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Ethnic Unemployment Rates and Frictional Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Gobillon, Laurent

    (Paris School of Economics)

  • Rupert, Peter

    (University of California, Santa Barbara)

  • Wasmer, Etienne

    (Sciences Po, Paris)

Abstract
The unemployment rate in France is roughly 6 percentage points higher for African immigrants than for natives. In the US the unemployment rate is approximately 9 percentage points higher for blacks than for whites. Commute time data indicates that minorities face longer commute times to work, potentially reflecting more difficult access to jobs. In this paper we investigate the impact of spatial mismatch on the unemployment rate of ethnic groups using the matching model proposed by Rupert and Wasmer (2012). We find that spatial factors explain between 1 to 1.5 percentage points of the unemployment rate gap in both France and the US, amounting to 17% to 25% of the relative gap in France and about 10% in the US. Among these factors, differences in commuting distance plays the most important role. In France, though, longer commuting distances may be mitigated by higher mobility in the housing market for African workers. Overall, we still conclude that labor market factors remain the main explanation for the higher unemployment rate of Africans.

Suggested Citation

  • Gobillon, Laurent & Rupert, Peter & Wasmer, Etienne, 2013. "Ethnic Unemployment Rates and Frictional Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 7448, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7448
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp7448.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gautier, Pieter A. & Zenou, Yves, 2010. "Car ownership and the labor market of ethnic minorities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 392-403, May.
    2. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Bruno Decreuse & Morgane Laouénan & Alain Trannoy, 2016. "Customer Discrimination and Employment Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from the French Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 107-160.
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    6. Laurent Gobillon & Harris Selod & Yves Zenou, 2007. "The Mechanisms of Spatial Mismatch," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(12), pages 2401-2427, November.
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    12. Rathelot, Roland, 2014. "Ethnic differentials on the labor market in the presence of asymmetric spatial sorting: Set identification and estimation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 154-167.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Ethnic ghettos and unemployment
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-08-23 19:52:00

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    Cited by:

    1. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/chhq38puf8c1pmc4hdah6ev58 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Phillips, David C., 2014. "Getting to work: Experimental evidence on job search and transportation costs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 72-82.
    3. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Decreuse, Bruno & Schmutz, Benoît & Trannoy, Alain, 2018. "Neighbor discrimination theory and evidence from the French rental market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 104-123.
    4. Rathelot, Roland, 2014. "Ethnic differentials on the labor market in the presence of asymmetric spatial sorting: Set identification and estimation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 154-167.
    5. Neumark, David & Simpson, Helen, 2015. "Place-Based Policies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1197-1287, Elsevier.
    6. Francois Bonnet & Etienne Lalé & Mirna Safi & Etienne Wasmer, 2016. "Better residential than ethnic discrimination! Reconciling audit and interview findings in the Parisian housing market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(13), pages 2815-2833, October.
    7. Picard, Pierre M. & Zenou, Yves, 2018. "Urban spatial structure, employment and social ties," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 77-93.
    8. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/chhq38puf8c1pmc4hdah6ev58 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Elisa Guglielminetti & Rafael Lalive & Philippe Ruh & Etienne Wasmer, 2019. "Home Sweet Home? Job Search with Commuting and Unemployment Insurance," Working Papers hal-03950253, HAL.
    10. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Decreuse, Bruno & Schmutz, Benoît & Trannoy, Alain, 2018. "Neighbor discrimination theory and evidence from the French rental market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 104-123.
    11. Forsythe, Eliza & Wu, Jhih-Chian, 2021. "Explaining Demographic Heterogeneity in Cyclical Unemployment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    12. Elisa Guglielminetti & Rafael Lalive & Philippe Ruh & Etienne Wasmer, 2015. "Spatial search strategies of job seekers and the role of unemployment insurance," SciencePo Working papers hal-03393225, HAL.
    13. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4n249fe9fu9n7qnntf71h06q6n is not listed on IDEAS
    14. repec:hal:journl:hal-03403442 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Elisa Guglielminetti & Rafael Lalive & Philippe Ruh & Etienne Wasmer, 2015. "Spatial search strategies of job seekers and the role of unemployment insurance," Working Papers hal-03393225, HAL.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6tj1d1vl8a8goacd5b3ogpmn8j is not listed on IDEAS
    17. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4n249fe9fu9n7qnntf71h06q6n is not listed on IDEAS
    18. LIU Yang & KAWATA Keisuke, 2015. "Labor Market and the Native-Immigrant Wage Gap: Evidence from urban China," Discussion papers 15142, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    spatial mismatch hypotheses; commuting; job acceptance; ethnic unemployment rates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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