2023 Indonesia Study Group
27 September. Budy Resosudarmo and Ross Garnaut. The prospects of energy transition in Indonesia.
Prof. Budy Resosudarmo and EmPr Ross Garnaut discussed Prof. Budy’s recently published article in the Bulletin of Indonesia Economic Studies (BIES), Prospects of energy transition in Indonesia.
The Indonesian government has submitted its plan for nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations and has committed to achieving net-zero emissions (NZEs) by 2060. While looking to reduce emissions from forestry, the government has prioritised a transition to renewable energy in the energy sector. However, Indonesia faces challenges owing to its lower-middle-income status, limited budgets and constraints in attracting international finance. This paper aims to assess Indonesia’s potential for realising its energy transition goals. It evaluates the country’s economic strength, past experiences in energy transition and the current status of ongoing initiatives. It concludes that significant progress is possible, but achieving NZEs by 2060 remains a major challenge.
Slides here
28 June. Lesley Potter and Chun Sheng Goh. Transforming Borneo: From land exploitation to sustainable development.
Assoc. Prof. Lesley Potter and Dr Chun Sheng Goh discuss their recently published book, Transforming Borneo: From Land Exploitation to Sustainable Development.
Borneo provides a classic example of the exploitation of land resources for profit in the name of ‘development’. Since the 1970s, Borneo has experienced massive timber extraction, deforestation and degradation. This was followed by the cultivation of oil palm as the major export cash crop, spreading rapidly since 2000. These developments have led to increased incomes for some but also inequality and social conflicts, and have been secured at the expense of the environment. Coal mining and the degradation of peatland and ensuing fire risk present further environmental, health and social challenges.
Amid increasing criticism, there has been a realisation that this development pathway cannot continue. Spanning from 2010 to the present, this book examines strategies to transform these economies, with two broad concepts being identified: the ‘bio-economy’ and the ‘eco-economy’. The first emphasizes economic development, ensuring productivity is increased while reducing resource consumption. The alternative strategy, ‘eco-economy’, is oriented towards conservation, where maintaining a harmonious relationship with nature is prioritized over economic productivity. The book also looks at the potential impacts of the ‘digital revolution’, and explores future challenges such as the viability of oil palm in a changing climate and the relocation of Indonesia’s capital to East Kalimantan.
Slides here
6 December. Nathanael Sumaktoyo. The broader political significance of houses of worship: Theory and evidence from Indonesian mosques
Studies have highlighted specific political significance of houses of worship. Houses of worship shape political participation, policy attitudes, and vote preferences of their congregations. I argue that houses of worship also have a broader political significance as they also influence the political attitudes and political behavior of the community in which they are located. I support this argument by analyzing locations of more than 290,000 mosques in Indonesia and national panel data of more than 16,000 Muslim respondents. Employing a difference-in-difference approach, I find that the presence of new mosques in a kecamatan (district) correlates with more exclusionary attitudes toward non-Muslims among respondents in the district. There is no evidence that more mosques promote stronger preferences for co-religionist and co-ethnic political candidates or higher trust toward fellow Muslims. Further analysis suggests that these effects are driven by the role of mosques as an information and communication channel, as opposed to their roles in enhancing religiosity or strengthening religious identity.
Slides here
22 November. Pierre van der Eng. Missing millions: The victims of Java's 1944-45 famine
This presentation examines the human toll of the famine in Indonesia’s main island of Java during the cropping year 1944-45. In September 1951, Indonesian foreign minister Subardjo at the San Francisco conference to conclude an international peace treaty with Japan stated that the Japanese occupation caused ‘the loss of life of approximately four million people’. Although public knowledge at the time, this estimate soon disappeared from view. Indonesia’s historiography of the human toll of the 1942-1945 Japanese occupation years still focuses on the plight of the 2.1 million romusha forced labourers of whom at least 200,000 perished. It largely ignores the victims of the 1944-45 famine.
Slides here
8 November. Kate Sollis and Herdiyan Maulana. Measuring wellbeing in Indonesia: The Indonesia Wellbeing Scale and its application in Jayapura
While different cultures might have different understandings of wellbeing, most research has focused on Western perspectives. This presentation will examine the Indonesian Wellbeing Scale, looking at four key areas: basic needs; social relations; self-acceptance; and spirituality. This presentation then examines how this scale was used to measure the wellbeing of both migrants and non-migrants in Jayapura, and how this scale can help to explain differences in wellbeing between the two groups.
Slides here
25 October. Simon Butt. A portrait of judicial corruption in Indonesia
Simon Butt discussed his forthcoming book, Judicial dysfuntion in Indonesia.
Indonesia’s judicial system has long been described as dysfunctional. Many of its problems developed out of decades of authoritarian rule, which began in the last few years of the reign of Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno. By the time President Soeharto’s regime fell in 1998, the judiciary had virtually collapsed. Judicial dependence on government, inefficiency and corruption were commonly seen as the main indicators of poor performance, resulting in very low levels of public trust in the courts. To address these problems, reformists focused on improving judicial independence. Yet while independence is a basic prerequisite for adequate judicial performance, much depends on how this independence is exercised. Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia demonstrates that Indonesian courts have tended to act without accountability and offers detailed analysis of highly controversial decisions by Indonesian courts, many of which have been of major political significance, both domestically and internationally. It sets out in concrete terms, for the first time, how bribes are negotiated and paid to judges and demonstrates that judges have issued poor decisions and engaged in corruption and other misconduct, largely without fear of retribution. Further, it explores unsafe convictions and public pressure as a threat to judicial independence.
Slides here
15 February. Daniel Suryadarma (Asian Development Bank Institute). Using technology to prevent fraud in high stakes national school examinations: Evidence from Indonesia
This was a joint seminar between Arndt-Corden Department of Economic and Indonesia Study Group.
Cheating reduces the signaling value of examinations. It shifts the focus of teachers and students away from learning. Combating widespread cheating is difficult as students, teachers, and bureaucrats all benefit from high reported grades. We evaluate the impact of computer- based testing (CBT), a policy taken by the Indonesian government to reduce widespread cheating in high stakes national examination. Exploiting the phased roll-out of the program from 2015 to 2019, we find that test score declined dramatically, by 0.4 standard deviations, after the introduction of CBT. Schools with response patterns that indicate cheating prior to CBT adoption experienced a steeper decline. The effect is similar between schools with and without access to a computer lab, indicating that the reduction in the opportunity to cheat is the main reason for the test score decline. We find evidence of spillover from CBT, as schools that still used paper-based exam also cheated less and scored lower. This could be driven by CBT making cheating less socially permissible, or making the logistics of cheating harder due to a lower demand and supply for answer keys. Despite the fact that the examination remains high stakes, we find no evidence of any examination score improvements after three years of CBT implementation.
13 November. The political economy of “Indonesia 2045 vision”. Special public lecture with Dr M Chatib Basri
Dr Chatib Basri delivered a lecture on achieving policy reform within the realities of the political economy in Indonesia. This event was chaired by Dr Steven Kennedy PSM, Secretary to the Australian Treasury.
About the speaker
Dr Muhamad Chatib Basri is Indonesia’s former Minister of Finance (May 2013 - October 2014). Previously he was the Chairman of Investment Coordinating Board of the Republic of Indonesia 2012-2013.
He served as a Vice Chairman of the National Economic Committee of the President of the Republic of Indonesia (2010-2012). Dr Basri teaches at the Department of Economics, Universitas Indonesia. He co-founded CReco Research Institute, a Jakarta based economic consulting firm in 2010.
He is an independent member of the Asia Pacific Regional Advisory Group of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-comprising nine prominent experts in Asia Pacific. He was a member of the High Level Trade Experts Group co-chaired by Jagdish Bhagwati and Peter Sutherland. He has also acted as a consultant for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the USAID, AUSAID, OECD and UNCTAD.