Half-hearted policies on mobility restrictions during COVID-19 in Indonesia: A portrait of large informal economy country.

This study measures the effectiveness of government's transportation policy on mobility restriction during the COVID-19 pandemic using publicly available big datasets. Using a causal difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis and regression discontinuity design (RDD), we examine the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on the aggregate population mobility of cities and regencies across Indonesia. Our results show that during the period of the first so-called "Large-scale Social Restrictions" or "Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar" (PSBB I) from April to May 2020, NPIs reduced mobility by 5.4% relative to pre-pandemic baseline and accounted for a small portion of mobility decline in cities or regencies that instituted mobility restrictions. The impact of the second PSBB policy (PSBB II) from September to November 2020 was smaller, with a mobility reduction of only 1.8%-2.9%, depending on the window of observation and sample. Lastly, the "Imposition of Restriction on Social Activity" or Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat (PPKM) policy beginning in January 2021 has had a more negligible impact, with mobility reduction of approximately 0.6-2.1%. These findings indicate that the effectiveness of mobility restrictions tend to decrease over time. The decline in effectiveness may be the result of the increased cost of social distancing over long periods of time and the declining stringency of the mobility restrictions being imposed, which may be particularly pronounced for emerging countries with a large informal sector, such as Indonesia.

Understanding the role of village fund and administrative capacity in stunting reduction: Empirical evidence from Indonesia.

The Indonesian government launched various programs to handle stunting cases, including village funds. This paper examined the effects of village fund programs and village apparatuses' capacities to combat stunting based on aggregate data at the district level in Indonesia. Using descriptive data analysis and fixed effect panel regression, we observed that village fund programs could significantly reduce Indonesia's stunting prevalence, especially outside Java. It also revealed that the increasing education of regional leaders does not necessarily positively impact leaders' skills in handling stunting. At the same time, the number of village officials has a statistically significant influence on reducing stunting prevalence. It advised that the village budget fund can support national priorities in tackling the prevalence of stunting. Furthermore, it is essential to build the capacity of the village head for increasing awareness of health activities, especially early prevention of stunting, in addition to an adequate number of officials.

Health services provision and decision to buy Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN) in Indonesia.

The biggest challenge for the Indonesian government in implementing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is the coverage of Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN) owners, which is targeted to reach a minimum of 95%. The study examines whether there are associations between the availability of health care services and the willingness to pay (WTP) for the premium health insurance of non-low-income independent workers. Using a pooled cross-sectional study of 1.054.779 people living above the poverty line based on the 2017-2020 National Economic Survey (SUSENAS) published by the Central Statistics Agency, we investigate the role of supply side factors of health services on individual decisions to own JKN deploying the logistic regression. The WTP for JKN participation will increase if additional supplies of health facilities, beds, and doctors in hospitals are provided. The finding of the study indicates that the availability of health services in the hospital represents service qualities and will influence someone to attain JKN. Additionally, the availability of Community Health Centres (CHCs) and doctors in CHCs will affect people's behaviour and decision to purchase health insurance due to the existing primary health care facilities in every sub-district across Indonesia. This implies that the government is obliged to afford adequate health care facilities and providers both in urban and rural areas regardless of the level of WTP citizens.