ECN 322 Labor Economics: Work in the Age of AI
Why do some people work, while others choose not to? What explains individuals' willingness to take on risky or unpleasant jobs? How might jobs and the labor market change in the age of increasingly-sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI)? These are just some of the intriguing questions that can be answered using the theoretical tools of labor economics and empirical observation of the labor markets. This course capitalizes on students' basic knowledge of microeconomics to further their understanding of how labor markets work. Furthermore, it challenges students to think beyond the existing boundaries of the discipline by considering the implications of sophisticated AI tools on specific work tasks, professions and labor markets more broadly. Diverse levels of analysis are utilized to examine individual and household decisions related to labor supply, factors influencing firms' demand for labor, as well as economy-wide phenomena such as wage distribution, labor market discrimination and the role of unions. A recurring theme of the course is the increasing globalization of labor markets in the age of rapid technological advancement and consequent implications for the future of work from both an individual as well as a societal perspective. Recommended prerequisite:
ECN 100