Student guide Facoltà di Economia A.A. 2006/07

The aim of the course is to develop the students' ability to understand how European labour markets and labour policies operate, what are the likely effects of the EMU and enlargement on labour markets and on labour market institutions. The perspective is interdisciplinary (economic/ sociological) and comparative. Students are expected to participate actively during classes and will be asked to present the employment and labour policies situation in their home countries.

The course is organised into three units.

Unit 1 - Economics and the labour market:

 

1.1 structural trends and recent developments in European labour markets: brief presentation of stylised facts
       of the evolution of European labour markets, relative to the US and Japan. Outline of main differences
       among European countries;

1.2 the labour market and economic theory: outline of the basic analytical framework used by economists to
      analyse the functioning of the labour market and introduction of the main concepts and issues that

      will be used;

1.3 explaining European unemployment: presentation of main competing models and of the debate over the
      causes of the rise and persistence of European unemployment;

1.4 european integration and labour market trends: discussion of the likely effects of EU integration and EMU
      on the labour markets of EU countries.

 

Unit 2 - European integration and employment policies:

 

this unit will discuss employment policies and their effectiveness in improving labour market conditions on the basis of economic theory (as presented in Unit 1) and results from recent evaluation studies. The final session will consider policy issues which arise from the increase in European Integration and the EMU.

 

2.1 Labour market institutions and labour market policy: an introduction;

2.2 evolution of approaches in labour market regulation and policies across EU countries;

2.3 effectiveness of labour market policies in selected areas:

2.3.1 active Labour Market Policies (employment services, training, job creation);

2.3.2 policies of labour market flexibility and deregulation;

2.3.3 unemployment compensation and income support policies;

2.3.4 policies to reduce labour supply (early retirement and working time reduction);

2.4. european integration and policy issues.

 

Unit 3 - European labour markets from a sociological perspective:

 

today politicians and business people often claim that the European labour market must be made more flexible if Europe is to compete with the USA and Japan. This course aims to provide a context for that debate. It discusses how the ways firms use the labour market has changed over recent decades and how flexibility has different meanings in different European countries; it considers the changing role of small firms and the social relationships between them and the larger firms; it examines how firms use of skills is related to their overall employment strategy. Finally we consider whether there is a single European labour market.

Group projects to be presented and handed out at the end of the course and written exam.

The following reading list will be completed with additional material during the course. A detailed reading list will be handed out at the beginning of the course.

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