REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS IN INDONESIA BEFORE AND AFTER THE ‘BIG BANG’ DECENTRALIZATION

Hal Hill and Yogi Vidyattama

The Singapore Economic Review (SER), 2016, vol. 61, issue 02, 1-26

Abstract: Decentralization is in vogue. However, the relationship between decentralization and local-level development dynamics remains unclear. Does decentralization lead to a ‘reform dividend’ of more rapid development in better-governed regions, with attendant national benefits? What is the impact on spatial inequality? In particular, do poorer regions lag further behind as equalizing fiscal policies at the national level weaken? We address these issues with reference to Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic nation, which implemented a ‘big bang’ decentralization program in 2001. Our main conclusion, perhaps counterintuitive, is that decentralization had a minimal impact on regional development dynamics, although its political impacts have been far-reaching.

Keywords: Indonesia; regional development; decentralization; spatial inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0217590816400270
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:serxxx:v:61:y:2016:i:02:n:s0217590816400270

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S0217590816400270

Access Statistics for this article

The Singapore Economic Review (SER) is currently edited by Euston Quah

More articles in The Singapore Economic Review (SER) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().