Black applicants, black employees, and urban labor market policy

In this paper, we use data from a new survey of employers in four large met ropolitan areas to analyze the flow of black applicants to different kinds of employers and the extent to which these applicants are hired. The result s show that less-educated black workers apply less frequently fur jobs in t he suburbs than in the central cities, especially at smaller establishments . Their lower tendency to apply for suburban jobs seems to be mostly accoun ted for by factors associated with higher costs of applying and/or lower in formation flows. Black applicants, especially less-educated black males, ar e also less likely to be hired at suburban establishments. These results su ggest the need for policies to improve the access of less-educated blacks t o suburban employers, and also more effective enforcement of antidiscrimina tion laws in suburban establishments. (C) 2000 Academic Press.