DEVELOPING THE SPATIAL MISMATCH HYPOTHESIS: PROBLEMS OF ACCESSIBILITY TO EMPLOYMENT FOR LOW-WAGE CENTRAL CITY LABOR

Abstract

This research focuses on the spatial mismatch hypothesis as an explanation for the concentration of unemployment in the central cities of the industrial Midwest. It is argued that the immobility of low-wage labor relative to the mobility of employment results in either the exploitation or isolation of low-wage labor. In the contemporary period, the suburbanization of low-wage employment economically isolates the immobile low-wage population of the central cities. This alternative view of the spatial mismatch de-emphasizes race and emphasizes the segmentation of women and minorities into low-wage occupations. To test the spatial mismatch hypothesis, a model of the probability distribution of travel times to work is estimated for three cities in the industrial Midwest: Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland. The results support the hypothesis that the decentralization of employment reduces access to employment for central city residents as evidenced by the lower frequency of short trips to work for low-wage centra...