Indonesia’s Decentralisation Reforms 20 Years On: Part 1
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME WEBINAR
About the Webinar
Following the end of the New Order in 1998, Indonesia embarked on a far-reaching decentralization drive. Sweeping legislative changes were passed which curbed the power of the executive, revitalized the role of the legislature, and rolled back controls on political life. In addition, financial resources and administrative authority in a wide range of areas were devolved to lower levels of government, particularly the city and regency level. These measures were drawn up in 1998, legislated in 1999, and implemented in 2001.
Taking the upcoming 20-year anniversary of Indonesia’s reform process as a reference point, this project seeks to explore the effect of the country’s decentralisation reforms over the past two decades. Given the complexity of the reform process, this exercise is best performed by evaluating the country’s progress in specific areas of economic performance and service delivery.
This webinar is the first of a series of three and focuses on competitiveness and fiscal autonomy at the subnational level.
With regard to subnational competitiveness, while there are documented improvements in socio-economic development (World Bank 2017) as well as accountability, albeit modest (Tomsa 2015), stark variations across districts remain. Why do certain districts appear more successful than others in achieving competitiveness? This presentation attempts to systematically examine the sources of variations in subnational competitiveness across Indonesia. A secondary goal of the presentation is to investigate the economic, political, and institutional factors that may affect competitiveness at the subnational level.
Turning to fiscal autonomy, the underlying assumption that fiscal decentralisation will improve the efficiency of public service delivery is often different in practice. To date, decentralisation seems to benefit the wealthier regions with greater socio-economic resources and better institutions. In contrast, less developed regions with limited resources can only concentrate on delivering basic goods and services. To this end, this presentation will examine the progress and effects of fiscal autonomy across districts in Indonesia over time. It will also look at the issue of the control over revenue, expenditure, and the fiscal space afforded to local governments.
This webinar is supported by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
About the Speakers
Mulya Amri, Research Director at Katadata Insight Center, and Program Director at the Jakarta Property Institute, Indonesia. Mulya is a public policy and urban development specialist who has co-written 19 books and book chapters, and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles on subnational economic development, regional competitiveness, and urban governance. Mulya has a Ph.D. in public policy from the National University of Singapore, a Master’s in urban planning from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s degree from Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia.
Puspa D. Amri, Assistant Professor of Economics at Sonoma State University, Research Associate at the Claremont Institute for Economic Policy Studies and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Indonesia. Her current research focuses on the political economy of finance and macroeconomics, writing on topics such as financial crises, credit booms, economic voting, and democratization. Puspa has a Ph.D. in Economics and Political Science from Claremont Graduate University and an MA in international relations from the School of Advanced International Studies Johns Hopkins University.
Yogi Vidyattama, Associate Professor at the National Centre of Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM), the University of Canberra. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra. His research focuses on the spatial impact of government policy; housing affordability; spatial distribution of inequality and disadvantage; and analysis of wealth and superannuation. Yogi has published articles in journals such as The Singapore Economic Review, Environment and Planning A, Policy Studies, the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, and Regional Studies.
Registration
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