Personnel Economics

Personnel Economics is the application of economic and mathematical approaches and econometric and statistical methods to traditional topics in the study of human resources management. Compared to the standard labor economics courses, this course focuses more on the internal labor market within firms. This includes topics such as compensation, turnover, incentives, and compensation that are inherently economic, as well as those that do not at first appear to be economic topics, such as norms, teamwork, worker empowerment, and peer relationships. It has become a rapid developing research field since its birth and, as a course, has been taught in many top universities and MBA programs. The current course is a general introduction to this emerging field of researches and the human resource management in practice. We analyze the efficient allocation and motivation of employees as well as their development of skills within a company. We discuss recruiting mechanisms, training strategies and efficient compensation schemes. The course also has a focus on recent empirical evidences within the field of personnel economics.