Indirect Tests of the Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis in the Cleveland PMSA

Abstract

This article presents two indirect tests of the spatial mismatch hypothesis. Awage-gradient model and a two-sample t-test procedure are used to examine wage differences across the Cleveland primary metropolitan statistical area (PMSA) for 18 selected low-wage industries. Empirical evidence produced in both sets of tests do not support the spatial mismatch hypothesis in the context of the Cleveland PMSA: A positive wage gradient was not found, and two-sample t-tests did not indicate that wages in industries typified as being predominantly low skilled are higher in suburbs than in the central city—an outcome predicted by a spatial mismatch—for all industries in the sample, with the exception of gasoline service stations.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bartik, T. J. 1991. Who benefits from state and local economic development policies? Kalamazoo, MI: Upjoin Institute for Employment Research.

Blackley, Paul R. 1990. Spatial mismatch in urban labor markets: Evidence from large U.S. metropolitan areas. Social Science Quarterly 71 (1):39-52.

Cooke, T. J. 1993. Proximity to job opportunities and African American male unemployment: A test of the spatial mismatch hypothesis in Indianapolis. Professional Geographer 45 (4):407-415.

Gorden, P. , A. Kumar , and H. W. Richardson . 1989. The spatial mismatch hypothesis: Some new evidence. Urban Studies 26:315-326.

Hildebrand, D. K. , and L. Ott . 1991. Statistical thinking for managers. Boston: PWS-KENT.

Hill, E. W. , and H. L. Wolman . 1997. Accounting for the change in income disparities between US central cities and their suburbs from 1980 to 1990. Urban Studies 34 (1):43-60.

Holzer, H. J. 1991. The spatial mismatch hypothesis: What has the evidence shown? Urban Studies 28:105-122.

Holzer, H. J. , and K. R. Ihlanfeldt . 1996. Spatial factors and the employment of blacks at the firm level. New England Economic Review, May/June, 65-82.

Holzer, H. J. , and W. Vroman . 1992. Mismatches and the urban labor market. In Urban labor markets and job opportunity, edited by G. E. Peterson and W. Vroman , 81-104. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.

10.

Ihlanfeldt, K. R. 1994. The spatial mismatch between jobs and residential locations within urban areas. Cityscape 1 (1):219-244.

11.

Jencks, C. , and S. E. Mayer . 1990. Residential segregation, job proximity, and black job opportunities. In Inner-city poverty in the United States, edited by L. E. Lynn Jr. , and M. M. McGreary , 187-222. Washington, DC: National Academic Press.

12.

Kain, J. F. 1968. Housing segregation, Negro employment, and metropolitan decentralization. Quarterly Journal of Economics 82:175-197.

13.

Ohio Department of Taxation . 1995. Tax data series: Municipal income taxes. Columbus: Ohio Department of Taxation.

14.

Packer, A. H. , and J. G. Wirt . 1992. Changing skills in the U.S. work force: Trends of supply and demand. In Urban labor markets and job opportunity, edited by G. E. Peterson and W. Vroman , 31-63. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.

15.

Peterson, G. E. , and W. Vroman . 1992. Urban labor markets and economic opportunity. In Urban labor markets and job opportunity, edited by G. E. Peterson and W. Vroman , 1-29. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.