Economics: Labour and Health

Human capital is the most valuable asset of individuals. Sufficient human capital allows people to be successful on the labour market and if individuals work they gain additional human capital. Health is a very important determinant of human capital. A well functioning labour market and health care market are therefore essential for any economy. Not surprisingly, these markets are the most important areas of attention of governments. However, the degree of regulation differs between markets and is often heavily debated.

In this specialization, you learn about the trade-offs between efficiency and protection faced by policy makers when making decisions on the welfare state. This implies that you study the pros and cons of government interventions concerning for example benefits systems, health insurance markets, provision of long-term care and how to regulate care providers. Since there is no one-size-fits-all policy available for the labour market and markets associated to health, this specialization is largely empirical driven and compares different institutional settings.