Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

The general objectives of the course are: (a) to acquire a good knowledge of recent developments of labour markets in OECD countries and the main problems these labour markets are currently facing; (b) to make a comparative analysis of different policies designed to cope with these problems; and (c) to address the situation of groups that suffer from a weak position in the labour market (i.e. women and ethnic minorities). The course is also aimed at making the student familiar with concepts and indicators generally used to assess labour market and employment policies.

The transition from Fordism to Post-Fordism (and from Industrial to Post-Industrial societies) has generally entailed a dilemma between unemployment and inequality. For many societies, such a dilemma has turned unemployment into a constant, chronic policy-making challenge. After historically revising the evolution of labour markets in Europe and the national institutions shaping the entry into the labour market, the course will explore the determinants and levels of unemployment in comparative perspective; it will analyse different policies carried out to cope with unemployment and the results these policies have had. Although the gender dimension of labour market institutions and policies will be dealt with all throughout the course, a specific session specifically dealing with gender labour market inequalities at the very end of the course.

Associated skills

This course is part of the optional courses itinerary “social analysis” that, altogether, develops the following competencies:

BASIC SKILLS:

CB2. That students can apply their knowledge to their job or vocation in a professional manner and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems within their field of study.

CB3. That students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) to inform judgments that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical.

CB5. That students have developed those skills needed to undertake further studies with a high degree of autonomy.

GENERAL SKILLS:

CG1. Capacity for analysis and synthesis.

CG3. Knowledge of a second language.

CG4. Basic computer skills.

CG10. Research skills.

TRANSVERSAL SKILLS:

CT1. Identify and analyze critically gender inequality and its intersection with other axes of inequality.

SPECIFIC SKILLS:

CE3. Examine the structure and functioning of political institutions.

EC4. Examine the fundamentals of comparative politics.

CE9. Interpret the historical dimension of political and social processes.

CE10. Analyze the structure, organization and functioning of public administrations at various levels.

CE11. Analyze the planning and administration of management.

CE13. Interpret the economic environment and the economic dimension of the public sector.

CE14. Contrast the capacity for planning, implementation, evaluation and analysis of public policies.

CE18. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data.

Learning outcomes

General competencies to develop over the course:

• Ability to synthesize and think analytically
• Problem-solving capabilities
• Critical thinking
• Ability to document a topic and research on it.

Competencies specifically related to the course:

• Acquaintance with the historical dimension of social and political processes
  • The student should acquire a good knowledge of the historical developments that have led to current labour markets in OECD countries, and the main problems these labour markets are facing.
• Ability to assess institutions, process and policies in a comparative perspective
  • The student is expected to acquire the ability to make a comparative analysis of the different policies designed to cope with the abovementioned problems; and to address the situation of groups that suffer from a particularly weak position in the labour market (i.e. women and ethnic minorities).
• Ability to handle with rigour concepts that are relevant for the understanding of the functioning of the labour market and the policies addressed to improve its functioning
• Ability to recognise the economic environment and the economic dimension of the public sector
  • Such a competence is implicit in the role the State obviously plays in the design and implementation of labour market policies
• Ability to recognise different dimensions of gender inequality in the labour market (gender occupational segregation, gender wage gap, glass ceiling, etc) and policies to tackle them.
• Ability to identify and recognise gender roles in family structure along history and their implications for the understanding of gender labour market inequality and labour market history.

Gender-specific competences:

• Acknowledgement of the female contributions to the study of labour markets and labour market policies
• Identification of possible gender biases in the study of the labour market and labour market policies
• Gender-neutral use of language in seminars and general communication during the course.

Sustainable Development Goals

ODS 1: No poverty

ODS 5: Gender equality

ODS 8: Decent work and economic growth

ODS 10: Reduced inequalities

Contents

General introduction

Week 1. Historical introduction: from Industrial to Post-Industrial Societies: dilemmas of current labour markets

Week 2. Occupational change: Technological change and new skills in the global economy

Globalisation and unemployment

Week 3. Immigration, international trade, offshoring and financial globalisation

National institutions

Week 4. Collective bargaining

Week 5. Systems of education and transition from school to work

Policies

Week 6. Labour market regulation: flexibility atypical employment and labour market segmentation

Week 7. Passive labour market policies

Week 8. Active labour market policies

Week 9. Minimum wage, basic income and start-ups

Analysis of gender labour market inequalities

Week 10. Gender gaps in employment, atypical employment and earnings in cross-national perspective; structural, economic and institutional causes gender labour market segregation.

Teaching Methods

The course is structured in lectures, on the one hand, and seminars and activities to be held online, on the other hand. Each week will be devoted to a topic. In some cases, the lecturer’s presentation on the topic will be accompanied by a question for discussion, related to the session’s topic. Readings will be made available beforehand, through Aula Global. An adequate gender balance in the authorship and content of the readings will be considered. Students are encouraged to arrive to the session having already read these readings, having prepared a provisional answer to the topic and ready to actively engage in the subsequent discussion. This (see above) will be part of the assessment of their performance along the course.

Along with lectures and seminars, the students are expected to make a brief research on the level and characteristics of unemployment in a country of their choice or, alternatively, on a topic of a list that will be provided by the lecturer. Students are expected to rely on any of the statistical sources mentioned above.

The learning environment of the ‘Employment Policies and Labour Market’ course is free of any sexist, homophobic or transphobic behaviour, and, in general, of a discriminatory behaviour of any kind. Such a principle should be applied to the language used in the classroom or the web of the course. 

Class Dynamics

Powerpoint (PPT) presentations on the topic to be discussed in class will be available beforehand. Students will be expected to revise this material before the lecturer go through it. An initial part of the class will be devoted to the topic treated in the previous session, in order to clear doubts and summarise the content of the previous topic.

A number of sessions will include the discussion of specific readings on the topic which again will be made available on the web of the course in advance.

A number of classes / sessions may take place in a computer room, in order to get acquaintance with statistical databases and other sources of interest for the course and, in particular, for gathering evidence for the course essay.

Part of some sessions along the course will be reserved to individually explore the progress with the essay with the each one of the different essay groups.

Evaluation

Final marks will be provided on a 0 to 10 scale.

- 65% of the mark will be based on students’ performances in a final exam, based on the material for the lectures (PPT presentations) and basic readings (see below). There is the possibility that the exam is completed on your own, along a period of five to six days, during which you will be expected not only to rely on the class material (PPT presentations and basic readings) but also on further statistical or documentary material publicly available on the Web.

- 20% of the mark will be based on students’ attendance, participation in class and, in particular, participation in the seminars and activities to be held in class and in online sessions along the course. Students are expected to be active and participative, answering my questions, engaging in public debates or formulating questions of his/her own.

- 15% of the mark will be based on an essay. It may be either a comparison between the unemployment levels and policies of two selected countries; or the answer to a specific research topic, among the ones proposed by the lecturer of the course. The indiscriminate and literal copy of any source (academic or otherwise) would entail the immediate fail of the essay and the course

Retake exams and procedure

Students who have failed the first exam will be entitled to a second opportunity (retake exam) provided that: a) they have attended satisfactorily more than half of the seminars and b) have submitted the written research mentioned above. The retake exam will take place between the fourth and fifth week of the third term, in a period established for this purpose by the university in the academic calendar.

Bibliography and information resources

The following basic readings are compulsory for the exam.

1. Basic references

- Blau, Francine D.; Ferber, Marianne A., Winkler, Anne (1998). The Economics of Women, Men and Work, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

- Esping-Andersen, Gösta Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies. Oxford University Press. Chapter 6 (pp. 99-119).

- Gornick, Janet. C.; Meyers, Marcia K.; Ross, Katherin E. (1997). Supporting the employment of mothers: Policy variation across fourteen welfare states. Journal of European social policy, 7(1), 45-70. 

Kogan, Irena (2006). Labor markets and economic incorporation among recent immigrants in Europe. Social Forces, 85(2), 697-721.

- Lindbeck, A. & Snower, D.J. (2001) “Insiders versus Outsiders”, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(1): 165-188

- Mazzucato, Mariana (2018). The value of everything: Making and taking in the global economy. Hachette UK.

- Polavieja, Javier (2005) “Flexibility or polarization? Temporary employment and job tasks in Spain”, Socio-Economic Review 3(2): 233-258

2. Other resources

The didactic resources for the course are, on the one hand, the readings to be discussed in each of the seminars held along the course. These readings will be made available to the students on-line. On the other hand, students are expected to use the following statistical databases to gather empirical evidence for the written research (essay) mentioned above:

- OECD stats: http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx

- ILO : http://laborsta.ilo.org/

- EUROSTAT : http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/themes

- EURYDICE: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurybase_en.php

- EIRO: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/

-IFO Center for Labor and Demographic Economics: https://www.ifo.de/en/research/ifo-center-for-labor-and-demographic-economicsç

Specific databases for the analysis of gender labour market inequality:

- European Institute of Gender Equality: https://eige.europa.eu/

- Gender Equality (European Foundation for the Improvement of Working and Living Conditions): https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/gender-equality

-  OECD Family Database: https://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm

- Comparative Family Policy Database (Max-Planck-Institute for Demographic Research): https://www.demogr.mpg.de/cgi-bin/databases/FamPolDB/index.plx

- Family Policy Database (Janet Gornick et al.): https://splash-db.eu/dataresource/the-family-policy-database-version-2-2003/

These databases are expected to provide students with evidence on the levels of unemployment in the country they have selected for their research, the policies designed to cope with it and the incidence of unemployment among the groups (women, ethnic minorities) more vulnerable to unemployment.

Teaching Plan Information

Presentation

The general objectives of the course are: (a) to acquire a good knowledge of recent developments of labour markets in OECD countries and the main problems these labour markets are currently facing; (b) to make a comparative analysis of different policies designed to cope with these problems; and (c) to address the situation of groups that suffer from a weak position in the labour market (i.e. women and ethnic minorities). The course is also aimed at making the student familiar with concepts and indicators generally used to assess labour market and employment policies.

The transition from Fordism to Post-Fordism (and from Industrial to Post-Industrial societies) has generally entailed a dilemma between unemployment and inequality. For many societies, such a dilemma has turned unemployment into a constant, chronic policy-making challenge. After historically revising the evolution of labour markets in Europe and the national institutions shaping the entry into the labour market, the course will explore the determinants and levels of unemployment in comparative perspective; it will analyse different policies carried out to cope with unemployment and the results these policies have had. Although the gender dimension of labour market institutions and policies will be dealt with all throughout the course, a specific session specifically dealing with gender labour market inequalities at the very end of the course.

Associated skills

This course is part of the optional courses itinerary “social analysis” that, altogether, develops the following competencies:

BASIC SKILLS:

CB2. That students can apply their knowledge to their job or vocation in a professional manner and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems within their field of study.

CB3. That students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) to inform judgments that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical.

CB5. That students have developed those skills needed to undertake further studies with a high degree of autonomy.

GENERAL SKILLS:

CG1. Capacity for analysis and synthesis.

CG3. Knowledge of a second language.

CG4. Basic computer skills.

CG10. Research skills.

TRANSVERSAL SKILLS:

CT1. Identify and analyze critically gender inequality and its intersection with other axes of inequality.

SPECIFIC SKILLS:

CE3. Examine the structure and functioning of political institutions.

EC4. Examine the fundamentals of comparative politics.

CE9. Interpret the historical dimension of political and social processes.

CE10. Analyze the structure, organization and functioning of public administrations at various levels.

CE11. Analyze the planning and administration of management.

CE13. Interpret the economic environment and the economic dimension of the public sector.

CE14. Contrast the capacity for planning, implementation, evaluation and analysis of public policies.

CE18. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data.

Learning outcomes

General competencies to develop over the course:

• Ability to synthesize and think analytically
• Problem-solving capabilities
• Critical thinking
• Ability to document a topic and research on it.

Competencies specifically related to the course:

• Acquaintance with the historical dimension of social and political processes
  • The student should acquire a good knowledge of the historical developments that have led to current labour markets in OECD countries, and the main problems these labour markets are facing.
• Ability to assess institutions, process and policies in a comparative perspective
  • The student is expected to acquire the ability to make a comparative analysis of the different policies designed to cope with the abovementioned problems; and to address the situation of groups that suffer from a particularly weak position in the labour market (i.e. women and ethnic minorities).
• Ability to handle with rigour concepts that are relevant for the understanding of the functioning of the labour market and the policies addressed to improve its functioning
• Ability to recognise the economic environment and the economic dimension of the public sector
  • Such a competence is implicit in the role the State obviously plays in the design and implementation of labour market policies
• Ability to recognise different dimensions of gender inequality in the labour market (gender occupational segregation, gender wage gap, glass ceiling, etc) and policies to tackle them.
• Ability to identify and recognise gender roles in family structure along history and their implications for the understanding of gender labour market inequality and labour market history.

Gender-specific competences:

• Acknowledgement of the female contributions to the study of labour markets and labour market policies
• Identification of possible gender biases in the study of the labour market and labour market policies
• Gender-neutral use of language in seminars and general communication during the course.

Sustainable Development Goals

ODS 1: No poverty

ODS 5: Gender equality

ODS 8: Decent work and economic growth

ODS 10: Reduced inequalities

Contents

General introduction

Week 1. Historical introduction: from Industrial to Post-Industrial Societies: dilemmas of current labour markets

Week 2. Occupational change: Technological change and new skills in the global economy

Globalisation and unemployment

Week 3. Immigration, international trade, offshoring and financial globalisation

National institutions

Week 4. Collective bargaining

Week 5. Systems of education and transition from school to work

Policies

Week 6. Labour market regulation: flexibility atypical employment and labour market segmentation

Week 7. Passive labour market policies

Week 8. Active labour market policies

Week 9. Minimum wage, basic income and start-ups

Analysis of gender labour market inequalities

Week 10. Gender gaps in employment, atypical employment and earnings in cross-national perspective; structural, economic and institutional causes gender labour market segregation.

Teaching Methods

The course is structured in lectures, on the one hand, and seminars and activities to be held online, on the other hand. Each week will be devoted to a topic. In some cases, the lecturer’s presentation on the topic will be accompanied by a question for discussion, related to the session’s topic. Readings will be made available beforehand, through Aula Global. An adequate gender balance in the authorship and content of the readings will be considered. Students are encouraged to arrive to the session having already read these readings, having prepared a provisional answer to the topic and ready to actively engage in the subsequent discussion. This (see above) will be part of the assessment of their performance along the course.

Along with lectures and seminars, the students are expected to make a brief research on the level and characteristics of unemployment in a country of their choice or, alternatively, on a topic of a list that will be provided by the lecturer. Students are expected to rely on any of the statistical sources mentioned above.

The learning environment of the ‘Employment Policies and Labour Market’ course is free of any sexist, homophobic or transphobic behaviour, and, in general, of a discriminatory behaviour of any kind. Such a principle should be applied to the language used in the classroom or the web of the course. 

Class Dynamics

Powerpoint (PPT) presentations on the topic to be discussed in class will be available beforehand. Students will be expected to revise this material before the lecturer go through it. An initial part of the class will be devoted to the topic treated in the previous session, in order to clear doubts and summarise the content of the previous topic.

A number of sessions will include the discussion of specific readings on the topic which again will be made available on the web of the course in advance.

A number of classes / sessions may take place in a computer room, in order to get acquaintance with statistical databases and other sources of interest for the course and, in particular, for gathering evidence for the course essay.

Part of some sessions along the course will be reserved to individually explore the progress with the essay with the each one of the different essay groups.

Evaluation

Final marks will be provided on a 0 to 10 scale.

- 65% of the mark will be based on students’ performances in a final exam, based on the material for the lectures (PPT presentations) and basic readings (see below). There is the possibility that the exam is completed on your own, along a period of five to six days, during which you will be expected not only to rely on the class material (PPT presentations and basic readings) but also on further statistical or documentary material publicly available on the Web.

- 20% of the mark will be based on students’ attendance, participation in class and, in particular, participation in the seminars and activities to be held in class and in online sessions along the course. Students are expected to be active and participative, answering my questions, engaging in public debates or formulating questions of his/her own.

- 15% of the mark will be based on an essay. It may be either a comparison between the unemployment levels and policies of two selected countries; or the answer to a specific research topic, among the ones proposed by the lecturer of the course. The indiscriminate and literal copy of any source (academic or otherwise) would entail the immediate fail of the essay and the course

Retake exams and procedure

Students who have failed the first exam will be entitled to a second opportunity (retake exam) provided that: a) they have attended satisfactorily more than half of the seminars and b) have submitted the written research mentioned above. The retake exam will take place between the fourth and fifth week of the third term, in a period established for this purpose by the university in the academic calendar.

Bibliography and information resources

The following basic readings are compulsory for the exam.

1. Basic references

- Blau, Francine D.; Ferber, Marianne A., Winkler, Anne (1998). The Economics of Women, Men and Work, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

- Esping-Andersen, Gösta Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies. Oxford University Press. Chapter 6 (pp. 99-119).

- Gornick, Janet. C.; Meyers, Marcia K.; Ross, Katherin E. (1997). Supporting the employment of mothers: Policy variation across fourteen welfare states. Journal of European social policy, 7(1), 45-70. 

Kogan, Irena (2006). Labor markets and economic incorporation among recent immigrants in Europe. Social Forces, 85(2), 697-721.

- Lindbeck, A. & Snower, D.J. (2001) “Insiders versus Outsiders”, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(1): 165-188

- Mazzucato, Mariana (2018). The value of everything: Making and taking in the global economy. Hachette UK.

- Polavieja, Javier (2005) “Flexibility or polarization? Temporary employment and job tasks in Spain”, Socio-Economic Review 3(2): 233-258

2. Other resources

The didactic resources for the course are, on the one hand, the readings to be discussed in each of the seminars held along the course. These readings will be made available to the students on-line. On the other hand, students are expected to use the following statistical databases to gather empirical evidence for the written research (essay) mentioned above:

- OECD stats: http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx

- ILO : http://laborsta.ilo.org/

- EUROSTAT : http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/themes

- EURYDICE: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurybase_en.php

- EIRO: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/

-IFO Center for Labor and Demographic Economics: https://www.ifo.de/en/research/ifo-center-for-labor-and-demographic-economicsç

Specific databases for the analysis of gender labour market inequality:

- European Institute of Gender Equality: https://eige.europa.eu/

- Gender Equality (European Foundation for the Improvement of Working and Living Conditions): https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/gender-equality

-  OECD Family Database: https://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm

- Comparative Family Policy Database (Max-Planck-Institute for Demographic Research): https://www.demogr.mpg.de/cgi-bin/databases/FamPolDB/index.plx

- Family Policy Database (Janet Gornick et al.): https://splash-db.eu/dataresource/the-family-policy-database-version-2-2003/

These databases are expected to provide students with evidence on the levels of unemployment in the country they have selected for their research, the policies designed to cope with it and the incidence of unemployment among the groups (women, ethnic minorities) more vulnerable to unemployment.