EuroEconomica, Vol 38, No 2 (2019)

Abstract

This paper uses household desegregated expenditure data to assess the differential impact of consumption expenditure and its components across different expenditures quintiles, between urban and rural regions in Tunisia. It also provides assessment of poverty at east-west level. Using a new approach of semiparametric censored regression model, this paper offers another analysis of the sensitivity of some indicators such as health, food and especially education, with regional disparity in Tunisia.  Socio-demographic characteristics and economic factors, such as educational level, employment sector, and returns to those characteristics (i.e. quality of hospital equipment, level and quality of educational system etc.) were found to be important determinants of urban-rural household welfare disparities. Meanwhile, the paper proposed some policies recommendation based on micro/macro mechanisms in order to reduce regional inequality in Tunisia.