Racial/ethnic differences in job accessibility effects: Explaining employment and commutes in the Los Angeles region

The lack of spatial access to job opportunities is considered one major barrier that explains low employment rates and long commutes of racial/ethnic minorities, particularly in the U.S. But it is unclear whether the job accessibility effects vary by race/ethnicity. This research fills this gap. Results based on the Los Angeles region reveal complicated relationships: job accessibility has similarly insignificant effects on the employment probability of white and black job seekers, while the effects on Hispanics and Asians are plausible and significant in low- and medium-education groups. High job accessibility by transit mode reduces commute distance for all racial/ethnic groups, but job accessibility by automobile does not. Therefore, policies that aim to improve economic prospects or to reduce commutes and related externalities need to be both place-sensitive, e.g., improving transit services to employment clusters, and race/ethnicity-sensitive, e.g., considering transportation needs of low- and medium-education Hispanic and Asian workers.