URBAN EMPLOYMENT AND THE MISMATCH DILEMMA - ACCOUNTING FOR THE IMMIGRATION EXCEPTION

This essay tests key components of the mismatch hypothesis with a samp le of inner-city men that includes four ethnic or racial groupings - w hites, Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Mexican immigrants, The findings pro vide limited support to mismatch. Key components of mismatch. such as human capital attributes and access to automobile commuting, do appear to influence employment likelihoods among native disadvantaged minori ties, but have little effect on immigrants, The latter consistently ex hibit high employment rates. The interpretation offered rests on two f actors. First the data support the idea that immigrants' social networ ks largely underlie their impressive work records. In addition, the da ta provide limited support to the explanation, strongly indicated in t he literature, that immigrants are favored by employers for their expl oitability and that such preferences are expressed via hiring techniqu es that utilize the immigrants' social networks.