Ethnic enclave residence, employment, and commuting of Latino workers

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of living in ethnic enclaves in different parts of a metropolitan area on low-skilled Latino immigrants' employment accessibility. It does so by comparing the employment status and commuting times of Latinos living in and out of ethnic neighborhoods in central city, inner-ring suburbs, and outer-ring suburbs in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Using the 2000 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), this paper finds that central-city residents tend to have both lower employment probability and longer commutes. The enclave effect is much muted and a spatial mismatch effect evident in these areas. But in the suburban areas, while as likely to work as non-enclave counterparts, enclave residents tend to commute longer to jobs, suggesting the importance of ethnic networks in these enclave neighborhoods. Further distinguishing Latino immigrants by gender shows that women are more enclave-disadvantaged than men. © 2009 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Empirical Innovations in Policy Analysis

“…We may not think of public policy as “spatial” but in reality virtually all policy interventions are affected both by specific place‐related contextual factors as well as factors related to neighboring places. Thus, we observe similar analyses related to land‐use regulation and rental housing (Schuetz, ), job creation and business enterprise zones (Kolko & Neumark, ), traffic congestion pricing (Hårsman & Quigley, ), mapping jobs to urban ethnic enclaves (Liu, ), spatial regression of mortgage assistance program effects (Di, Ma, & Murdoch, ), and hazardous waste enforcement in low‐income and higher minority locations (Konisky, ).…”

Does residence in an ethnic community help immigrants in a recession?

“…Thus, it is important to make a distinction among ethnic communities located in different parts of the metropolitan area. Liu (2009) documents that Latino immigrants living in job-poor central cities tend to have both lower employment probability and longer commutes than their inner-ring suburban counterparts, though residents in outer-ring suburban enclaves had longer commutes despite higher employment rates.…”

“…This paper partitions each metropolitan area into three areas: central city, inner ring suburbs and outer ring suburbs (Liu, 2009). This design captures different transit accessibility and job accessibility associated with various locations.…”

“…Only a few studies have examined Hispanic or immigrant populations (e.g. Ihlanfeldt 1993, Aponte 1996, Preston et al 1998, Pastor and Marcelli 2000, Parks 2004aand 2004bPainter, Liu and Zhuang, 2007;Liu, 2009). Some of these studies find that skills' mismatch between immigrants and the needs of their proximate employers are more important than space, while others find residential location is related to the labor market outcomes of immigrants.…”

“…In so doing, we examine three labor market outcomes: employment probability, wages, and commuting time. We define Latino ethnic communities where Latinos immigrants concentrate in the metropolitan areas according to the methodology in Liu (2009). Unlike African American communities that have been traditionally segregated in central cities, immigrant communities are frequently located in suburbs (Li, 1998;Logan, Alba, and Zhang 2002;Liu and Painter 2012b).…”