Bachelor of Science (BSc)

BSc Economics

Undertake highly structured training in economics, with a focus on enhancing and applying quantitative and analytical skills in modern economics.
  • Duration: 3 or 4 years
  • Year of entry: 2025
  • UCAS course code: L102 / Institution code: M20
  • Key features:
  • Study abroad
  • Industrial experience

Full entry requirementsHow to apply

Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £31,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

Scholarships and bursaries, including the Manchester Bursary , are available to eligible home/EU students.

Some undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year, in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.

You can get information and advice on student finance to help you manage your money.

Course unit details:
Topics in Labour Economics

Course unit fact file
Unit code ECON32242
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 3
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? No

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title Unit code Requirement type Description
Econometrics ECON20110 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Principles of Microeconomic Theory 2: Markets, Prices and Strategy ECON10172 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Microeconomics 2 ECON10232 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Quantitative Methods ECON20222 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Microeconomics 2 ECON20232 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
(ECON20110 OR ECON20222) AND (ECON10232 OR ECON20232 OR ECON10172)

(ECON20110 Econometrics or ECON20222 Quantitative Economics) AND (ECON10232 Microeconomics 2 or ECON20232 Microeconomics 2 or ECON10172 Principles of Microeconomic Theory 2)

Aims

The course aims to: 

  1. Introduce students to imperfect labour markets and policies aimed at addressing the respective imperfections
  2. Understand and apply key econometric and statistical methods to empirically study (imperfect) labour markets and policies
  3. Develop critical analysis skills to evaluate (labour market) policies and economic studies
  4. Develop the employability skill of describing and discussing labour market policies to a broader audience

Syllabus

Provisional

The course covers “Imperfect Labour Markets” and polices aimed at addressing it:
1.    Introduction to imperfect labour markets 
2.    Minimum wages 
3.    Anti-discrimination  
4.    Gender Pay Gap 
5.    Family Policies  
6.    Education  
7.    Unemployment insurance and active labour market policies 
8.    If time permits: Pension, Retirement 

Teaching and learning methods

New content will be delivered to students asynchronously (reading) as well as synchronously through lectures. The virtual learning environment (VLE) will clearly guide students through the different sources of content.

Students' learning will be supported by offering regular tutorials in smaller groups. In these tutorials students will be given the opportunity to work on problems, discuss applied cases and policy problems with their peers and teaching staff as well as practice their presentation skills.

Tutorials are an important source of formative feedback for students as they will be able to assess their state of understanding of the material through engagement in tutorials. In addition, students will be able to use a discussion board in which they can test their understanding as well as ask questions to their peers and the teaching staff. In addition to these formative feedback opportunities, the in-term assessments (see below) will provide summative and formative feedback to students.

Knowledge and understanding

  • Understand how economic research can inform the discussion on labour market policies
  • Understand the (econometric) methods to evaluate labour market policies
  • Evaluate current policies and research 
  • Be able to independently read current empirical research in Labour Economics as well as communicating it to a non-economist audience

Intellectual skills

  • Critically evaluate applied work and policies in the fields of Labour Economics
  • Understand advantages and limitations of each econometric method and their applications in Labour Economics.

Practical skills

  • Independently identify and assess relevant literature
  • Identify suitable econometric technique(s) relevant to research questions in the fields of Labour Economics.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • Concisely summarise empirical results and compile research reports.
  • Be able to evaluate the design of policies by drawing on the discussions and methods introduced in this module
  • Present research, empirical results, and policy evaluations

Assessment methods

Coursework (30%)

Exam (70%)

Recommended reading

Primary readings for the course are the following: 

Boeri and Van Ours, “The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets”, Third Edition, Princeton University Press

Additional readings on specialised topics and empirical case studies are made available each week via the online learning platform. 
 

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Sebastian Seitz Unit coordinator

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