C. Journal articles published externally
2,064 items available
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These are journal articles by World Bank authors published externally.
Items in this collection
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Publication
Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries
(Taylor and Francis, 2021-02-03)This paper utilizes Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) nightlights to model damage caused by earthquakes, floods and typhoons in five South East Asian countries (Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). For each type of hazard we examine the extent to which there is a difference in nightlight intensity between affected and non-affected cells based on (i) case studies of specific hazards; and (ii) fixed effect regression models akin to the double difference method to determine any effect that the different natural hazards might have had on the nightlight value. The VIIRS data has some shortcomings with regards to noise, seasonality and volatility that we try to correct for with new statistical methods. The results show little to no significance regardless of the methodology used. Possible explanations for the lack of significance could be underlying noise in the nightlight data and measurements or lack of measurements due to cloud cover. Overall, given the lack of consistency in the results, even though efforts were made to decrease volatility and remove noise, we conclude that researchers should be careful when analyzing natural hazard impacts with the help of VIIRS nightlights. -
Publication
Contrasting Experiences: Understanding the Longer-Term Impact of Improving Access to Pre-Primary Education in Rural Indonesia
(Taylor and Francis, 2021-02-02)This paper examines the child development outcomes of two cohorts of children who were exposed to the same intervention at different points in time. One cohort was eligible to access playgroups during the first year of a five-year project cycle, beginning at age four. The other cohort became eligible to access these services during the third year of a five-year project cycle, beginning at age three. The younger cohort was more likely to be exposed to playgroups for longer and at more age-appropriate times relative to the older cohort. The paper finds that enrollment rates and enrollment duration in preprimary education increased for both cohorts, but the enrollment effects were larger for the younger cohort. In terms of child development outcomes, there were short-term effects at age five that did not last until age eight, for both cohorts. Moreover, the younger cohort had substantially higher test scores during the early grades of primary school, relative to the older cohort. We document the extent to which program impacts can vary as a result of differences in project implementation. -
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Designing for Sustainable Outcomes: Espousing Behavioural Change into Co-production Programs
(Taylor and Francis, 2017-10-12)This paper uses a policy design perspective with which to examine the formulation of programs that are based on the concept of co-production. In doing so, the paper reviews essential literature on policy design and co-production to identify that a limited focus on outcomes and specifically how behavioral change can make these outcomes sustainable represents a major gap in the current discussion of co-production. We firstly argue that in designing programs involving co-production, outcomes need to be considered at the initial design stages where broad policy objectives are being defined. Secondly, we argue that for these outcomes to be sustainable, behavioral change on the part of policy targets needs to be an important objective of a co-production program. To illustrate our point, we use the example of rural sanitation programs from three developing countries to specifically demonstrate how the absence or inclusion of behavioral change considerations in the early phases of policy design can elicit different levels of success in achieving desired policy outcomes. -
Publication
The Role of Preschool Quality in Promoting Child Development: Evidence from Rural Indonesia
(Taylor and Francis, 2017-06-11)This article examines the relationship between preschool quality and children’s early development in a sample of over 7900 children enrolled in 578 preschools in rural Indonesia. Quality was measured by: (1) classroom observations using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R); (2) teacher characteristics; and (3) structural characteristics of preschools. Children’s development was measured using the Early Development Instrument (EDI). The article proposes two methodological improvements to preschool quality studies. First, an instrumental variable approach is used to correct for measurement error. Second, ECERS-R is adjusted to the local context by contrasting items with Indonesia’s national preschool standards. Results show that observed classroom quality is a significant and meaningful positive predictor of children’s development once models correct for measurement error and apply a locally-adapted measure of classroom quality. In contrast, teacher characteristics and structural characteristics are not significant predictors of child development, while holding observed classroom quality constant. -
Publication
Poverty, Disputes, and Access to Justice in Two Indonesian Provinces
(Taylor and Francis, 2017-02-07)This analysis explores the determinants behind the unequal access to justice services among poor Indonesians. The study analyzes the stock of observed past disputes by socioeconomic group and the demand for conflict resolution services for unresolved conflicts or “trajectories.” It also models the hypothetical demand of justice services for future disputes. Results suggest that unequal access to justice might go beyond the financial costs of seeking justice and also depends on individual preferences and community infrastructure. These findings warn against focusing exclusively on formal justice costs to improve the equal access of the poor to conflict resolution services. -
Publication
Book Review of Managing Globalization in the Asian Century: Essays in Honour of Prema-Chandra Athukorala
(Taylor and Francis, 2017)Asia is a region of economic miracles, and this festschrift for the esteemed development economist Prema-Chandra Athukorala highlights a major driver of Asia’s success: globalization. Economic progress in Asia cannot be separated from globalization’s role in industrializing the region’s agrarian economies. Most countries in Asia have, to varying degrees, embraced globalization by opening up to foreign direct investment (to stimulate markets and to transfer know-how) and facilitating the growth of export-oriented industries. -
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Unpacking the Effect of Decentralized Governance on Routine Violence: Lessons from Indonesia
(Elsevier, 2016-10-18)We study the effect of decentralization on routine violence in Indonesia. We unpack decentralization along multiple dimensions and consider the individual effects of local elections, the creation of new administrative units, fiscal transfers, and local public service delivery. We use comprehensive data from Indonesia’s National Violence Monitoring System (NVMS), a new dataset that records the incidence and impact of violence in Indonesia. We use these data to examine the relationship between the different dimensions of decentralization and different types of local violence in Indonesian districts during 2001–10. Our analyses suggest that there is a positive association between local service delivery and at least some forms of violence. We argue that the positive effect of service delivery on violence is due to newly generated distributive conflicts among local ethnic groups around the control over and access to services. By comparison, district splitting and the introduction of direct elections of district heads are negatively associated with some forms of violence. There is little evidence that fiscal transfers, in general, mitigate conflict. -
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In Memoriam - Thee Kian Wie : Dedicated Scholar and Public Intellectual
(Taylor and Francis, 2014-07-30)With the passing of Thee Kian Wie (hereafter ‘Kian Wie’) on February 8, 2014, aged 79 years, Indonesia lost one of its most distinguished citizens. Kian Wie, or ‘Pak Thee’ as he was widely known to Indonesians, was a dedicated and productive scholar, a public intellectual, a life-long civil servant, a mentor, a raconteur, and a cosmopolitan able to converse with ease in several languages. He had a remarkable empathy with people across nationalities, ethnicities and socioeconomic classes. His circle of friends and colleagues at home and abroad was extraordinarily wide. In fact, it is difficult to think of any other Indonesian academic social scientist of his generation with a wider international network; he was a bridge between the Indonesian and international scholarly communities. And above all else, he was a warm, charming, generous, principled and modest human being, with a fierce sense of justice and support for the less privileged. -
Publication
Evaluating a Community-Based Early Childhood Education and Development Program in Indonesia: Study Protocol for a Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial with Supplementary Matched Control Group
(BioMed Central, 2013-08-16)This paper presents the study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a supplementary matched control group. The aim of the trial is to evaluate a community-based early education and development program launched by the Government of Indonesia. The program was developed in collaboration with the World Bank with a total budget of US$127.7 million, and targets an estimated 738,000 children aged 0 to 6 years living in approximately 6,000 poor communities. The aim of the program is to increase access to early childhood services with the secondary aim of improving school readiness. -
Publication
Beyond Univariate Measurement of Spatial Autocorrelation : Disaggregated Spillover Effects for Indonesia
(Taylor and Francis, 2013-08-02)Most studies that incorporate spatial effects use a very limited number of spatial variables in the growth model, e.g. growth spillovers or infrastructure impacts of neighbouring regions. This article innovates on previous work in spatial econometrics by differentiating among spatial contributions to economic development; e.g. infrastructure, capital, human capital, land and labour. We explore whether including more spatial effects can improve the viability of a growth model, and also test the hypothesis that the differential spatial effects of various important predictor variables are discernible for Indonesia. We develop two econometric estimations based on the Durbin representation of the Spatial Error Model. We take advantage of a panel data set spanning Indonesia's post-decentralization years, 2003–2008. The first model uses a modified fixed effects formulation, and the second uses a maximum likelihood estimator. The two sets of models are reported together to serve as a check to the robustness of the results. Multiple estimation methods were attempted, including (to control for potential endogeneity) two-stage least squares (2SLS) and generalized method of moments (GMM). The findings suggest that various types of spillover effects affect a place by different processes, and accounting for this variety of processes in growth models improves the efficacy of those models. Our findings suggest that, for Indonesian districts, the influence of neighbours extends beyond GRDP per capita levels and growth, and also includes demographics, human capital and infrastructure components. We also demonstrate empirically that accounting for spatial effects in analysis of GRDP per capita can improve growth-model estimations.