Job Accessibility and Male Teenage Employment, 1980–1990: The Declining Significance of Space?*

The spatial mismatch hypothesis, which argues that job decentralization has had a major impact on the economic fortunes of inner-city minorities, has been a popular argument in academic and policy circles. It is possible, however, that employment decentralization was a temporary shock to inner-city labor markets and that labor supply has successfully adjusted by residential relocation and alterations in job search patterns. This paper examines this issue with an empirical analysis of the 1980 and 1990 employment probabilities of black and white male teenagers living in the largest metropolitan areas of the United States. Findings indicate that the impact of job accessibility on employment probabilities declined between 1980 and 1990, especially for black male teenagers not enrolled in school. Accessibility had a declining effect for this group because of losing the advantage of accessibility rather than overcoming the disadvantage of inaccessibility. By 1990, black male teens living in job-accessible areas no longer enjoyed as much of an employment advantage relative to teens living in job-inaccessible areas as they did in 1980. We should thus be cautious about ascribing too much theoretical or policy importance to job accessibility factors.