Personnel economics applies economics to human resources management issues such as recruitment, compensation, promotions, worker turnover, performance evaluation, selection, and training. Personnel economics has been developed over the last 20 years and is now taught at leading business schools (Stanford and Chicago Booth School and many other places) all over the world. Furthermore, Personnel Economics is the foundation for the modern trend of measuring effects of HR together with the human resources of the employees.
The course provides a theoretical framework needed to analyse human resources policies under varying institutional and competitive environments. It highlights the importance of information and incentives in the modern economy. Issues covered include the following issues: Should pay vary across workers within firms? How are pay and promotions structured across jobs to induce optimal effort from employees? Why do firms use teams and how are they used most effectively? Does CEO pay reflect competitive markets and efficient contracting? How important is discrimination? What makes an entrepreneur? How should human resource management practices be combined within firms?
Thus the course will cover issues around pay and investment in human capital seen from the perspective of both workers and employees. The course will also look at turnover and factors which limit or increase turnover.  Principal-agent theory is used to explain optimal wage packages for different groups of employees and for other management issues. Wages and incentive pay in the form of bonus and shares are central here. Free-rider problems are discussed in the context of organizing work in teams. 
The full list of content :
Part One: Sorting and Investing in Employees.
Chapter 1: Setting Hiring Standards.
Chapter 2: Recruitment.
Chapter 3: Investment In Skills.
Chapter 4: Managing Turnover.
Part Two: Organizational and Job Design.
Chapter 5: Decision Making.
Chapter 6: Organizational Structure.
Chapter 7: Job Design.
Chapter 8: Advanced Job Design.
Part Three: Paying for Performance.
Chapter 9: Performance Evaluation.
Chapter 10: Rewarding Performance.
Chapter 11: Career-Based Incentives.
Chapter 12: Options and Executive Pay.
Part Four: Applications.
Chapter 13: Benefits.
Chapter 14: Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship.
Chapter 15: The Employment Relationship.

Edward P. Lazear,  Michael Gibbs: Personnel Economics in Practice, 2nd Edition, Wiley 2009
supplemented with articles and cases on the different topics.