K2SP 3630 - Labor market inequality, discrimination, and public policies

Content-wise, the class will focus on gender and ethno-racial inequality. The class will document long-run

wage & income gaps between groups, and provide tools to measure discrimination in the labour market. It

will offer an understanding of (some) non-policy factors behind these long-run trends. The class will study

the role of policy and institutions in shaping gender and racial inequality.

Skills-wise, students will learn how to apply the toolkit of policy evaluation to real public policy questions.

They will build research translation skills, and gain an appreciation of historically informed policy across

many contexts (high-income and middle-income countries).

This course is open to master students from the Social Policy and Social Innovation Policy streams of the

School of Public Affairs. The course is intended for students wishing to understand the dynamics of labor

market inequality - with an emphasis on gender and racial inequality -- in a broad set of countries around

the world, and the role of public policies in reducing them. The course will review some concepts of public

policy evaluation learned in the policy analysis and policy evaluation class in the first semester.

The content of this class partly overlaps with the “Economics of Discrimination” class in the Formation Académique Commune (FAC).

The class will be primarily composed of lectures that will walk the students through in-depth case

studies. For example, the question of how universal policies can reduce racial inequality will be

presented through the example of the effect of the introduction of the minimum wage in certain

industries in the US during the Civil Rights Era.

The class will contain at least two students-led sessions (validation of the course), and if possible one

guest lecture by a policy expert.

The grade for this class will be composed of: participation in class discussion on a weekly basis (10%),

one in-class exam (individual) (30%), and one in-class policy issue presentation (small groups of students)

(6 0%

Readings will be assigned on a weekly basis. Compulsory readings (one or two per week) will be

marked with a star (*), and accompanied by a list of optional readings. References will be a mix of

academic papers, book chapters, policy briefs and podcasts.