INTRAURBAN JOB ACCESSIBILITY AND HISPANIC YOUTH EMPLOYMENT RATES

This paper investigates the validity of the spatial mismatch hypothesis as an explanation for the relatively low employment rates of Hispanic youth. Job probability equations are estimated for Hispanic and white teenagers that include a measure of intraurban job accessibility among the set of independent variables. Job access is found to have an important effect on the job probability of both racial groups, regardless of school enrollment status. In addition, approximately 25 to 30% of the racial difference in employment rates is attributable to the fact that Hispanics live farther from jobs than whites. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.