| Abstract: | Soviet savings-bank statistics are examined as a potential source of data in economic-geographic research, with particular reference to four distinctive areas of Donetsk Oblast (Yenakiyevo, a large coal-steel city; Debal'tsevo, a middle-size railroad town; a suburban rural area; and a purely rural area). The average deposit balance in rural areas tends to be larger and more stable than in cities. City dwellers view savings banks as a place for keeping temporarily available money while rural residents use the banks for savings for particular purposes (home building, automobile purchase, etc.). The coefficient of territorial concentration (the ratio of the mean deposit in the local area to the mean deposit in the oblast as a whole) reflects differences in income levels. The mean deposit tends to be highest in suburban rural areas, where employment in the central city is supplemented by the sale of produce from private garden plots. Income levels in Yenakiyevo, with its high-paid labor force in the coal and steel industries, are higher than among the railroad workers of Debal'tsevo. Changes in deposit balances through the year also reflect urban and rural peculiarities in family incomes and expenditures. |
