The New Laws of Decentralization and Corruption in Indonesia: Examination of Provincial and District Data

The theoritical literature makes ambiguous predication about the relationship between the extent of rent extraction by private parties and its impact on economic activities. One view argues that after putting ethical consideration aside, corruption may in fact improve efficiency, particularly in developing economies. In this model the size of bribes by different economci agents could reflect their different opportunity cost. Better firms are more willing to buy effective ered tape. The theory suggesting that bribery may lead to ower effective red tape is known as the efficient grease hypothesis. The crucial assumption of this model is that the red tape and regulatory burden can be taken as exogenous, independent of the incentive for officials to take bribes. The opposing view on the other hand asserts that because the bureaucrats have discretionaty power with given regulation, regulatory burden may be endogenously set by corrupt officials such that they customize the nature and the amount of harrasment on firms to extract masimum bribe possible. In this model firms that pay more bribes could still face higher, not lower, effective red tape. Consequently corruption could lower economic efficiecy insteaf of improving it. In this paper we estimate a model whereby bribe could be endogenous. The model stresses the role of firms' commitment ability's function of their characteristics. We use the data from the recently completed survey on the governance of the local governments in Indonesia. The data cover bribe that needs to be paid by firms to goverment officials at the district level. Other aspects of governance such as transparency, accountability, efficiency and the general attitude toward business sector are included in the data as well. The firm level regression suggests that the amount of bribe paid increases with the firms size. Thus rejects the efficient grease hypothesis

Sick of Local Government Corruption? Vote Islamic

Indonesia has a tradition of corruption among local officials who harass and collect bribes from firms. Corruption flourished in the Suharto, pre-democracy era. This paper asks whether local democratization that occurred after Suharto reduced corruption and whether specific local politics, over and above the effects of local culture, affect corruption. We have a firm level data set for 2001 that benchmarks bribing activity and harassment at the time when Indonesia decentralized key responsibilities to local democratically elected governments. We have a second data set for 2004 on corruption at the end of the first democratic election cycle. We find that, overall, corruption declines between these time periods. But specific politics matter. Islamic parties in Indonesia are perceived as being anti-corruption. Our data show voting patterns reflect this belief and voters\u27 perceptions have some degree of accuracy. In the first democratic election, localities that voted in legislatures dominated by secular parties, including Megawati\u27s party, experienced significant relative increases in corruption, while the reverse was the case for those voting in Islamic parties. But in the second election in 2004, in those localities where corruption had increased under secular party rule, voters “threw the bums out of office” and voted in Islamic parties

Volunteerism After the Tsunami: Democratization and Aid

Using three waves of survey data from fishing villages in Aceh, Indonesia for 2005-2009, we examine the determinants of local volunteer labor after the tsunami. Pre-existing social capital and the form of aid delivery (but not trauma) strongly affect village volunteerism initially, but these effects weaken with time. What persists is the effect of essentially a new institution, formal village elections. While recent work suggests democratization increases cooperation, the differentially timed introduction of elections negatively affects volunteerism, suggesting a regime switch effect where traditional leaders chosen by elites want more volunteer labor projects than democratically elected leaders do

Rancang Bangun Konverter Kit Dual Fuel (Lpg – Solar) untuk Mesin Diesel Kapal Nelayan Tradisional

Keterbatasan persediaan bahan bakar minyak (BBM), terutama solar untuk bahan bakar mesin penggerak kapal nelayan skala kecil (tradisional), sering mengakibatkan terhambatnya operasional melaut (penangkapan ikan) para nelayan tersebut. Oleh karena itu, diperlukan suatu inovasi untuk menghemat penggunaan solar dan pengembangannya dapat diaplikasikan pada mesin diesel penggerak kapal nelayan. Salah satunya dengan memanfaatkan LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) sebagai bahan bakar mesin diesel. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah merancang dan membuat sebuah konverter kit LPG yang dapat digunakan pada mesin diesel penggerak kapal nelayan sehingga mesin tersebut dapat beroperasi secara dual fuel (menggunakan bahan bakar solar dan LPG secara bersamaan). Perancangan dan pembuatan konverter kit menggunakan metode pendekatan perekayasaan, dengan acuan mesin diesel merek Dong-Feng tipe S-1115M. Hasilnya adalah sebuah konverter kit sistem membran yang berbentuk silinder bertingkat dengan dimensi keseluruhan Ø80 x 60 mm, menggunakan housing dari material aluminium alloy. Hasil pengujian di laboratorium menunjukkan bahwa laju aliran massa LPG cenderung meningkat seiring dengan bertambahnya kecepatan putaran mesin. Dan penghematan konsumsi solarnya rata-rata 32,79%

Lpg sebagai Energi Alternatif untuk Bahan Bakar Dual-fuel Mesin Diesel Kapal Nelayan Tradisional

Penggunaan Liquified Petrolium Gas (LPG) sebagai bahan bakar alternatif pada mesin-mesin berbahan bakar minyak (BBM) di Indonesia sudah banyak dilakukan sebagai jawaban atas agenda penting pemerintah untuk mengurangi ketergantungan pemakaian BBM, namun belum banyak digunakan oleh nelayan tradisional.Oleh maka itu, perlu untuk memasyarakatkan pemakaian LPG kepada nelayan tradisional, dimana untuk melakukan kegiatan penangkapan ikan banyak menggunakan mesin sebagai alat penggerak kapal.Salah satu jenis mesin yang banyak digunakan untuk penggerak kapal nelayan tradisional adalah mesin diesel. Pemakaian LPG pada mesin diesel dapat dilakukan dengan sistem bahan bakar ganda (dual-fuel). Penelitian sistem dual-fuel pada mesin diesel kapal nelayan tradisional yang dilakukan mempunyai tujuan untuk melihat efisiensi penggunaan solar pada saat pemakaian bahan bakar solar 100 % dibanding bahan bakar dual-fuel (solar dan LPG), dengan menguji penggunaan bahan bakar solar dan LPG terhadap kinerja mesin, meliputi konsumsi bahan bakar, kecepatan kapal, dan jarak tempuh. Pengujian dilakukan dengan menggunakan design prototype konverter kit yang sudah dibuat sebagai alat untuk mencampur LPG dengan udara yang akan di supply ke ruang bakar dan menggunakan mesin diesel Dongfeng S-1115M dengan empat variasi putaran mesin yaitu 1000 rpm, 1200 rpm, 1400 rpm dan 1600 rpm yang diujicoba skala laboratorium dan aplikasi di lapangan. Berdasarkan hasil pengujian ini, penggunaan LPG secara dual-fuel mampu menggantikan konsumsi solar hingga 40,05 % dari konsumsi solar seluruhnya selama empat jam

Reputasi, Kredibilitas Dan Relevansinya Dalam Pengambilan Kebijakan

Bermula dari penerbitan karya Keynes dalam suasana Depresi Besar tahun 1930-an, "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and and Money, ilmu ekonomi berangsur secara formal terbagi menjadi dua, Mikroekonomi dan Makroekonomj. Mikroekonomi mempelajari tingkah laku ekonomi manusia secara perorangan, sementara cabang Makroekonomi mempelajari besaran-besaran ekonomi agregat yang berkaitan dengan perekonomian nasional sebagai satu unit analisa tersendiri, seperti pendapatan nasional, konsumsi masyarakat, investasi, jumlah uang beredar dan lain—lain. Ihnu Makroekonomi diperlukan karena tampaknya ilmu ekonomi yang sudah ada pada waktu ifu, yang notabene merupakan Ilmu Mikroekonomi tidak dapat memberikan petunjuk ke arah pemulihan ekonomi. Ilmu Ekonomi pada waktu itu meramalkan bahwa perekonomian akan menyembuhkan dirinya sendiri melalui mekanisme pasar (invisible hand) karena kepentingan-kepentingan pribadi pelaku-pelaku ekonomi melalui naluri maksimisasi kepuasan dan keuntungan akan menggerakkan perekonomian ke kondisi keseimbangan semula