The aim of this paper is to provide a new mechanism for the spatial mismatch hypothesis. Spatial mismatch can here be the result of optimizing behavior on the part of the labor market participants. In particular, the unemployed can choose low amounts of search and long-term unemployment if they...

A two-sector model of urban unemployment is developed which focuses on the formation of a secondary sector under conditions in which a demand shock in the primary sector leads to a sharp increase in unemployment. The optimal location in the secondary sector (treated as a single firm) is shown to...

The labor market model is developed within an urban spatial context, where it is shown that effeciency-wage policies can lead to significant levels of involuntary unemployment. Commuting cost differences between workers and nonworkers tend to increase unemployment, and competition for land tends...