Spatial accessibility to employment as a determinant of participation, employability and informality: An empirical study for the Metropolitan Region of Recife

Abstract

The Metropolitan Region of Recife is an urban center characterized by high rates of commuting time, informality, and inequality in labor market insertion. This study provides, using the concept of spatial mismatch, evidence of a spatial disconnect between workers and job opportunities in the region, by measuring the impact of physical accessibility on the insertion of economic agents in the market, more specifically on the probability of an agent participating in the market, being unemployed, or being in informality. Obtained from the use of the Spatial Weighting Areas (SWPs) and employment centers of the 2010 Census and 2010 RAIS from RMR, in addition to an IV Linear Probability Model, the results point out that, for residents of the region, accessibility has a positive impact on the probability of market participation, negative on the probability of being informally employed, and not significant on the probability of being unemployed.