Here is our selection of key revision videos to use as you cover labour market economics in your final revision for A Level Economics in 2018
The Gig Economy - The Gig Economy is an important synoptic topic because it cuts across many areas of the A level course ranging from business objectives, costs and profitability, the labour market and aspects of macroeconomic performance such as unemployment, real living standards, economic-well-being and government finances.
Chain of Reasoning - Automation and the Demand for Labour
Underemployment in the UK Labour Market
Labour Migration (A Level Economics Synoptic Essay Plan)
LABOUR SUPPLY: The labour supply is the number of hours people are willing and able to supply at a given wage rate. This revision video looks at some of the key factors affecting labour supply to particular industries and occupations.
LABOUR DEMAND: This revision video considers some of the key factor affecting labour demand and also looks at changes in employment in manufacturing and construction in the British economy over the long term.
CAUSES OF PAY (WAGE) DIFFERENTIALS: One key feature of the UK labour market is the wide dispersion in weekly pay across different occupations and industries. This topic video explores some of the causes and looks at lots of recent contextual data on wage and earnings differentials.
LABOUR MIGRATION & THE UK ECONOMY: The scale of net inward migration into the UK economy now appears to be falling in part because of a statistically significant reduction of migration from EU member states. This revision video looks at some of the possible effects of a lower rate of inward migration for a country such as the UK. Net inward migration affects both the demand and the supply-side of the economy and has macro and micro impacts.
LABOUR MARKET FAILURE: This is a recording of a revision webinar covering aspects of labour market failure. Unemployment and economic inactivity in the UK labour market are falling, but when we disaggregate the market we find that there remain persistent issues including risks of extreme poverty, labour immobility, skills shortages and the issues facing workers in vulnerable jobs perhaps facing a monopsony employer.
EVALUATING MARGINAL REVENUE PRODUCT: This short revision video looks at the problems in accurately measuring the marginal revenue product from employing an extra worker.
MONOPSONY IN THE LABOUR MARKET: Monopsony is a labour market structure in which there is a single powerful buyer of a particular type of labour. For example, the main buyer of the labour of doctors and nurses is the NHS or large employers such as Capita, G4S, Amazon and Sports Direct.
GENDER PAY GAP: The gender pay gap is the measured difference between male and female earnings, usually expressed as a percentage of male earnings. In the UK, the gender pay gap across all full-time and part-time work is around 20%. This short video looks at some of the reasons behind the persistent gender pay gap in labour markets.
TRADE UNIONS - WAGES AND JOBS: Trade Unions may use their collective bargaining power and bid for employers to pay a premium wage (or “wage mark-up”) above the normal competitive market wage. However, this might lead to an excess supply of labour and a contraction of total employment. This short revision video takes students through the basic analysis and some core evaluation arguments.
MINIMUM WAGE EVALUATION: This revision video considers some of the economic arguments for and against raising the national minimum wage in a labour market. It also has some suggestions for deeper evaluation and balanced evaluation of the benefits and costs of a pay floor.
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.
