040388 KU Personnel Economics I (MA) (2025S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
service email address: opim.bda@univie.ac.at
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Mo 10.02.2025 09:00 to Tu 18.02.2025 12:00
- Registration is open from We 26.02.2025 09:00 to Th 27.02.2025 12:00
- Deregistration possible until Fr 14.03.2025 23:59
Details
max. 50 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Midterm: Do. 08.05.2025
Endterm: Do. 26.06.2025
- Thursday 06.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 13.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 20.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 27.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 03.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 10.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 08.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 15.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 22.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- N Thursday 05.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 12.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 15 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
- Thursday 26.06. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 4 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 Erdgeschoß
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
Classroom participation is immanently relevant for examination („dieser Kurs ist eine Lehrveranstaltung mit immanentem Prüfungscharakter“).
To pass the course, students must collect at least half of the total points of the combined two exams, the midterm and the final exam. On each exam, students can earn a maximum of 90 points.
It may be possible to earn “bonus points” by participating in experiments organized by faculty members as part of their research. Such bonus points can substitute for missing exam points.
Make-up exams are only available for students on sick leave (documented by immediately handing in a doctor’s sickness note at the chair’s office) or leaves supported by formal decision of the university, the faculty, and/or the institute. No passing grade may be granted if the student misses more than 10% of the total class time.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) to produce texts is only permitted if they are expressly requested by the course leader. It is not allowed to use such tools to prepare individual homework that is presented in class and during exams.
To pass the course, students must collect at least half of the total points of the combined two exams, the midterm and the final exam. On each exam, students can earn a maximum of 90 points.
It may be possible to earn “bonus points” by participating in experiments organized by faculty members as part of their research. Such bonus points can substitute for missing exam points.
Make-up exams are only available for students on sick leave (documented by immediately handing in a doctor’s sickness note at the chair’s office) or leaves supported by formal decision of the university, the faculty, and/or the institute. No passing grade may be granted if the student misses more than 10% of the total class time.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) to produce texts is only permitted if they are expressly requested by the course leader. It is not allowed to use such tools to prepare individual homework that is presented in class and during exams.
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
The course discusses the determinants and effects of pay. Methodologically, it introduces to institutional facts, descriptive statistics, but also pursues rigorous formal analysis and econometric studies to test the theory implications. It is an advanced class and students should have very good command of the relevant mathematical and statistical tools.
Examination topics
The midterm exam will cover all material (lecture contents and additional readings) up to the last day of the class before the exam date. The final exam will cover all material (lecture contents and additional readings) which has been discussed during the semester classes or is provided via the Moodle class page.
Reading list
To accompany the class lectures, students should have access to a standard textbook, such as e.g.
Lazear, E.P. & Gibbs, M., Personnel Economics in Practice, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Kuhn, P., Personnel Economics, Oxford University Press, 2018Additional, required readings will be provided via the Moodle class page in the subdirectory “Additional Material.” Homework questions are often based on these additional readings and serve to prepare for exams. Homework solutions can be discussed in class, if students have prepared such solutions.
The subdirectory “For further information and interest” contains articles and reports which either inform about the original work on which lecture content is based or provide material which reaches beyond the lecture content for students who wish to pursue their own research in this area.
Lazear, E.P. & Gibbs, M., Personnel Economics in Practice, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Kuhn, P., Personnel Economics, Oxford University Press, 2018Additional, required readings will be provided via the Moodle class page in the subdirectory “Additional Material.” Homework questions are often based on these additional readings and serve to prepare for exams. Homework solutions can be discussed in class, if students have prepared such solutions.
The subdirectory “For further information and interest” contains articles and reports which either inform about the original work on which lecture content is based or provide material which reaches beyond the lecture content for students who wish to pursue their own research in this area.
Association in the course directory
Last modified: Tu 27.05.2025 15:45
Specifically, the course is developed along the following structure:
I. Introduction
a) Effective vs. efficient contracting: the Salomon Brothers case
b) Reasons for contractual incompleteness
c) Some basic terms to describe compensation systems
d) Labor income in Austria: descriptive statistics
2. Compensation and Determinants of Remuneration
a) Setting the Base Wage or the Salary: Industrial Labor
b) Fair and equal pay: A case study and recent developments
c) Union wage policy: wage compression
d) Union wage policy: shortening the working week3. Performance pay, incentives and motivation
a) Forms of incentive pay
b) Compensating the risk of variable pay: a simple model approach
c) The standard model of moral hazard
d) The Safelite case study: the classic insider-econometrics study on performance pay
e) Teamwork: the example top management incentivesTo accompany the class lectures, students should have access to a standard textbook, such as e.g.
Lazear, E.P. & Gibbs, M., Personnel Economics in Practice, John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Kuhn, P., Personnel Economics, Oxford University Press, 2018Additional, required readings will be provided via the Moodle class page in the subdirectory “Additional Material.” Homework questions are often based on these additional readings and serve to prepare for exams. Homework solutions can be discussed in class, if students have prepared such solutions.
The subdirectory “For further information and interest” contains articles and reports which either inform about the original work on which lecture content is based or provide material which reaches beyond the lecture content for students who wish to pursue their own research in this area.