Card-index course

Employment and labor market policy

Politique de l'emploi et du marché du travail

Responsible Faculty: Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (SSP)

Teacher(s): Daniel Oesch

Course Timetable (Weekly)

Course+Seminar

Spring semester
4 hours per week
56 hours per semester
Weekly
Teaching language(s): French
Public: Yes
Credits: 6.00

Objective

The course has the following learning objectives for students

In terms of specific skills, the course must enable students to:
- apply the main concepts used in the labour market analysis
- identify the main causes of unemployment
- assess the main policy instruments for reducing unemployment and inequality

At the level of general skills, the course must enable students to:
- make clear and concise oral presentations
- read and understand scientific articles in English
- write a concise research note, based on theoretical and empirical elements

Content

The theme of the course
This course focuses on unemployment policy, wages and trade unions, as well as the influence that technological change, globalisation and migration have on employment in Switzerland and Europe.

Teaching philosophy
This course is based on the premise that learning is only effective if students can take ownership of the course material themselves. They - and not the teachers - are the main actors in their learning. This course offers many activities led by the students: personal reading, presentation and discussion of texts, forums on Moodle, practical work in the course, and a short written term paper.

Modality of teaching
The course topics are further developed through four activities: (i) discussion of academic literature (by students); (ii) presentation of the main concepts of labour market analysis (by teachers); (iii) practical exercices on the labour market; (iv) discussion with experts from the professional world. Specialists in vocational guidance and the fight against unemployment will be invited to attend the course.

Evaluation

The final grade is based on three elements:

i. written term paper: 60% of the final grade

ii. the two oral presentations as well as the quality of the questions asked on Moodle; for the presentation of the text: 10%, for the presentation of the written work: 10%, for the quality of the questions asked on Moodle: 10%, for the quality of personal written analyses: 10%.

iii. a bonus obtained in an optional MCQ test: the test will take place in the last week of the term and will cover the material seen in class and the readings; a very good performance gives a bonus of 0.5 (0.25) point on the final grade.

Bibliography

Bonoli, G. (2010), "The Political Economy of Active Labor-Market Policy", Politics & Society 38(4): 435-457. Fernández-Macías, E. (2018). "Automation, digitalisation and platforms: Implications for work and employment," Eurofound, Dublin, 1-26. Flückiger, Y. (2002), « Le chômage en Suisse : causes, évolution et efficacité des mesures actives », Aspects de la Sécurité Sociale 4 : 11-21. Marchal E. et Bureau M.-C. (2009), « Incertitudes et médiations au coeur du marché du travail », Revue française de sociologie 50(3) 573-598. Schulten, T., Müller, T. et Eldring, L. (2015). Prospects and obstacles of a European minimum wage policy. Van Gyes, G. et Schulten, T. (eds.). Wage bargaining under the new European Economic Governance: Alternative strategies for inclusive growth. 327-359, Bruxelles: ETUI. Young, C. and Lim, C. (2014), "Time as a Network Good: Evidence from Unemployment and the Standard Workweek." Sociological Science 1: 10-27.

Additional information

https://moodle.unil.ch/course/view.php?id=19141#section-0