Did colonial rule in Indonesia have a de-industrialising impact? Using the case of the cotton textile industry, this paper finds little evidence. Value added in the industry increased in Java during 1820-71, increased more than three-fold during 1874-1914 and doubled during 1934-41. Most...

This paper examines the recent political economy of trade policy in Indonesia against the backdrop of two key events: the deep economic crisis of 1997-98, and the transition from three decades of rapid growth under an authoritarian regime to a weaker but democratic state. We investigate both...

On 9 September 2007, Australian Ministers and the Indonesian President announced a $100 million Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership (KFCP). This would involve protecting 70,000 hectares of peat forests, re-flooding 200,000 hectares of dried peatland, and planting 100 million trees in...

This paper studies the variation in village head selection rules across Indonesia using panel data over 1997–2007. The selection of village heads is often thought of as being determined by national level legislation, with elections in villages located in kabupaten and directly appointed...

Spikes in international food prices in 2007-2008 worsened poverty incidence in Indonesia, both rural and urban, but only by small amounts. The paper reaches this conclusion using a multi-sectoral and multi-household general equilibrium model of the Indonesian economy. The negative effect on poor...

Over recent years, systems of civil or private regulation have emerged across several commodity sectors in developing countries. This paper compares two regulatory systems applied to parallel food and forestry problems: the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm...