The Effects of Job and Housing Location on Race/Gender Wage Differentials in Milwaukee: Testing the `Network Hypothesis'

This study considers the joint role of job and housing location as they affect the earnings of different race and gender groups. Building on Wial's (1991) case study of networks in Boston which distribute good jobs, the `network hypothesis' suggests that the channels which distribute high wage jobs inside Milwaukee county are connected to individuals who are predominantly white males and live outside of the county, thereby limiting access for others partly on the basis of race and gender and partly due to job and housing location. Data from the 1990 U.S. census are used to test this hypothesis. The The results are consistent with the network hypothesis.