Spatial Mismatch: An Equilibrium Analysis

Posted: 27 Jun 1998

See all articles by Jan K. Brueckner

Jan K. Brueckner

University of California, Irvine - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Richard W. Martin

University of Georgia - Department of Insurance, Legal Studies, Real Estate

Date Written: Undated

Abstract

The spatial mismatch hypothesis, first stated by Kain (1968), argues that job decentralization in U.S. cities has contributed to low incomes and high unemployment rates for black Americans. Decentralization relocates job sites to white suburban communities far from the CBD, and housing segregation prevents blacks from relocating their residences near the new workplaces. The purpose of the paper is to analyze an urban equilibrium with spatial mismatch. Despite the existence of a suburban employment center, blacks in the model are forced to live in the central zone they occupied in the original monocentric city, commuting across the white residential area to access suburban jobs. This "mismatch" equilibrium is contrasted with an unrestricted equilibrium, where blacks are free to locate adjacent to the suburban center. It is shown that black welfare is lower in the mismatch equilibrium than in the unrestricted equilibrium. Whites are unaffected or better off.

JEL Classification: R0, R1

Suggested Citation

Brueckner, Jan K. and Martin, Richard W., Spatial Mismatch: An Equilibrium Analysis (Undated). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=9058

Jan K. Brueckner (Contact Author)

University of California, Irvine - Department of Economics ( email )

3151 Social Science Plaza
Irvine, CA 92697-5100
United States

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Richard W. Martin

University of Georgia - Department of Insurance, Legal Studies, Real Estate ( email )

Athens, GA 30602-6254
United States

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