Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 109 |
| Journal | Discover sustainability |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Feb 2025 |
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored a critical need for well-functioning public services, particularly in rural areas where access to the services is often limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction and importance of public services in rural areas and analyze how the evaluation impacts residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for public service improvements. This is to identify key services that require strategic investment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from the Importance-Performance Analysis show that public services' importance outweighs satisfaction, highlighting the need for improvement, particularly in medical emergency services, transportation, and cultural facilities. The results from the Heckman model indicate that both the satisfaction of residents with the service provision and their importance perceived by residents affect the propensity to pay and the intended amount of payment, including water and sewage, social work, and cultural facilities. The satisfaction is negatively associated while the importance is positively associated with WTP for public service improvement. In addition, income level and age of residents are found to be drivers of WTP as well. Policymakers are suggested to consider both the importance of services and the financial capacity of residents in designing interventions for improving public services in rural areas during the time of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
- COVID-19, Importance-performance analysis, Public services, Rural development
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Energy(all)
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
- Energy(all)
- Energy (miscellaneous)
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Discover sustainability, Vol. 6, No. 1, 109, 17.02.2025.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Prioritizing public service investments and analyzing factors affecting willingness to pay for public services during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - a case study of rural areas in Chungnam Province, South Korea
AU - Lee, Saem
AU - Nguyen, Trung Thanh
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/2/17
Y1 - 2025/2/17
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored a critical need for well-functioning public services, particularly in rural areas where access to the services is often limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction and importance of public services in rural areas and analyze how the evaluation impacts residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for public service improvements. This is to identify key services that require strategic investment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from the Importance-Performance Analysis show that public services' importance outweighs satisfaction, highlighting the need for improvement, particularly in medical emergency services, transportation, and cultural facilities. The results from the Heckman model indicate that both the satisfaction of residents with the service provision and their importance perceived by residents affect the propensity to pay and the intended amount of payment, including water and sewage, social work, and cultural facilities. The satisfaction is negatively associated while the importance is positively associated with WTP for public service improvement. In addition, income level and age of residents are found to be drivers of WTP as well. Policymakers are suggested to consider both the importance of services and the financial capacity of residents in designing interventions for improving public services in rural areas during the time of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored a critical need for well-functioning public services, particularly in rural areas where access to the services is often limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction and importance of public services in rural areas and analyze how the evaluation impacts residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for public service improvements. This is to identify key services that require strategic investment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results from the Importance-Performance Analysis show that public services' importance outweighs satisfaction, highlighting the need for improvement, particularly in medical emergency services, transportation, and cultural facilities. The results from the Heckman model indicate that both the satisfaction of residents with the service provision and their importance perceived by residents affect the propensity to pay and the intended amount of payment, including water and sewage, social work, and cultural facilities. The satisfaction is negatively associated while the importance is positively associated with WTP for public service improvement. In addition, income level and age of residents are found to be drivers of WTP as well. Policymakers are suggested to consider both the importance of services and the financial capacity of residents in designing interventions for improving public services in rural areas during the time of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Importance-performance analysis
KW - Public services
KW - Rural development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85218500665&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s43621-025-00887-6
DO - 10.1007/s43621-025-00887-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85218500665
VL - 6
JO - Discover sustainability
JF - Discover sustainability
IS - 1
M1 - 109
ER -