Changes in regional inequality and social welfare in Indonesia from 1996 to 1999

✍ Scribed by Emmanuel Skoufias

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 136 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0954-1748
• DOI: 10.1002/jid.750

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

In this paper I use the detailed consumption modules of the 1996 and 1999 National Socio‐Economic Surveys (SUSENAS) to calculate proportional changes in two welfare measures within 53 rural and urban regions of Indonesia. The results suggest that urban regions experienced the greatest drops in consumption while rural regions were less affected. The large decreases in mean consumption were accompanied by a reduction in inequality within the majority of the regions that tended to counteract the negative effect of the lower mean consumption on social welfare. The same general picture emerges when I use per capita caloric availability as a measure of welfare. Most of the regions experiencing a large drop in per capita consumption also seem to experience a drop in per capita caloric availability. This suggests that the drop in consumption has been accompanied by a reduction in the availability of calories and possibly nutrients at the household level. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.