Postgraduate Course: Labour Market Policy: International and Comparative Perspectives (PGSP11304)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Labour market policies have been a fast growing sphere of state activity in developed countries in recent decades, and are being implemented increasingly widely throughout transition and emerging economies too. This course provides a thorough overview of these policy instruments and strategies that are deployed to protect particular working-age individuals from economic risks while supporting the efficient functioning of the labour market. Policies covered by the course include classic labour market interventions such as employment protection regulations, unemployment benefits and so-called active labour market policies, as well as newer instruments of labour market policy such as benefit conditionality, negative income taxes and reforms to public employment services. The course will focus in particular on the systematic comparison of policies across countries, the costs and benefits of alternative policy approaches and mixes, and the economic and political drivers of labour market policy development across the world. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
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WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| No Classes have been defined for this Course |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, students will
- Have a thoroughgoing knowledge of the range policy instruments through which governments intervene to protect working-age individuals from economic risks
- Be able to systematically compare a range of labour market policies across national contexts, based on a critical awareness of the advantages and limitations of alternative policy indicators
- Be able to read, and engage critically with, the evidence from individual- and aggregate-level evaluations of labour market policy interventions
- Understand the socio-political and economic determinants of labour market policy variation and change
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Assessment Information
| The course will be assessed through one 2000 word course paper (50% of total grade), selected from a range of titles provided, and one 2000 word Country Report (50% of total grade), in which students will be expected to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the existing labour market policy framework in a country of their choice and bring forward relevant policy recommendations. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Introduction
1. Labour Market Policy: Evaluation, Comparison, Understanding
2. Employment, Non-Employment and the State: Evolving Relationships
Traditional Instruments of Labour Market Policy
3. Unemployment and other Working-Age Benefits
4. Employment Protection Legislation
5. Job Subsidies
6. Training Programmes
New Strategies in Labour Market Policy
7. 'Making Work Pay'
8. Activation and Benefit Conditionality
9. Reforming the Governance and Delivery of Labour Market Policy
10. Policy Complementarities and the Labour Market Policy Mix
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| Transferable skills |
Weekly student presentations (weeks 3-9) will enable students to develop transferable skills in cooperative group work, and the synthesis and presentation of policy evaluation evidence. One of the components of assessment (the $ùCountry Report&©) will enable students to develop their skills in the synthetic description and analysis of information for policy audiences. |
| Reading list |
Auer, P. et al. (2005) Active Labour Market Policies Around the World; Coping with the Consequences of Globalisation, Geneva, ILO
Boeri, T. and Van Ours, J. (2008) The Economics of Imperfect Labour Markets, Princeton: Princeton University Press
Clasen, J. and Clegg, D. (eds.) (2011) Regulating the Risk of Unemployment: National Adaptations to Post-Industrial Labour Markets in Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Eichhorst, W. et al. (eds.) (2008) Bringing the Jobless Into Work? Berlin: Springer
Koning, J. de (ed.) (2007) The Evaluation of Active Labour Market Policies, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Daniel Clegg
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Cristyn King
Tel: (0131 6)51 3865
Email: |
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