Job accessibility and ethnic minority employment in urban and rural areas in Taiwan

Abstract

This study is an empirical exploration of the effects of job accessibility on ethnic minority employment in urban and rural areas. The urban sample is composed of Taiwanese aborigines who migrated to cities from their native locales while the rural sample is composed of aborigines who reside in aboriginal villages. Sample data are collected through questionnaire surveys conducted in 2009 and 2012. Results indicate that rural aborigines have a lower unemployment rate but less stable employment than urban aborigines. Employed rural aborigines receive slightly higher salaries and incur higher commuting cost than employed urban aborigines. However, regardless of where the aborigines live (i.e., urban or rural areas), increased job accessibility is not related to employment and employment stability, but significantly increases aboriginal salary. Moreover, improved job accessibility increases the commuting time of rural aborigines, but its effects on the commuting time of urban aborigines depend on the travel mode. Empirical evidence implies that migrating to cities can be both beneficial and fruitless for aboriginal employment, and that the effects of accessibility on the employment of Taiwanese aborigines in urban and rural areas are both similar to and different from those of non-aborigines documented in previous studies. © 2016 The Author(s). Papers in Regional Science © 2016 RSAI.