Labor Markets, Industrial Structure, and Poverty: A Theoretical Discussion and Empirical Example.

This paper argues for a social structural understanding of poverty that views poverty rates as a function of local opportunity. The individual-level focus on the allocation of poverty, "who is poor," neglects the processes that create poverty level positions in the social structure. My description of poverty as opportunity defines poverty rates as a function of the industrial structure and the relative power of labor in a locality. Data on poverty rates, industrial structure, and labor markets in South Carolina counties generally confirm the theoretical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]