Urban Labor Economics

The aim of this book is to study the links between urban economics and labor economics. Different models of urban labor economic theory are examined in the initial two parts of this book: first urban search-matching models (Part 1) and then urban efficiency wages (Part 2). In Part 3, we apply these models to analyze urban ghettos and their consequences for ethnic minorities in the labor market. Professor Zenou first provides different mechanisms for the so-called spatial mismatch hypothesis, which postulates that housing discrimination introduces a key frictional factor that prevents minorities from improving access to job opportunities by relocating their residences closer to jobs. He then explores social networks, which tend to be affected by spatial factors, as workers who are physically close to jobs can be socially far away from them. Based on these models, the author offers different policies aiming at fighting high unemployment rates experienced by ethnic minorities residing in segregated areas.

Author: Yves Zenou
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 04/27/2009
Pages: 524
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780521698221

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2009

About the Author
Zenou, Yves: - Yves Zenou is Professor of Economics at Stockholm University and a Senior Research Fellow at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN). He is also affiliated with the Groupe d'Analyse des Itinéraires et Niveaux Salariaux (GAINS, Le Mans, France), the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR, London), and the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Bonn). He was previously Professor of Economics at the University of Southampton, UK, and a Research Fellow at the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE, Belgium). Yves Zenou has also been a visiting professor at the European University Institute in Florence and Tel Aviv University. He is editor of Regional Science and Urban Economics and associate editor of the Journal of Urban Economics. His publications have appeared in leading journals such as Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of Economic Theory, International Economic Review, the Journal of Labor Economics, and the Journal of Public Economics.