The Effect of Income Shocks and Credit Constraint on Child Labor Participation and Poverty: The Case of Indonesia

Lies near the Eurasia and Indo-Australia’s border plate, Indonesia is categorized as natural disaster prone areas. It is common for Indonesian to experience earthquakes that occurs due to volcanic activities or ground movement. The most frequent natural disasters hit these districts are: landslide, earthquake, and flood. The other type of natural disaster is drought, which is more common to the rest of areas and more predictable compare to the previous disasters. For those who are living in disaster prone areas, disasters do not only destroy their assets, but also damages their source of income. Moreover, it can affect the decision of household related to the activity of their child. This study aims to analyze the effect of income shocks and credit constraints on poverty and child working activity in Indonesia. We will employ logit regression to estimate the effect of income shocks and credit constraints on income. Furthermore, multinomial logit estimate will be used to capture the effect of income shocks and credit constraints on household’s poverty status and household’s child activity. It is hipotized that the disaster-related-income-shock and constraints to acquire credit have significant effect on poverty as well as child working activity.shock, credit constraint, child labor, poverty, disaster

Testing the Natural Resource Curse Hypothesis in Indonesia: Evidence at the Regional Level

Resource curse literatures explain that countries abundant with natural resources tend to grow slower. This hypothesis is relevant for Indonesia as it is a country rich in natural resources. This paper tries to investigate empirically the relationship between resources abundance and its impact on economic development at the regional level using cross section regression approach. The regional financial data from ministry of finance are combined with regional specific data from BPS to seek the pattern. The paper will shed light on whether resources rich regions in Indonesia are trapped in this curse.Natural resource rent, resource curse hypothesis, Indonesia

Scenarios for Climate Change Mitigation from the Energy Sector in Indonesia: The Role of Fiscal Instruments

As mandated by the recent Copenhagen Accord, Indonesia submitted a nationally appropriate mitigation actions plan to reduce greenhouse gasses emission by 26% by 2020. However, for now, specific strategies especially appropriate instruments to achieve those targets are yet under early planning stage. This study is an attempt to contribute to the policy design on how Indonesia can achieve that target in particular for the energy sector by looking directly at specific instruments available and under the discretion of Indonesian government particularly the Ministry of Finance. For this purpose, we constructed AGEFIS-E model, a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with a focus on energy sector and fiscal instruments. As the departure from the previous literature on CGE modeling in Indonesia, this model incorporates explicitly the renewable energy such as geothermal and hydropower. It was used to exercise various scenarios of finding an effective mix of instruments to reduce emissions from the energy sector. We find that a scenario of engineering the energy relative prices through pricing-instruments is an effective way to achieve a given target of reducing emissions from the energy sectors. More specifically, we conclude that removing energy subsidy (fuel and electricity) can contribute to significant reduction in carbon emissions. Adding a carbon tax to the policy mix will complement to find the best scenario to achieve a certain target of emissions reduction. A target of 14% reduction of emissions from the energy sector, for example, can be achieved by removing energy subsidy complemented by a carbon tax of only around US$3/ton CO2. Half of the reduction is attributed to the removing energy subsidy alone, suggesting evidence that the emissions reduction potential of energy pricing reform has been overlooked in the policy agenda.climate change, computable general equilibrium model, fiscal instruments, energy, Indonesia

Effects of water and health on primary school enrolment and absenteeism in Indonesia

Item does not contain fulltex

Testing the Existence of Natural Resource Curse in Indonesia: The Role of Financial Development

Natural resources may become a blessing that can contribute to societies’ welfare increases. Yet natural resource abundance could also become a curse for countries’ economic development. Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between natural resources and economic performance. However, the results remain ambiguous and have no consensus in the literature. In specific, most literature focused only on testing the curse’s existence, while studies that involve the role of financial development in mediating the nexus remain scarce. To the best of our knowledge, this is a pioneer study in a developing country endowed by natural resources. Using panel data of 33 provinces from 2012 to 2018, this study implements the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique to examine the existence of the natural resource curse and scrutinize the role of financial development in mitigating the curse. Results show that Indonesia potentially experiences a natural resource curse. Nonetheless, the negative effect of natural resources on economic growth could be mitigated by enhancing the role of financial development to reach a certain threshold over economic output. This study recommends policymakers to not only increase financial development across the provinces but also pay more serious attention to other factors causing the natural resource curse in Indonesia

Phasing out Energy Subsidies to Improve Energy Mix: A Dead End

A major energy transformation is required to prolong the rise in global temperature below 2 °C. The Indonesian government (GoI) has set a strategy to gradually remove fuel subsidies to meet its 2050 ambitious energy targets. Using a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, the present study aimed to determine whether or not the current energy subsidy reforms would meet the targets of both energy mix and energy intensity. It also incorporated the environmental aspect while developing a source of a detailed database in the energy sector. The energy subsidy reform policy (followed by an increase in infrastructure and renewable energy investments) could be the most appropriate alternative policy if the government aims to reduce energy intensity and emission, as well as improve energy diversification without pronounced reductions in the sectorial and overall economy. However, all simulations suggested that the removal of energy subsidy does not enough in attaining the targeted energy mix and energy intensity goals. Thus, the Indonesian government should also introduce progressive programs in renewable energy

Use of Water and Hygiene Products: A COVID-19 Investigation in Indonesia

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hygiene practices and water consumption in Indonesia. Data were collected through an online survey, supplemented by the official national socio-economic survey. The findings indicate an increase in hygiene practices, particularly handwashing, aligned with health protocols. This behavior led to higher water and hygiene product usage, unaffected by socio-economic factors. Respondents’ perception of COVID-19 and compliance with health protocols drove the increase, with older individuals preferring handwashing with water and younger individuals favoring hand sanitizer. Access to improved drinking water remained stagnant, while bottled water consumption rose. This highlights challenges in achieving the SDG 6 targets for safe drinking water. This study stresses the need to address COVID-19 perception to promote better hygiene practices and raises concerns about increased water usage, domestic pollution, and wastewater management during and after the pandemic. These insights could inform policymakers, researchers, and practitioners working in public health and water management to achieve SDG 6 goals amidst the pandemic and beyond