IRSA-BKF Paper Award

IRSA-BKF Paper Award on Inter-Governmental Transfers and Local Taxation

Eligible Topics

Research paper topics that will be considered for this award should discuss various issues related to transfers from central to local governments, particularly Village Funds, and local taxation. Such topics could be, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Government transfers as a strategy to reduce regional income inequality
2. The role of government transfers and/or local taxation in improving regional standard minimum services across Indonesia
3. The role of village funds in developing physical and social infrastructure to enhance development in rural and peripheral economies
4. The effectiveness of transfers to regional policy and/or local taxation in supporting local autonomy
5. The local government budget and its impact on local economic growth, human capital development, poverty alleviation and inequality
6. Decentralization and sustainability.

The award

The selected papers will receive Rp. 2,000,000.- per paper and an opportunity for presentation at the IRSA-BKF special session on Inter-governmental Transfers and Local Taxations. In addition, the authors will be given the option to have their works published in the BKF-MOF accredited journal, Kajian Ekonomi dan Keuangan (http://www.fiskal.kemenkeu.go.id/ejournal/index.php/kek) or in the IRSA Book Series on Regional Development.

Context

In the local autonomy and fiscal decentralization era, local governments play a strategic role in providing basic public services, improving welfare, alleviating poverty, and reducing inequality among regions. Adequate funding is required to implement their authority. In order to support local government, the central government introduced three main funding instruments for fiscal decentralization, namely Own Source Revenues (PAD) including local taxes, Regional Transfers and Village Funds (TKDD), and local government loans.
TKDD is a major source of local government funding. It covers several types of funding intended for different purposes, such as the Revenue Sharing Fund (DBH) for reducing the vertical fiscal gap, the General Allocation Fund (DAU) for reducing the horizontal fiscal gap, the Specific Allocation Fund (DAK) for accelerating the achievement of national priorities, and Village Funds for stimulating infrastructure development and rural community empowerment. The funding allocation is still not effective in achieving development goals due to issues related to the alignment of the allocation with state budget capacity, funding overlaps between ministries, and suboptimal utilization of the inter-governmental transfer by local governments. Further, the effectiveness of Village Funds in reducing poverty and lowering village disparities in the three years since their implementation is still minor.
On the other hand, local governments themselves need to improve their own funding by enhancing local revenue (PAD), particularly from Local Taxes and Local Retributions (PDRD). PDRD is a reflection of the fiscal independence of a region. Regions with an optimal level of taxation can expand their local fiscal capacity and have more options to promote the region. PDRD should be strengthened to improve the accountability of local spending and increase public participation in financing public services. Nevertheless, improvement in the collection of PDRD should not hinder the regional investment climate.
The Central government is committed to continuously improving the quality of fiscal decentralization. In order to improve the quality of local expenditure, the TKDD should be strengthened by considering inputs from various aspects of local governments, society and academics. Moreover, the Central government continues to increase local taxing power. In order to gather information and feedback on fiscal decentralization policies, FEB UNS, IRSA, and BKF-MOF are collaborating to invite scholars to submit papers that empirically study sub-national transfers, local taxation, and local expenditure and their impact in stimulating the economy and lowering inequality across provinces and districts in Indonesia.

How to Apply?

All papers related to the topics mentioned above and submitted to be presented at the 14th IRSA International Conference by 23 June 2018 will be considered for the IRSA-BKF Paper Award. Between 4 to 8 papers will be selected. The papers should be presented at the Conference and all the terms and conditions of the IRSA Conference will apply to all applicants; i.e. paying registration fee etc.

Timelines

Announcement : 15 February 2018
Deadline for the abstract : 1 April 2018
Deadline for the Full Paper : 23 June 2018
Notification of Winner : 6 July 2018

Submission

An extended paper abstract of about 250-500 words should be submitted online via http://www.conftool.com/irsa2018 by 1 April 2018. The abstract should consist of the background, data and methodology, potential contributors, and keywords. Both the abstract and full paper must be submitted in English. The full Paper must be submitted online via http://www.conftool.com/irsa2018 by 23 June 2018.