What Drives Regional Proliferation in Indonesia? Assessing the Role of Institutions

Kumba Digdowiseiso , Mansoob Murshed, Sylvia Bergh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Regional proliferation (pemekaran) is still a major issue of debate in the Indonesian public policy forums. In this article, we investigate the factors that contribute to pemekaran and analyze whether the quality of institutions can explain the number of regional proliferation events in Indonesia. Based on observations for the period 2007 to 2014, we find that the levels of both administrative approvals and social capital have a positive and significant effect on the number of regional-proliferation events. We also find that fiscal transfers and income do not constitute motives for regions in Indonesia to proliferate. In addition, there is a significant and positive association between ethnic fractionalization and the occurrence of regional proliferation in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the qualitative findings in West Java and Banten show that territorial coalitions do matter and that there are political, economic, and bureaucratic rent-seeking motives behind pemekaran.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)27-55
Number of pages29
JournalLex localis
Volume20
Issue number1
Early online date23 Jan 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jan 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Indonesia
  • institutional quality
  • local government
  • regional proliferation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Administration
  • Law

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