C. Journal articles published externally
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These are journal articles by World Bank authors published externally.
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Publication
Urbanization and Economic Growth in Indonesia : Good News, Bad News, and (Possible) Local Government Mitigation
(Taylor and Francis, 2013-01-08)Time series analysis for Indonesia over the period 1960-2009 suggests that the level of urbanization is positively associated with economic growth but that the rate of change of urbanization is negatively correlated with growth of economic output. A sub-national dynamic panel investigation provides additional evidence of the positive and negative level and rate effects, respectively. The panel analysis also implies that the harmful impact of urban population growth is linked to insufficient local public infrastructure spending. Local governments that invest more heavily in infrastructure are better able to cope with the apparent detrimental effects of rapid urbanization on economic growth. -
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The Impact of Decentralization on Subnational Government Fiscal Slack in Indonesia
( 2009-07)Since Indonesia began implementing its decentralization program in 2001, subnational unspent balances have grown rapidly and have reached levels that many officials find unreasonably high. But the extent to which subnational government reserves are excessive, in general, is not obvious. A not implausible decrease in the price of oil would reduce transfers to subnationals significantly and, if sustained, could possibly eliminate reserves in a relatively short time. Central government should not take any immediate action to reduce subnational slack resources directly but should instead focus on removing the underlying causes of such. -
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Determining Citizen Satisfaction with Local Public Education in Indonesia : The Significance of Actual Service Quality and Governance Conditions
( 2009)Indonesians appear content with local public education, despite independent concerns about quality in the international context. Over 85 percent of respondents from the recent Governance and Decentralization Survey claim to be at least somewhat satisfied with primary school education. This study argues that the generally high levels of reported satisfaction are probably exaggerated because of courtesy bias, low expectations, and optimistic predispositions. Survey responses are best thought of as indicative of relative, and not absolute, levels of satisfaction. The empirical examination shows that objective measures of service quality and governance conditions are both significant determinants of the probability that households are satisfied with local public education. The significance of governance holds regardless of whether pertinent variables are assumed to be exogenous or whether they are specified as endogenously determined, although the endogenous specification performs much better, in general. The evidence suggests a cautious approach toward the use and interpretation of score card initiatives, which attempt to employ citizen satisfaction as a close proxy for actual quality of services, in nonrandom samples, and without controlling for other factors. In addition, the results provide a novel rationale for improving the local governance environment.