ECON 356 - Women and the Economy

2023-2024 Catalog Year

Credit(s): 3
Lecture: 3
Non-Lecture: 0

In this course we will use methods from microeconomics to investigate how different aspects of women’s decisions in the labor and health markets could be understood by economic modeling and understand the policy implications of the same. This course is broadly broken into three units. The first unit will introduce economic models of dating, marriage, divorce, and fertility with the goal of understanding the underlying economic choices of women with respect to family as rational economic agents. The second unit will be focused on women’s behavior in the labor force. We will study the model of labor force participation and analyze the effect of childcare on decision to work. This unit will also focus on poverty and welfare programs. The final unit will include a discussion of theories and evidence for wage differences between men and women. We will understand the theoretical literature on discrimination and evidence on the same.

Prerequisite(s): Proficiency in Basic Requirements and C- in ECON 110
Restricted to: Economics Majors, Women’s and Gender Studies Majors, Women’s and Gender Studies Minors, Conflict Studies Minors

Class Restriction: Junior, Senior
Offered: Fall Semester - Odd Years