Konflik Kepentingan dalam Liberalisasi Perdagangan Garam Tahun 2009-2014

The trade liberalization of the domestic salt sector in Indonesia indicated by tariff reduction faced pros and cons. By using the concept of two-level games and governmental process, the authors found that there was a political upheaval of actors both from bureaucrats and interest groups adorning the political process in salt liberalization in Indonesia. Political upheaval occurred due to the tug of war between the two opposing parties. The pros, represented by the Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Trade, importers, and mafias supported imports of salt to meet domestic needs that cannot be fulfilled by domestic salt productions, both in quality and quantity. While the cons represented by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and salt farmers - both from associations and from non-associations - demanded salt import reduction to support the domestic salt production program and the sustainability of the domestic salt industries. Keywords: liberalization, salt, two level games, political upheaval, tug of war

Nafta and Mexico’s Economic Growth from a Gender Perspective

This paper investigates the dynamics of Mexico’s economy after the signing of the NAFTA treaty. It is reported that Mexico, the United States and Canada have experienced low rates of economic growth as a result of the deindustrialization processes they have undergone, which has been a consequence of the tariff reductions. Tariff reduction has also affected employment, especially female industrial employment, with adverse consequences on domestic savings, trade balance and economic growth. Additional analysis is related to cointegration tests of the employment ratios, as well as to the existence of principal components among the three countries’ employment to population ratios. The paper investigates the effects of declining employment to population ratios in the three countries, reporting that in Mexico female employment has increased to compensate the declining tendencies of labor productivity and male employment ratio. The paper ends with a proposal regarding the launching of the North American Social and Dignity Pact.

Japan–Indonesia Economic Cooperation: An Overview

This article aims to deepen our knowledge of Japan’s foreign policy in the Southeast Asian region and its role in Indonesia’s economic development, focusing on their economic cooperation via the Indonesia–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) and Manufacturing Industry Development Centre (MIDEC) programme. The former has promoted cooperation via a tariff reduction scheme, while the latter facilitates the Indonesian government’s aid to micro, small and medium enterprises in the entrepreneurial sector.

Input Quality Upgrading from Tariff Reduction and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Ethiopian Manufacturing

Using a panel of firms from Ethiopian manufacturing census covering the period 2000–2016, this paper investigates how openness to trade help firms' input quality upgrading which further contribute to productivity gains. We estimate the quality of imported inputs at the firm level, and firm-level productivity using the Levinsohn and Petrin method. Then we estimate the effect of input tariff cut on input quality and further measure how input quality through input tariff reduction affect firms' productivity at different stages of regression. Our results suggest that input tariff reduction is associated with firms’ input quality upgrading and further with improvement in firms’ productivity.The effect of tariff cut is more pronounced for input-importing firms, and our result implies that the effect of input tariff cut motivates firms to participate in foreign input markets and helps upgrading input quality, thus contributing to firm productivity. Hence, further input trade liberalization measures should be designed to help key strategic manufacturing sectors. Besides, strategies have to be put in place to integrate the manufacturing sector into the global supply chain to reap more productivity gains. JEL codes: D22 D24 F13 H32 L15 L23

Analisis Tingkat Kepatuhan Wajib Pajak Umkm dalam Pelaporan SPT Tahunan Setelah Berlakunya PP No. 23 Tahun 2018 (Studi Pada KP2KP Baradatu)

Tax is the most source of financing for development in Indonesia. The tax reformation make policy and administration more comphrehensive by Directorate General of Taxes. The expectation of The tax reformation could be increase compliance of taxpayer. The rise of UMKM almost five years in District Way Kanan make Way Kanan has good potential in taxtation. In 2018 The governance has realeased regulation, it is PP No. 23 Th. 2018. The regulation about tariff reduction for UMKM, the rate reduction of 0,5%. Aim of this regulation is taxpayers get easier for do some taxation include to report tax return every year, to encourage taxpayers get into formal economics, and to give taxpayers a sense of justice. The research aim get to know how much tariff reduction influence toward to increase compliance of taxpayer about report the tax return in every year in District Way Kanan. The research applies quantitative approach and descriptive method. The research applies data collection technique by questionnaire, document, and observation. The data analysis technique by simple analysis tabulation, validy test, reliability test, normalitiy test, correlation test, determinasi coefficient test, simple linear regression test, and hypotheses test. The result of this study is that hypotheses of this study is accepted and be found how much influence tariff reduction influence toward to increase compliance of taxpayer about report the tax return in every year in District Way Kanan is 18,2%.

The Impact of Tariff Reduction on Poverty in Indonesia: Regional Level Analysis

The study examines the effect of trade liberalization on poverty reduction across districts in Indonesia during the period from 2000 to 2016 using the fixed effect approach. Tariff exposure is used to measure trade liberalization, which is computed at the district level by combining information on sector composition of the economy in each district and tariff lines by sectors. This study also distinguishes between tariff exposure for output products and intermediate inputs. This produces a measure indicating how changes in exposure to tariff reductions in outputs and inputs vary by region over the period. Due to the available multi-district and 17-year dataset, the study includes a set of fixed effects: the district-fixed effects and the time-fixed effects, which controls for aggregate time trend. The results indicate that the impact of output and input tariff on regional poverty headcount index (P0) is different. Output tariff has a negative correlation with poverty, while input tariff has a positive correlation with poverty. This suggests that trade liberalization in input sectors could reduce poverty in Indonesia. It is also found that GRDP per capita, literacy rates, and road length are negatively associated with poverty. Also, the effect of reducing input tariffs on poverty reduction will be larger if the districts have higher GRDP per capita and higher literacy rates.