Labor Policy: The Future of Work

This course introduces students to the wide-ranging and evolving policy dimensions of labor markets. We begin with an analysis of the microeconomics of labor markets, presenting the competitive markets and monopsony pricing models as benchmarks. The course then turns to the institutional features of markets, including topics such as collective bargaining, labor standards, and minimum wage laws. The second part of the course examines the macroeconomics of labor markets, introducing topics such as demographic structure, child care and social insurance and migration and their role in labor markets and economic growth, as well as implications for policy. The final part of the course considers long-run structural drivers of labor markets such as automation and AI, trade, and industrial policy.