Jan Priebe

Official Poverty Measurement in Indonesia since 1984: A Methodological Review

This article describes how the measurement of the official Indonesian poverty figures has evolved since 1984, when Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS), Indonesias central statistics agency, published its first poverty report. Since then, BPS has on several occasions revised the underlying methodology for how it calculates poverty. These changes have, in general, improved the way that poverty in Indonesia is measured, but they make it difficult to compare poverty figures over time. In fact, only poverty estimates (at the national and provincial level) since 2007 are based on the same methodological approach. This article presents the first detailed description of official poverty measurement in Indonesia since Booths (1993) study, in English, and Sutanto and Avenzoras (1999) study, in Indonesian. It constitutes a unique repository for anybody who wants to understand the technical details of official poverty measurement in Indonesia.

Disability and Its Correlates in a Developing Country Context: Evidence from Multiple Datasets and Measures

Abstract Disability profiles showing how the magnitude of disability differs across subgroups of a population are important tools in designing effective policies. Yet little is known about the sensitivity of the correlates of disability to the way disability is measured. This study uses an unprecedentedly large amount of nationally representative survey data from Indonesia. Based on 13 different datasets that were collected between 2000 and 2014, and which together contain disability information on more than 1 billion individuals, we assess how robust disability profiles are to measurement issues. Our findings suggest that irrespective of the dataset and measure used, disability is disproportionally more common among the poor, the elderly and rural areas in the country. Hence, Indonesian policies on poverty reduction, population ageing, and rural development should pay particular attention to how they reach and affect persons with disabilities. Our research further reveals that the gender gap in disability is highly sensitive to measurement issues with different datasets and measures reaching different conclusions about the size and direction of the gap.

How Robust Is Indonesia's Poverty Profile? Adjusting for Differences in Needs

Poverty profiles showing how the magnitude of poverty differs across subgroups of a population are important tools in designing effective social protection programs. Using data from the March 2013 round of the National Socio-economic Survey (Susenas) and the fourth round of the Indonesia Family Life Survey (2007–8), I explore the sensitivity of Indonesia’s poverty profile to different assumptions about the relative costs of individuals, taking into account differences in age, gender, body weight, and physical activity levels. I adopt parameter estimates for my simulation exercises from various Indonesia-specific publications, as well as from a joint intergovernmental consultation on nutrition. I compare my estimates with the per capita scale used by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the central statistics agency. My findings suggest that the age–poverty relationship in Indonesia is sensitive to assumptions about the relative costs of individuals, with all alternative scales showing substantially lower poverty incidence among young children than by BPS’s estimate. Overall, however, I find that Indonesia’s poverty profile is relatively robust.

Poverty and the Labour Market in Indonesia: Employment Trends Across the Wealth Distribution

‘Poverty and the Labour Market in Indonesia: Employment Trends across the Wealth Distribution’, is among Indonesia’s first papers on the relationship between poverty and the labour market. It provides a detailed analysis of employment indicators (labour force participation rates, hours worked, and type and sector of employment) for the period 2000-2012 across the entire wealth distribution, by location, gender and various sociodemographic characteristics.Despite high economic growth rates, the creation of millions of new jobs, and a strong decrease in poverty rates in recent years, many Indonesians continue to live in poverty even when employed. This paper finds that the poor are as likely as the nonpoor to work, both at the extensive (labour force participation) and at the intensive (number of days and number of hours) margins. The reason for being poor despite being employed is therefore largely driven by other factors.In terms of household structure, clear evidence exists that the working poor need to share their income with a larger household, including economically nonactive members such as young children and the elderly. The higher dependency ratio contributes to their being/becoming working poor. Significant gender differences exist in the Indonesian labour market. Men show higher labour force participation rates and are more likely to work more hours compared with women. However, no strong gender differences were observed when comparing the working poor with the nonpoor.The authors observed that the relative share of the rural working poor as a portion of all working poor has increased over time and that the majority of the working poor are employed in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, the working poor are predominantly and increasingly (in relative terms) concentrated in the informal sector of the economy. An important finding concerns the role of education in the likelihood of being poor or nonpoor. Results also suggest that only the attainment of higher secondary and tertiary education seems to increase the likelihood of being meaningfully protected against poverty.

Rural income dynamics in post-crisis Indonesia: evidence from Central Sulawesi

Indonesia is an emerging economy characterized by increasing rural–urban income disparities and high poverty rates, particularly in rural areas. Despite a large part of the Indonesian population residing in rural areas, no studies currently exist that thoroughly analyze the factors determining rural income dynamics for the years after the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/98. Utilizing a new panel data set collected in Central Sulawesi, this study aims to shed more light on rural livelihoods and therefore investigates the socio–economic factors driving the income process of Indonesian farmers at rainforest margins. Our results indicate that a sharp increase in rural incomes took place in the post–crisis period. While traditional agriculture still constitutes the backbone of household incomes, the ability to alleviate poverty and to enjoy income growth has been strongly associated with a household’s ability to diversify into the non–agricultural sector of the economy, to focus on higher valueadded agricultural activities and its capability to invest into new production techniques. Comparing our results to the national SUSENAS household data for Central Sulawesi we find that our findings enhance the understanding of rural income generation processes in Indonesia.

Revisiting the socioeconomic determinants of exclusive breastfeeding practices: evidence from Eastern Indonesia

Abstract This paper attempts to fill several important research gaps on the socioeconomic determinants of exclusive breastfeeding practices. In contrast to previous studies that have focused on the timely initiation and duration of breastfeeding, this article examines exclusive breastfeeding practices. Using data on 1138 children from the Indonesian Family Life Survey East 2012, we revisited to what extent mothers’ education levels and work in non-traditional sectors influence exclusive breastfeeding patterns. Furthermore, we investigated to what extent health-care demand and supply factors influence exclusive breastfeeding practices. Controlling for a wide range of individual, household, and community characteristics, our findings suggest that exclusive breastfeeding practices are affected positively by mothers’ education and negatively by mothers’ labour market participation in non-traditional employment contracts. Moreover, our results indicate that a higher availability and quality of health-care supply does not necessarily lead to better exclusive breastfeeding practices. Only when health-care supply was matched with a significant demand for such services, did we observe a higher chance for optimal exclusive breastfeeding.

Political reservation and female empowerment: evidence from Maharashtra, India

Abstract This paper studies the impact of political reservation for women on political participation and empowerment of women living in areas where gender quotas are mandated. Following the 1992 passage of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in India, one-third of village government head positions are reserved for women. Utilizing the random allocation of reserved seats and a unique individual level data-set which captures a large set of measures on political participation of women, we find that women residing in areas with a female village government head show significantly higher levels of political participation and empowerment. Overall, the observed effect can be entirely attributed to improved outcomes of women from a lower socio-economic strata, while no effect is found for economically better-off women. The results suggest that the imposed gender quotas are an effective means of overcoming inequalities and contributed to giving disadvantaged women more voice and opportunity for political empowerment. We further investigate the role that the level of women’s political participation plays on the type and quality of public services delivered. Our results indicate that the level of women’s political participation and empowerment is an important channel through which public service delivery is influenced.