The relationship between economic growth and government spending (the size of the government involvement in economic activity) is an interesting issue that has been a subject of controversy and debate. The direction of how government size associates with economic growth has so far been inconclusive. This paper attempts to examine the relationship between both variables for the case of Indonesia. The issue would be of interest for it provides room to examine the impact of government size on economic growth in the country. Furthermore, in the light of the undergoing process of fiscal decentralization in Indonesia, it also provides some lessons for the local authorities in the provincial and district level. To investigate the relationship, a sample of time series data from 1969 to 1999 on Indonesia is being used. The result of the econometric estimation suggests that economic growth is negatively associated with government size both in the long run and in the short run. Some possible explanations and interpretations on the finding are provided for this tendency of growth impeding nature of the relative government size in the economy. Then, some lessons for the local authorities in managing their own budget are being drawn as a note of […]

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This paper has attempted to discuss the behavior of three different types of people due to the implementation of the new law regarding personal income tax in Indonesia. The outcome of the implementation of the law is ambiguous, due to (1) the lack of information about how honest the tax payer and the zakat payer in Indonesia in conducting their obligation (2) unavailability of complete data regarding zakat collection both directly to the mustahiq and through the zakat collectors (including the Zakat Management Board). DOWNLOAD

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Finding alternatives in public good financing is one of the most recent issues in the government sector. Tax-financed for pure public good is well known results further problems like externalities and economic inequity. This paper only addresses the qualitative analysis in discussing benefits and costs of the society in applying some alternatives in funding public good provisions, pure and impure one. DOWNLOAD  

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This essay examines the choice of monetary policy instrument for a small open economy under flexible exchange rate regime with some reference to Indonesia. To approach the issue a simple ad-hoc aggregate supply-IS-LM model is used for the analysis. Although basically the issue concerning monetary instrument problem tend to be more empirical rather than theoretical, this essay argues that some rules of thumb could still be drawn from the analysis of the theoretical model to solve the problem. The recognition of the true behavioural relationship among aggregate variables in the economy is important as guidance for the optimal policy rule. The analysis also recognises that a credible commitment from the monetary authority towards the instrument chosen is important. DOWNLOAD

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