Assignment

Preparation for Term Project

This term Project has Two questions. Answer both questions giving clear explanation.  Each question carries a weight of 50%. 

QUESTION ONE

Let us assume that currently, the Zambian Ministry of Transport has a rule that allows commercial truck drivers to drive up a limit of 90 hours per week; after 40 hours per week, drivers’ hourly pay goes up by 50%. A proposed rule would reduce this limit to 60 hours of driving per week. One supporter of the proposal said this: “Almost no drivers are choosing to work 90 hours per week; drivers will welcome the added time away from the job.” Suppose that the proposal passes, and a subsequent study shows that after the new limit took effect, the straight-time wages of truck drivers rose, other things equal. Using economic theory, comment on this finding in the context of the quotation above; explain fully.

QUESTION TWO

Suppose the Zambian government were to mandate that all employers had to offer their employees a life insurance policy worth at least K500,000 in the event of death. Use economic theory, both positively and normatively, to analyze the effects of this mandate on employee well-being.

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PRESCRIBED READINGS

Smith Stephen (2003), Labour Economics, 2nd Edition, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.

Junankar (Raja) P.N., (2016), Economics of the Labour Market: Unemployment and the costs of unemployment, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers, Harcourt.

 Piros D. Christopher and Pinto E. Jerald, (2013), Economics for Investment Decision Makers: Micro, Macro and International Economics, John Wiley and Sons Inc, Hoboken, New Jersey. 

Ehrenberg R.G and Smith R.S (2012), Modern Labour Economics: Theory and Public Policy (11edition), Prentice Hall, New York.

McConnell, Brue & Macpherson, Contemporary Labour Economics, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2009. (Main text)

Mishel, Bernstein & Allegretto, The State of Working America 2006/07, Cornell University Press, 10th ed., 2006. (Selections; paperback)

Paul McNulty, The Origins and Development of Labour Economics, MIT Press, 1984. (Selections; paperback)

SUGGESTED READINGS AND RESOURCES:

Byrns, Ralph. T and Stone Gerald. W (1995), Microeconomics (6th edition), HarperCollins College Publishers, New York.

Cahuc, Pierre and André Zylberberg (2004), Labour Economics, MIT press

Sloman, J (2004), Essentials of Economics (3rd edition), Prentice Hall. London