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2007/08 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

LUBS3925 The Political Economy of Work

10 creditsClass Size: 80

Module manager: Dr David Spencer
Email: das@lubs.leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2007/08

Pre-requisite qualifications

LUBS2140 Intermediate Microeconomics AND
LUBS2610 Intermediate Macroeconomics
OR
LUBS2590 Labour Economics

Pre-requisites

LUBS2140	Intermediate Microeconomics
LUBS2590	Labour Economics
LUBS2610	Intermediate Macroeconomics

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module seeks to provide a critical understanding of the concept of work as seen through the writings of economists, both past and present. It addresses a number of issues that bear upon the conception of work within economic theory. These include the costs as well as benefits of work activities, the nature and causes of work resistance, the relation between wages and the supply of labour, and the definition of job quality. The module will also offer a critical understanding of the meaning and nature of work.Further information about the Business School is available on the website http://lubswww.leeds.ac.uk/lubs/

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should be able to recognise and understand rival perspectives from economic analysis on the topic of work, and be able to relate debates on the economic analysis of work to the history of economic thought and to different schools of thought.

Through the opportunities offered by practice, they will:

a. develop their capacity to think critically;
b. improve their oral and written communication skills; and,
c. improve their library and electronic research skills.

Syllabus

Key topics

Introduction: concepts of work in the history of economics; Perspectives on work from pre-classical economics; Classical economics and labour theory; Controversies over the theory of work in early neoclassical economics; The neoclassical labour supply curve and its critics; The modern economics of work (e.g. personnel economics); Theoretical and empirical debates on the quality of work

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Seminar	5	1.00	5.00
Private study hours			84.00
Total Contact hours			16.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			100.00

Methods of assessment

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc)	2 hr 00 mins	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 23/01/2009

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