BIES Interactive

Authors: Mudrajad Kuncoro; Tri Widodo; Ross H. McLeod.

In the recent legislative elections the Democrat Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) was by far the most successful. Support for other major secular-nationalist parties fell significantly, as did that for the Islamic parties as a group. Two new parties led by former generals also performed relatively poorly. At the time of writing SBY seemed the likely winner of the forthcoming presidential election, supported by running mate Boediono, the former governor of Bank Indonesia. Read More »

Author: Simon Butt.

Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Commission and Anti-Corruption Court have a conviction rate of 100% in the 100 or so cases processed thus far. Some of those convicted for corruption have successfully challenged the constitutionality of Indonesia’s anti-corruption framework in the Constitutional Court. Read More »

Author: Christian von Luebke.

Why do some local governments perform well, while others perform badly? The rapid shift from centralised-authoritarian to decentralised-democratic rule in Indonesia has been accompanied by a large variation in sub-national government policies across districts. Read More »

Authors: Mark Turner; Amir Imbaruddin; Wahyu Sutiyono.

Indonesia has introduced radical decentralisation measures, transferring many functions and much finance to democratically elected sub-national governments. However, human resource management (HRM) has largely been overlooked. Read More »

Author: Thee Kian Wie.

This note commemorates the achievements and life of economist and past BIES International Advisory Board member Robert C. Rice, who passed away in February 2009 after a life devoted to teaching, research and policy work on economic development in Indonesia. Read More »

Authors: Thee Kian Wie; Budy P. Resosudarmo; Randy Stringer; Archanun Kohpaiboon; Stephen Sherlock.

The book review section in this issue deals with a wide range of topics: the economic decolonisation of Indonesia; environmental policy relating to mining in Indonesia by comparison with the US; changing rural development challenges in Asia; production networks and economic integration in Southeast Asia; and the role of Indonesia’s parliament in the process of democratisation. Read More »

Authors: Anton H. Gunawan; Reza Y. Siregar

Two major elections and the increasingly severe global financial crisis (GFC) will dominate politics and economics in Indonesia in 2009. The parliamentary election will be held in April, followed by the presidential election in July. The public is now experienced at voting, and these events are expected to be peaceful and successful. The impact of the GFC is of much greater concern. Read More »

Author: Stephen V. Marks*

B.J. Habibie ascended to the presidency in the midst of a severe economic crisis, and with a reputation as an economic nationalist rather than reformer. Nevertheless, Habibie had the mantle of reformer thrust upon him, and important steps toward economic reform were taken during his 1998-99 presidency. Read More »

Authors: Terence H. Hull; Wendy Hartanto*

Over the last half-century Indonesia has been concerned about excessive population growth. To reduce the levels of fertility the government in 1968 established a national family planning program. Read More »

Author: Heath McMichael*

This note examines the environmental, infrastructure and economic impact of the Lapindo mudflow disaster in East Java province. It outlines unsuccessful attempts to staunch the mud volcano, concerns for human health and plans for long-term management of the mudflow. Read More »