Relat. Rev. 30 (2), 175–187
Empirics
- Kerwin Kofi Charles & Jonathan Guryan, (2008). "Prejudice and Wages: An Empirical Assessment of Becker's The Economics of Discrimination," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 773-809
- Sandra E. Black and Philip E. Strahan (2001) “The Division of Spoils: Rent-Sharing and Discrimination in a Regulated Industry” The American Economic Review Vol. 91, No. 4, pp. 814-831
- Levine, R., A. Levkov and Y. Rubinstein (2009), Racial Discrimination and Competition, Working Paper 14273
- Goldin C. and C. Rouse (2000) Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind" Auditions on Female Musicians, American Economic Review , vol 90 (4): 715-741*
- Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan (2004) “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination”, The American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 4, pp. 991-1013*
Incentive Contracts
- Borjas (chapter 11)
- Lazear, E. P., (2000): “Performance Pay and Productivity.” American Economic Review, 90, 1346-1361.*
- Falk, A., and A. Ichino (2006) “Clean Evidence on Peer Effects.” Journal of Labor Economics 24, no. 1: 39-57.
- Mas, A and E. Moretti, (2009), “Peers at Work”, American Economic Review 99(1), 112-45
- Bandiera, O., I. Barankay, and I. Rasul. (2005) “Social Preferences and the Response to Incentives: Evidence from Personnel Data.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 120, no. 3: 917-962*