衡量工作可及性：不同方法和新数据（英）

Measuring Job Accessibility Different Methods and New Data Atsushi Iimi Transport Global DepartmentAugust 2025 A verified reproducibility package for this paper isavailable athttp://reproducibility.worldbank.org,clickherefor direct access. Policy Research Working Paper11181 Abstract The paper reexamines how to measure job accessibility inenvironments with limited data availability and appliesdifferent methods to Antananarivo, the capital of Mada-gascar. Job creation and accessibility are attracting renewedinterest in developing countries, where unemployment ratesremain persistently high. The paper finds two types of jobaccessibility measures that particularly impact employ-ment: proximity to public transport and average travel time weighted by available job opportunities. For the latter, thepaper also finds that new open-source data, such as theOpen Buildings data set, are effective in identifying existingjob opportunities. Using the measured results, the marginalimpact of job accessibility on employment is estimated atabout −0.05 to −0.06 after the potential endogeneity ofaccessibility measures is controlled. This paper is a product of the Transport Global Department. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provideopen access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy ResearchWorking Papers are also posted on the Web at http://www.worldbank.org/prwp. The author may be contacted ataiimi@worldbank.org. A verified reproducibility package for this paper is available athttp://reproducibility.worldbank.org, clickherefor direct access. The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about developmentissues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry thenames of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely thoseof the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank andits affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. Measuring Job Accessibility: Different Methods and New Data Atsushi Iimi¶ Eastern and Southern AfricaTransport Global PracticeWorld Bank Keywords: Access to jobs; Job creation; Probit model. JEL classification: C25, J08; O14; O18 I.INTRODUCTION This paper aims to reconsider job accessibility by comparing different measures used in theliterature and examining how they behave in connection with labor market outcomes, especiallywithin the context of developing countries. In recent years, employment has been increasinglydiscussed in the developing world (e.g., ILO, 2022a, 2022b, 2024; Banerjee and Sequeira, 2023;Carranza and McKenzie, 2024). However, how to measure job accessibility remains relativelyunderstudied. Various methods and concepts are discussed in the literature. The paper reviewsthe pros and cons of existing methods and proposes a new approach using a novel global dataset,Open Buildings 2.5D Temporal Dataset (Sirko et al., 2021), which is applicable even in data-scarce environments. The paper then investigates which accessibility measurement is the mosteffective to evaluate its potential impact on labor market outcomes, such as labor forceparticipation. While the underlying basic concept is largely similar, job accessibility is defined differentlyacross existing studies. For instance, Shah and Sturzenegger (2022) estimate that South Africansspend about 60 percent of their income on transport costs. In this context, job accessibility issimply measured by commuting time and costs. Banerjee and Sequeira (2023) also discuss theeffectiveness of public transport subsidies to support job searches. Proximity to public transportis another measure often used to examine its impact on employment (e.g., Holzer et al., 2003;Mayer and Trevien, 2017; Tyndall, 2017). In car-dependent countries, such as the United States,congestion and driving time on highways may be more relevant (e.g., Goodwin and Noland,2003; Burrows and Burd, 2024). Baradaran and Ramjerdi (2001) discuss the performance of different job accessibilitymeasures, classifying them into five groups: travel cost, gravity, time constraint-based, utility-based, and composite approaches. While the travel cost approach is most straightforward, thegravity approach examines potential opportunities. The time constraint-based approach can alsoaccount for people’s time limitations for other daily activities that require transportation. Theutility-based approach is more data intensive as it takes into account people’s preferences overdifferent transport options. The composite approach is even more complex, combining the constraint- and utility-based methods. Merlin and Hu (2017) emp