National University of Sciences and Technology
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ECON-642 Topics in Human Resource Development
Campus S3H
Programs PG
Session Spring Semester 2017
Course Title Topics in Human Resource Development
Course Code ECON-642
Credit Hours 3 Hours/week
Pre-Requisutes
Course Objectives
Detail Content
  • Defining Labour Economics, Labour Market its role in overall economy and the major actors in the labour market.
  • Pakistan labour market, some facts about labour supply , demand and unemployment. Conceptual and measurement problems in supply and demand for labour in Pakistan.
    • Labour Supply Labour / Leisure Choice given the constraints (Time & Budget) . Participation in the non market sector (Home production & the role of the family as decision making unit)
    • Dynamics of Labour supply in the context of life cycle and choice of retirement age.
  • Labour Demand The notion of derived demand. Employment decision in the short and long run by firms/Employers. Substitutes and complements  in the production process. Marshall’s rules of derived demand. The Elasticity of substitution and the cross elasticity of factor prices.
  • Labour Market Equilibrium.
    • Equilibrium in single competitive Labour market and competitive equilibrium across the labour markets.
    • Non Competitive Labour Markets – Monopoly and Monopsony.
    • Minimum wages and their impact on Labour market outcome. 
  • Compensating Wage Differentials. Worker’s Supply to risky jobs and the firm’s decisions to offer a risky job . Market equilibrium and the Hedonic Wage   Functions.
  • Human Capital , Education and Training
    • Education in the labour market . Wages and their association with education level. The schooling model and the estimates of the rate of return to schooling. Choice of schools and maximization of life time earnings. Schooling as a signal .
    • On the job training & wage structure  . Age-earning profiles & on the job training. Post school on the job training and the distribution of earnings. Pakistan’s wage structure during the past two decades.
  • Labour Mobility Migration as human capital investment. The decision to migrate. Internal & external migrations of Pakistani’s . The question of brain drain and impact of remittances on the family and economy.
  • Unemployment
    • Meaning and Conceptual underpinning of unemployment in Pakistan.
    • The frictional and structural unemployment. The study state rate of unemployment. Job search and Phillips Curve.
  • Institutions in the labour market
    • Labour Legislation, Minimum Wage Legislation.
    • Trade unions , determinants of union membership. Monopoly union and the efficient contracts.
Text/Ref Books
  • Labour Economics, George.J.Borjas. McGraw-Hill Companies Incorporated (International edition 1996 or the latest)
  • Labour Economics. Pierre Cahuc & Andere Zylberg. The MIT Press Cambridge Messachusetts , London England (2004 MIT).
  • Pakistan Labour Force Survey FBS, Ministry of Finance Islamabad (Latest 2 Years).
  • Handbook of Labour Economics (Volume 1 & 2 ) Edited by Orley Ashanfelter and Richard Layard. North Holland Amesterdam , New york , Oxford and Tokyo (1986 or the latest)
  • Irfan Mohammad “ A Review of the Labour Market Research at PIDE 1957-2000”
Time Schedule Spring Semester 2015
Faculty/Resource Person Dr. M. Irafan (Visiting)