Rent-seeking and corruption: a case study of student admission at two Indonesian state universities

Agustian Sutrisno

Chapter 16 in Handbook on Corruption in Higher Education, 2025, pp 261-277 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Over eight months (August 2022–March 2023), two major corruption charges rocked Indonesian state universities—University of Lampung and Udayana University. They had to do with the independent admission path (jalur mandiri), an unsubsidized entry track to state universities. As a legally sanctioned path, university leaders exploit the jalur mandiri to gain more income for their institutions and even to enrich themselves. Embedded within the larger social, political, and business context of Indonesia, the rent-seeking theory is suitable to analyze the subtleties of corruption in the jalur mandiri. This case study revealed that rent-seeking and corruption were closely linked and enabled by clientelism and patronage culture. As the jalur mandiri path remains, novel ways to exploit this policy for rent-seeking will continue to emerge. As the government's commitment to combat corruption generally wanes, society members must be vigilant and raise their suspicions of corruption indications in universities.

Keywords: Corruption; Rent-seeking; Clientelism; Patronage; Indonesian higher education; University admission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035320233
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