Proximity to Job Opportunities and African American Male Unemployment: A Test of the Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis in Indianapolis

Despite the lack of substantive research, the spatial mismatch hypothesis remains a pervasive explanation for the high rate of African American male unemployment. This research tests the hypothesis that census tract African American male unemployment rates are negatively related to the number of local job opportunities. This hypothesis is tested for Marion County, Indiana, the central county of the Indianapolis MSA. Weighted partial correlation coefficients of the logit of African American male census tract unemployment rates and indices of the availability of local job opportunities in manufacturing, services, and retail trade are statistically insignificant. The findings reject the spatial mismatch hypothesis in the specific context of Indianapolis in 1990.