Spatial Mismatch: From the Hypothesis to the Theories
Abstract
Since the 1950s, there has been a steady decentralization of entry-level jobs towards the suburbs of American cities, while racial minorities — and particularly blacks — have remained in city centres. In this context, the spatial mismatch hypothesis argues that because the residential locations of minorities are disconnected from suburban job opportunities, low-skilled minorities residing in inner cities face adverse labour market outcomes. The reason why distance to jobs may be harmful to minorities has, however, long remained unclear, while the abundant but essentially empirical literature on spatial mismatch has lead to much controversy. The present work presents the main stylized facts associated with spatial mismatch and reviews the main theoretical models that started to emerge in the late 1990s.Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Bibliographic Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 3740.Length:
Date of creation: Feb 2003
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3740
Contact details of provider:
Postal: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 77 Bastwick Street, London EC1V 3PZ
Phone: 44 - 20 - 7183 8801
Fax: 44 - 20 - 7183 8820
Order Information:
Email:
Related research
Keywords: discrimination; ghettos; segregation; urban unemployment;Other versions of this item:
- Laurent Gobillon & Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2002. "Spatial Mismatch : From the Hypothesis of the Theories," Working Papers 2002-57, Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique.
- Gobillon, Laurent & Selod, Harris & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Spatial Mismatch: From the Hypothesis to the Theories," IZA Discussion Papers 693, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
- R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2003-03-14 (All new papers)
- NEP-GEO-2003-03-14 (Economic Geography)
- NEP-URE-2003-03-14 (Urban & Real Estate Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- McMillen, Daniel P. & McDonald, John F., 1998. "Suburban Subcenters and Employment Density in Metropolitan Chicago," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 157-180, March.
- Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-61, September.
- Richard Arnott & Alex Anas & Kenneth Small, 1997.
"Urban Spatial Structure,"
Boston College Working Papers in Economics
388., Boston College Department of Economics.
- Alex Anas & Richard Arnott & Kenneth A. Small, 1998. "Urban Spatial Structure," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1426-1464, September.
- Anas, Alex & Arnott, Richard & Small, Kenneth A., 1997. "Urban Spatial Structure," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt835049q3, University of California Transportation Center.
- M. A. Stoll & H. J. Holzer & K. R. Ihlanfeldt, .
"Within Cities and Suburbs: Racial Residential Concentration and the Spatial Distribution of Employment Opportunities across Submetropolitan Areas,"
Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers
1189-99, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
- Michael A. Stoll & Harry J. Holzer & Keith R. Ihlanfeldt, 2000. "Within cities and suburbs: Racial residential concentration and the spatial distribution of employment opportunities across sub-metropolitan areas," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 207-231.
- David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jacob L. Vigdor, 1997.
"The Rise and Decline of the American Ghetto,"
NBER Working Papers
5881, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jacob L. Vigdor, 1999. "The Rise and Decline of the American Ghetto," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 455-506, June.
- Cutler, David & Vigdor, Jacob & Glaeser, Edward, 1999. "The Rise and Decline of the American Ghetto," Scholarly Articles 2770033, Harvard University Department of Economics.
- Ihlanfeldt Keith R., 1993. "Intra-urban Job Accessibility and Hispanic Youth Employment Rates," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 254-271, March.
- H. J. Holzer & K. R. Ihlanfeldt, .
"Customer Discrimination and Employment Outcomes for Minority Workers,"
Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers
1122-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
- Harry J. Holzer & Keith R. Ihlanfeldt, 1998. "Customer Discrimination And Employment Outcomes For Minority Workers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(3), pages 835-867, August.
- Edward L. Glaeser, 1998. "Are Cities Dying?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 139-160, Spring.
- Mortensen, Dale T. & Pissarides, Christopher A., 1999.
"New developments in models of search in the labor market,"
Handbook of Labor Economics,
in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 39, pages 2567-2627
Elsevier.
- Mortensen, Dale T & Pissarides, Christopher, 1999. "New Developments in Models of Search in the Labour Market," CEPR Discussion Papers 2053, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Peter Mieszkowski & Edwin S. Mills, 1993. "The Causes of Metropolitan Suburbanization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 135-147, Summer.
- Raphael, Steven, 1998. "The Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis and Black Youth Joblessness: Evidence from the San Francisco Bay Area," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 79-111, January.
- Edward L. Glaeser & Matthew E. Kahn, 2001.
"Decentralized Employment and the Transformation of the American City,"
NBER Working Papers
8117, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Edward L. Glaeser & Matthew E. Kahn, 2001. "Decentralized Employment and the Transformation of the American City," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1912, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
- Ihlanfeldt, Keith R. & Scafidi, Benjamin, 2002. "Black Self-Segregation as a Cause of Housing Segregation: Evidence from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 366-390, March.
- Jan K. Brueckner & Yves Zenou, 2003.
"Space and Unemployment: The Labor-Market Effects of Spatial Mismatch,"
Journal of Labor Economics,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 242-262, January.
- Brueckner, Jan & Zenou, Yves, 2000. "Space And Unemployment: The Labour-Market Effects Of Spatial Mismatch," CEPR Discussion Papers 2397, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Richard Arnott, 1997. "Economic Theory and the Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 390., Boston College Department of Economics.
- Rogers, Cynthia L., 1997. "Job Search and Unemployment Duration: Implications for the Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 109-132, July.
- Tootell, Geoffrey M B, 1996.
"Redlining in Boston: Do Mortgage Lenders Discriminate against Neighborhoods?,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics,
MIT Press, vol. 111(4), pages 1049-79, November.
- Geoffrey M. Tootell, 1996. "Redlining in Boston: do mortgage lenders discriminate against neighborhoods?," Working Papers 96-6, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
- Giuliano, Genevieve & Small, Kenneth A., 1991. "Subcenters in the Los Angeles Region," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7xv976dj, University of California Transportation Center.
- Fujita, Masahisa & Thisse, Jacques-Francois & Zenou, Yves, 1997.
"On the Endogeneous Formation of Secondary Employment Centers in a City,"
Journal of Urban Economics,
Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 337-357, May.
- FUJITA, Masahisa & THISSE, Jacques-François & ZENOU, Yves, 1995. "On the Endogenous Formation of Secondary Employment Centers in a City," CORE Discussion Papers 1995063, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
- Brueckner, Jan K., 1987. "The structure of urban equilibria: A unified treatment of the muth-mills model," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: E. S. Mills (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 20, pages 821-845 Elsevier.
- Brueckner, Jan K. & Thisse, Jacques-Francois & Zenou, Yves, 1999.
"Why is central Paris rich and downtown Detroit poor?: An amenity-based theory,"
European Economic Review,
Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 91-107, January.
- Brueckner, J.K. & Thisse, J.-F. & Zenou, Y., 1996. "Why is central Paris rich and downtown Detroit poor ? An amenity-based theory," CORE Discussion Papers 1996065, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
- Fujita,Masahisa & Thisse,Jacques-Francois, 2002.
"Economics of Agglomeration,"
Cambridge Books,
Cambridge University Press, number 9780521801386.
- Fujita, Masahisa & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1996. "Economics of Agglomeration," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 339-378, December.
- Fujita,Masahisa & Thisse,Jacques-Francois, 2002. "Economics of Agglomeration," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521805247.
- Fujita, Masahisa & Thisse, Jacques-François, 1996. "Economics of Agglomeration," CEPR Discussion Papers 1344, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Steven Raphael & Michael A. Stoll, 2000.
"Can Boosting Minority Car-Ownership Rates Narrow Inter-Racial Employment Gaps,"
JCPR Working Papers
200, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
- Raphael, Steven & Stoll, Michael, 2001. "Can Boosting Minority Car-Ownership Rates Narrow Inter-Racial Employment Gaps?," Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy, Working Paper Series qt4k4519pw, Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy.
- Zenou, Yves & Boccard, Nicolas, 2000.
"Racial Discrimination and Redlining in Cities,"
Journal of Urban Economics,
Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 260-285, September.
- BOCCARD, Nicolas & ZENOU, Yves, 1999. "Racial discrimination and redlining in cities," CORE Discussion Papers 1999013, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
- Raphael, Steven & Stoll, Michael, 2000. "Can Boosting Minority Car-Ownership Rates Narrow Inter-Racial Employment Gaps?," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt4fq193gk, University of California Transportation Center.
- Edward L. Glaeser & Matthew E. Kahn & Jordan Rappaport, 2000.
"Why Do the Poor Live in Cities?,"
NBER Working Papers
7636, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Edward L. Glaeser & Matthew E. Kahn & Jordan Rappaport, 2000. "Why Do The Poor Live In Cities?," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1891, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
- Giuliano, Genevieve & Small, Kenneth A., 1991. "Subcenters in the Los Angeles region," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 163-182, July.
- Brueckner, Jan K. & Martin, Richard W., 1997. "Spatial mismatch: An equilibrium analysis," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 693-714, November.
- Coulson, N Edward & Laing, Derek & Wang, Ping, 2001. "Spatial Mismatch in Search Equilibrium," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(4), pages 949-72, October.
- Ihlanfeldt, Keith R & Sjoquist, David L, 1990. "Job Accessibility and Racial Differences in Youth Employment Rates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 267-76, March.
- Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-44, June.
- Mills, Edwin S. & Price, Richard, 1984. "Metropolitan suburbanization and central city problems," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, January.
- Wasmer, Etienne & Zenou, Yves, 2002. "Does City Structure Affect Job Search and Welfare?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 515-541, May.
- Martin, Richard W., 1997. "Job Decentralization with Suburban Housing Discrimination: An Urban Equilibrium Model of Spatial Mismatch," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 293-317, December.
- Henderson, Vernon & Mitra, Arindam, 1996. "The new urban landscape: Developers and edge cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 613-643, December.
- Ihlanfeldt, Keith R., 1997. "Information on the Spatial Distribution of Job Opportunities within Metropolitan Areas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 218-242, March.
- Anas, Alex, 2002. "Prejudice, exclusion, and compensating transfers: the economics of ethnic segregation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 409-432, November.
- Zax, Jeffrey S & Kain, John F, 1996. "Moving to the Suburbs: Do Relocating Companies Leave Their Black Employees Behind?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 472-504, July.
- White, Michelle J., 1999. "Urban areas with decentralized employment: Theory and empirical work," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: P. C. Cheshire & E. S. Mills (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 36, pages 1375-1412 Elsevier.
- Dennis J. Aigner & Glen G. Cain, 1977. "Statistical theories of discrimination in labor markets," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 30(2), pages 175-187, January.
- David T. Ellwood, 1986. "The Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis: Are There Teenage Jobs Missing in the Ghetto?," NBER Chapters, in: The Black Youth Employment Crisis, pages 147-190 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Edwin S. Mills & Luan Sende Lubuele, 1997. "Inner Cities," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 727-756, June.
- Ortega, Javier, 2000. "Pareto-Improving Immigration in an Economy with Equilibrium Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(460), pages 92-112, January.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Heisz, Andrew Larochelle-Cote, Sebastien, 2005. "Work and Commuting in Census Metropolitan Areas, 1996 to 2001," Trends and Conditions in Census Metropolitan Areas 2005007e, Statistics Canada, Social Analysis Division.
- Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2004.
"City-structure, job search and labor discrimination : theory and policy implications,"
Research Unit Working Papers
0403, Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquee, INRA.
- Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2006. "City Structure, Job Search and Labour Discrimination: Theory and Policy Implications," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(514), pages 1057-1087, October.
- Selod, Harris & Zenou, Yves, 2004. "City Structure, Job Search, and Labor Discrimination. Theory and Policy Implications," Working Paper Series 620, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
- Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2004. "City Structure, Job Search and Labor Discrimination. Theory and Policy Implications," Working Papers 2004-13, Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique.
- Selod, Harris & Zenou, Yves, 2005. "City Structure, Job Search and Labour Discrimination. Theory and Policy Implications," CEPR Discussion Papers 5009, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Stutzer, Alois & Frey, Bruno S., 2004.
"Stress That Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox,"
IZA Discussion Papers
1278, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Stress that Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(2), pages 339-366, 06.
- Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, . "Stress That Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox," IEW - Working Papers 151, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
- Smith, Tony E & Zenou, Yves, 2003.
"Spatial Mismatch, Search Effort and Urban Spatial Structure,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
3731, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Smith, Tony E. & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Spatial mismatch, search effort, and urban spatial structure," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 129-156, July.
- Smith, Tony E. & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Spatial Mismatch, Search Effort and Urban Spatial Structure," IZA Discussion Papers 692, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Mismatch, Transport Mode and Search Decisions in England," CEPR Discussion Papers 3968, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Francois Des Rosiers & Marius Theriault & Catherine Lavoie, 2009. "Retail Concentration and Shopping Center Rents - A Comparison of Two Cities," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 31(2), pages 165-208.
- Selod, Harris & Zenou, Yves, 2003. "Does City Structure Affect the Labor Market Outcomes of Black Workers?," IZA Discussion Papers 928, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Heisz, Andrew Larochelle-Cote, Sebastien, 2005. "Le travail et le navettage dans les regions metropolitaines de recensement, 1996 a 2001," Tendances et conditions dans les regions metropolitaines de recensement 2005007f, Statistics Canada, Division de l'analyse sociale.
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3740For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ().
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

