This book contains 9 papers selected among papers presented at the 8th Indonesia Regional Science Association (IRSA) International Conference entitled :”Empowering Regional Economic Development Toward Sustainable Poverty Alleviation”. There were 80 papers presented in the conference, and 30 of them were submitted to be included in the book. In selecting the papers, special attention was given to papers written by those who recently graduated with a master of the PhD program. The conference was held on August 18-19, 2006, at Brawijaya University, Malang, East Java. It was conducted by the IRSA, the faculty of economics, Brawijaya University, and the East Java Development Planning Agency. The conference would not have been possible without generous financial support from the East Java Development Planning Agency and the Research Center for Economic Policy (PPKE), Faculty of Economics – Brawijaya University, or the active participation of those attending the conference.

This edited volume comprises selected papers from the 7th IRSA International Conference, held at the University of Indonesia, 3-4 August 2005. The title of this book reflects the major theme of the meeting. Indeed, the theme is timely. Following the devastating December 2004 tsunami in Aceh, the steering committee of the IRSA conference decided to take the natural disaster as the main theme of the 2005 meeting. The major earthquake in March 2005 in Nias reconfirmed the decision. But still, the committee would also call for wider regional science topics. Hence is the sub-theme of the meeting. The natural disaster strikes not only the affected people of Aceh and Nias, but also regional scientists. Very few ever thought previously about the impact and redevelopment issues of the unexpected events. This is partly reflected in the relatively small number of papers submitted to the conference. However, we are grateful to those who responded to the call for papers of this conference, and some of the papers are included in this volume.

This book is the result of the 5th Indonesian Regional Science Association (IRSA) International Conference held on 18-19 July, 2003 at the Savoy Homann Bidakara Hotel, Bandung, Indonesia. The conference theme was “Regional Development in a Decentralized Era: Public Services, Poverty and the Environment”. This book focuses on several sub-themes of the growth, equity and environment aspect of regional development namely on institutions and governance, the financing of regional development, poverty and income inequality, and sustainable development. The book is based on selected papers presented at the IRSA 5th International Conference which meets the theme of this volume, and which has not been published elsewhere.