Exploring well-being disparities between urban and rural areas:A case study in the Stavropol Territory,Russia

Rural areas are crucial for a country’s sustainable economy.New strategies are needed to develop rural areas to improve the well-being of rural population and generate new job opportunities.This is especially important in countries where agricultural production accounts for a significant share of the gross product,such as Russia.In this study,we identified the key indicators of satisfaction and differences between rural and urban citizens based on their social,economic,and environmental backgrounds,and determined whether there are well-being disparities between rural and urban areas in the Stavropol Territory,Russia.We collected primary data through a survey based on the European Social Survey framework to investigate the potential differences between rural and urban areas.By computing the regional well-being index using principal component analysis,we found that there was no statistically significant difference in well-being between rural and urban areas.Results of key indicators showed that rural residents felt psychologically more comfortable and safer,assessed their family relationships better,and adhered more to traditions and customs.However,urban residents showed better economic and social conditions(e.g.,infrastructures,medical care,education,and Internet access).The results of this study imply that we can better understand the local needs,advantages,and unique qualities,thereby gaining insight into the effectiveness of government programs.Policy-makers and local authorities can consider targeted interventions based on the findings of this study and strive to enhance the well-being of both urban and rural residents.

Mental accounting and consumption of self-produced food

This is an exploratory study on mental accounting and food budgeting of agricultural households,in which we assumed that agricultural households may have a mental account for consumption of their self-produced food.Accordingly,they may reserve a certain quantity of self-produced food as a set budget for own consumption,implying that they may keep on consuming their own produce until they have consumed the quantity set for the mental budget.By making the mental accounting assumption,we hypothesized that the consumption of self-produced food is independent of market price.Also,we hypothesized that the consumption of self-produced food is increasing in the quantity of production if production is lower than the set budget,and independent of the quantity of production if production exceeds the set budget.By applying a double-log demand model and using survey data from six poor rural counties in China,we tested these hypotheses for five food items,which are rice,flour,potatoes,pork,and eggs.We found that the hypothesis of no significant effect of price holds for flour,potatoes,and pork if production is lower than the set budget,and for rice,pork,and eggs if production is higher than the set budget.Production has a significant positive effect on consumption of selfproduced food but with a much greater influence when production is lower than the set budget for all five food items.These findings partly support our assumption of mental accounting of self-produced food.Limitations,policy implications,and possible future studies are discussed.