研究影响劳动者在不同产业、不同工种之中流动分布的因素，影响劳动者工作效率的因素，以及决定他们劳动报酬的因素的一门学科。一国的劳动力包括所有为收入而工作的人，也包括正在谋求职业的失业者。影响劳工如何发挥才能和应获取多少工资的众多因素包括劳动力的品质（诸如劳动者的健康、教育程度、特殊训练技能的分配和社会地位的流动程度）、经济的结构性特徵（例如重工业、高科技业和服务业所占的比例）和法律因素（包括工会的内容和权力、雇主团体和规定最低工资法律的存在）。其他因素如风俗习惯和经济周期的变化也列入考量。某些一般常见的趋势是劳动经济学家们所普遍接受的，例如需要较高阶级的教育程度或训练、该工业在经济中占有高比例和高度集中化的工业，这些工作易倾向於较高的工资阶级。
English version：
labor economics
Study of how workers are allocated among jobs, how their rates of pay are determined, and how their efficiency is affected by various factors. The labor force of a country includes all those who work for gain in any capacity as well as those who are unemployed but seeking work. A multitude of factors influence how workers are utilized and how much they are paid, including qualities of the labor force itself (such as health, level of education, distribution of special training and skills, and degree of mobility), structural characteristics of the economy (e.g., proportions of heavy manufacturing, high-technology, and service industries), and institutional factors (including the extent and power of labor unions and employers' associations and the presence of minimum-wage laws). Miscellaneous factors such as custom and variations in the business cycle are also considered. Certain general trends are widely accepted by labor economists; for instance, wage levels tend to be higher in industries that require higher levels of education or training, in economies that have high proportions of such industries, and in industries that are heavily unionized.