ECON 673: Labor Economics

  • Learn to explain the process by which workers offer labor and firms hire labor.

  • Use the labor supply and demand model to predict and explain changes in wages and employment.

  • Incorporate appropriate econometric techniques to answer key questions about labor markets.

  • Synthesize existing knowledge on a topic in labor economics in order to identify gaps in the literature.

  • Taught by Mary Hansen who is widely published in the fields of child welfare policy and economic history.

In this course, you will apply the tools learned in core classes to problems we all participate in—ones concerning the labor market. You’ll also begin to explain how others have used the tools. This will help you understand how you can contribute to the larger economics conversation with your original research.

The primary assignment for this course is a literature review, which will allow you to demonstrate your expertise in labor economics by summarizing work in the field. It will also help you understand how original research questions are developed.

This labor economics course will ensure that you:

  • Understand why wages differ across and within occupations
  • Know why wage inequality has changed over time

Course Objectives:

  • Examine the process by which workers supply labor and firms demand labor intuitively
  • Use the labor supply and demand model to predict and explain changes in wages and employment
  • Use appropriate econometric techniques to answer key questions about labor markets
  • Synthesize existing knowledge on a topic in labor economics in order to identify gaps in the literature

This course will prepare you with a confident understanding of labor supply and demand, wage structure, migration and labor unions.

This course is taught by Mary Eschelbach Hansen, an associate professor who is widely published in the fields of child welfare policy and economic history. The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Institute have funded her research for New Economic Thinking.

Her research has contributed to passage of laws such as the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act. Hansen, along with Brian Yates (Psychology Dept.) won a $39,444 Annie E. Casey Foundation award for the project Costs and Benefits of Interventions that Reduce Group and Institutional Care.

Her most recent published works include: The Standard of Proof at Adjudication of Abuse or Neglect: Its Influence on Case Outcomes at Key Junctures, Social Work and Social Sciences Review, October 2014, The Evolution of Garnishment and Wage Assignment Law in Illinois, 1880-1930, and Essays in Economic & Business History, May 2014.

Click here for the official course description from the American University catalog.

Learn more today. Call us at 855-725-7614 to speak to an admissions representative, or request more information here.