TY - JOUR
T1 - An Analysis of Commuting Distance and Job Accessibility for Residents in a U.S. Legacy City
AU - Ding, Nan
AU - Bagchi-Sen, Sharmistha
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 American Association of Geographers.
PY - 2019/9/3
Y1 - 2019/9/3
N2 - Job accessibility has been examined over the years, especially in older industrial cities. More specifically, job accessibility of different groups of workers remains a topic of interest for targeted policymaking to improve economic conditions. This article analyzes the commuting distance sensitivity of different groups of workers and applies commuting distance sensitivity to job accessibility calculation. The Longitudinal Employer–Household Dynamics (LEHD) data set is used to calculate job-specific distance decay parameters, commuting threshold, and job accessibility. Suitable jobs are controlled by income and industry sector. A conditional distance decay function based on commuting distance sensitivity is introduced and applied to job accessibility. Distance affects job accessibility only beyond a certain threshold, which varies by worker characteristics. The results show that workers in different income, age, and industry categories have varying commuting thresholds; that is, the distance they are willing to commute to get to a job. Commuting threshold is expected to affect the value and spatial distribution of job accessibility. When considering commuting threshold, adding more jobs nearby might not reduce commuting distance to a large extent. Future studies need to understand the process that will inform residents about job opportunities so that accessibility can translate into employment. Key Words: commuting distance sensitivity, conditional distance decay, job accessibility, LEHD, low-wage jobs.
AB - Job accessibility has been examined over the years, especially in older industrial cities. More specifically, job accessibility of different groups of workers remains a topic of interest for targeted policymaking to improve economic conditions. This article analyzes the commuting distance sensitivity of different groups of workers and applies commuting distance sensitivity to job accessibility calculation. The Longitudinal Employer–Household Dynamics (LEHD) data set is used to calculate job-specific distance decay parameters, commuting threshold, and job accessibility. Suitable jobs are controlled by income and industry sector. A conditional distance decay function based on commuting distance sensitivity is introduced and applied to job accessibility. Distance affects job accessibility only beyond a certain threshold, which varies by worker characteristics. The results show that workers in different income, age, and industry categories have varying commuting thresholds; that is, the distance they are willing to commute to get to a job. Commuting threshold is expected to affect the value and spatial distribution of job accessibility. When considering commuting threshold, adding more jobs nearby might not reduce commuting distance to a large extent. Future studies need to understand the process that will inform residents about job opportunities so that accessibility can translate into employment. Key Words: commuting distance sensitivity, conditional distance decay, job accessibility, LEHD, low-wage jobs.
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U2 - 10.1080/24694452.2019.1580133
DO - 10.1080/24694452.2019.1580133
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85065675955
SN - 2469-4452
VL - 109
SP - 1560
EP - 1582
JO - Annals of the American Association of Geographers
JF - Annals of the American Association of Geographers
IS - 5
ER -