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Since the start of the reform in the late 1990s, Indonesia has implemented an ambitious decentralization policy. One of its aims is to foster regional development from below by giving subnational governments a greater discretion in determining programmes that are more aspirational to the interests of the community and to local and regional development objectives. The decentralized government system has been implemented for almost two decades, yet limited studies have been conducted to...

Bureaucratic reform is an effort to improve the system of government administration, especially institutional aspects, management, and human resources of the apparatus. One of the bureaucratic reforms in Indonesia is the establishment of the One-Stop Service (OSS) office which handles and integrates all forms of licensing. This article examined how the implementation of public service reform and how the change of management practices had been implemented in the OSS of Bone Regency. Data were...

This paper examines the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia. It has three research issues, namely the role of MSMEs, their constraints, and the importance of MSMEs for the creation of business opportunities for women. More specifically, the study aims to answer the following research questions. First, how important are MSMEs in Indonesia? Second, what are their main constraints? Third, how important are they, especially micro and small enterprises (MSEs),...

Background: In the past decade, the negative impact of disrespectful maternity care on women’s utilisation and experiences of facility-based delivery has been well documented. Less is known about midwives’ perspectives on these labour ward dynamics. Yet efforts to provide care that satisfies women’s psycho-socio-cultural needs rest on midwives’ capacity and willingness to provide it. We performed a systematic review of the emerging literature documenting midwives’ perspectives to explore the...

Background How do governance interventions that engage citizens in public service delivery planning, management and oversight impact the quality of and access to services and citizens’ quality of life? This systematic review examined high quality evidence from 35 citizen engagement programmes in low- and middle-income countries that promote the engagement of citizens in service delivery through four routes: participation (participatory priority setting); inclusion of marginalised groups;...

Inequality is a key political issue of our times. It has political consequences, fuelling conflict and raising legitimacy chal‑ lenges for regimes around the world, in democratic and non‑demo‑ cratic settings alike. At the centre of these challenges is the question of accountability: who can be held accountable, on what basis, how and by whom for tackling or failing to tackle which inequalities. In the field of global health, inequality has long been a key issue. A significant body of work —...

Addressing complex environmental problems requires the collaboration of stakeholders with divergent perspectives, a goal that is challenged by diverse factors. Challenges hindering multi-stakeholder collaboration (MSC) for sustainability have previously been addressed in the context of transnational partnerships. However, less is known regarding how place-based MSC operates, especially in the context of the Global South. To contribute to addressing the factors that hinder place-based MSC for...

Close-to-community (CTC) providers have been identified as a key cadre to progress universal health coverage and address inequities in health service provision due to their embedded position within communities. CTC providers both work within, and are subject to, the gender norms at community level but may also have the potential to alter them. This paper synthesises current evidence on gender and CTC providers and the services they deliver.

This study aims to examine how the relationships between a borrower and his potential lender affect the decisions of potential lender whether or not to provide or extend funds to the borrower. The author explores the available literature and original fieldwork to create a framework to capture this relationship. The study employs descriptive qualitative data to analyze and examine the research questions. The result shows that borrowers who build their commercial transactions with their lender...

Access to finance has been a key constraint for Indonesia’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that lack tangible assets to be used as collateral. Consequently, credit guarantee schemes (CGSs) are important instruments to meet MSMEs’ financial needs. This paper examines the effectiveness of the KUR (community business credit), a partial public CGS in Indonesia, by comparing it with similar schemes in other ASEAN member states (AMS). The findings suggest that the KUR programme,...

This study aims to analyze the role of banks to increase small and medium enterprises and economic growth in Yogyakarta province, Indonesia. The focus of this study examines how the role of banks in terms of lending to small and medium enterprises, credit to the private sector and its impact on economic growth in Yogyakarta Province. The data used in this research is secondary data obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Social accountability in the health sector has been promoted as a strategy to improve the quality and performance of health providers in low- and middle-income countries. Whether improvements occur, however, depends on the willingness and ability of health providers to respond to societal pressure for better care. This article uses a realist approach to review cases of collective citizen action and advocacy with the aim to identify key mechanisms of provider responsiveness. Purposeful...

This paper reviews competing theories about the causes of informality in developing countries and uses new data to determine which theory best explains the persistence and scale of Indonesia’s informal sector. Using nationally representative survey data on micro, small, and medium-sized firms, we find that most of Indonesia’s informal firms are very small, micro firms, with less than five employees. These firms pay low wages, are relatively unproductive when compared to large firms, are...

Background: Striving to foster collaboration among countries suffering from maternal and child health (MCH) inequities, the MASCOT project mapped and analyzed the use of research in strategies tackling them in 11 low- and middle-income countries. This article aims to present the way in which research influenced MCH policies and programs in six of these countries – three in Africa and three in Latin America. Methods: Qualitative research using a thematic synthesis narrative process was used...

Empirical evidence of tangible impacts of social accountability initiatives is mixed. This meta-analysis reinterprets evaluations through a new lens: the distinction between tactical and strategic approaches to the promotion of citizen voice to contribute to improved public sector performance. Field experiments study bounded, tactical interventions based on optimistic assumptions about the power of information alone, both to motivate collective action and to influence the state. Enabling...

Indonesia's trade policy has evolved over the last 50 years. It has been influenced by the country's level of development and the conflict between openness and protectionism; external developments, such as commodity booms and busts and increased competition; and international commitments, whether multilateral or regional. As a result, trade policy has often been ambivalent and ineffective. Given that Indonesia has undergone various transformations and that the world is a different place from...

Following the food and energy price crises of the mid 2000s, sub-Saharan Africa has become one of the largest recipients for large-scale farmland investments. While much has been written on the phenomenon, scant reliable empirical evidence is available as to the precise geographic and sectoral patterns and underlying drivers. Employing strict data quality requirements, this paper addresses these knowledge gaps by analyzing 563 farmland projects that have been established between 2005 and...

Introduction: HIV-related stigma and discrimination and disrespect and abuse during childbirth are barriers to use of essential maternal and HIV health services. Greater understanding of the relationship between HIV status and disrespect and abuse during childbirth is required to design interventions to promote women's rights and to increase uptake of and retention in health services; however, few comparative studies of women living with HIV (WLWH) and HIV-negative women...

Despite studies on microfinance (MF) or development of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Asia developing countries, including countries as member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN), are growing, not so much attention have been given to the role of MF in financing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Based on a key literaturestudy and analysis of secondary/national data, the main aim of this study is to fill this gap. It shows ...

Micro, small and medium-sized firms (MSMEs) are a key source of employment and economic growth in Indonesia. They contributed to the country’s economic resilience during the 2008-09 financial crisis. But many suffer from low productivity, curbing their role in boosting living standards. There are several ways to spur MSME productivity growth over the medium term. The first route would be to encourage the formalisation of small firms. Lessening red tape through simplification of the licensing...