SOUTHEAST ASIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS

In Memoriam: Professor Ammar Siamwalla (1939–2025)

2025-11-27T17:46:17+07:00

Professor Ammar Siamwalla, who passed away in October 2025 at the age of 86, was one of Thailand’s most influential economists. As a founding member and former president of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), he helped set the standard for evidence-based policy in Thailand and across Southeast Asia. His scholarship on rice policy, rural credit, and trade shaped debates for more than five decades; his public interventions—always clear, sometimes unsparing, and could touch on delicate political issues—made economics legible to policymakers and the public alike.

Gig Workers in Indonesia: Development and Vulnerability

2024-10-01T15:21:39+07:00

The emergence of the gig economy, accelerated by technological advancements during the pandemic, has become a significant phenomenon in Indonesia. Economic challenges and shifting labor market dynamics have led to an increase in gig work as traditional employment opportunities have diminished. Gig workers, however, face income uncertainty, ambiguous employment status, and inadequate social protection and labor rights. This study aims to analyze the development of the gig economy in Indonesia, examine the determinants of gig workers, and assess the vulnerabilities of gig workers. Using the National Labor Force Survey (SAKERNAS) of August 2022 and analysis through binary logistic regression and Heckman selection bias correction, this research underscores the necessity of accessible social protection for gig workers. The findings call for regulations that recognize the specific rights and needs of gig workers, along with training and skill development initiatives to mitigate their vulnerabilities.

CSR Practice and Asymmetric Information: The ASEAN-5 Experience of Banking Industry

2024-10-15T10:11:18+07:00

This research explores the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and information asymmetry within the banking sector of ASEAN. Unlike much of the existing literature in accounting and finance, which predominantly concentrates on the Environmentally Sensitive Industry (ESI), this study shifts the focus toward the Socially Sensitive Industry (SSI), presenting a unique and pertinent perspective. The analysis encompasses data from 27 publicly-listed ASEAN-5 banks over the period from 2011 to 2016, yielding a total of 162 bank-year observations for the final sample. Employing a panel regression approach, the study utilizes a fixedeffect model at both the bank and country levels, along with robust standard errors in the analysis. The results reveal that CSR practices, represented through the publication of CSR reports, CSR assurance, and adoption of the GRI framework, have a statistically significant negative association with information asymmetry, as indicated by the market-to-book value and Tobin’s Q ratio. The findings underscore the value of voluntary non-financial information as an important additional resource for stakeholders.

Financial Development, Risk, and Income Inequality: Evidence From Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines

2024-09-24T11:09:39+07:00

This study investigates the relationship between financial development, financial and political risk, and income inequality in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines by using the World Inequality Database from 1984 to 2022. We employ ARDL bound tests, the fixed effect model, and Generalized Method of Moment to investigate that relationship at the country level and consider them at the regional level in Thailand. Empirical results from each country model indicate that financial development is associated with reducing income inequality in Thailand and the Philippines. In the case of Malaysia, financial development appears to exacerbate income inequality in certain periods. However, the relationship between political risk and income inequality is inconclusive. For the regional model, financial development and regional economic growth are significant and aligned with the country-level model. This finding provides new insights for policymakers at both the country and regional levels and supports the need for consideration of the relationship between financial development and income inequality.

Technical Efficiency Estimation of Rubber Farming in Thailand

2024-10-02T14:19:15+07:00

This study investigates the technical efficiency of rubber production among Thai rubber farmers and identifies the factors influencing both rubber production quantity and efficiency. A stochastic production frontier model was employed using 14 years of data from the Economic and Agricultural Household Survey, combined with sub-district weather data. The findings highlight the significant impact of agricultural production costs and plantation area on rubber production at both national and regional levels. While agricultural asset values and the number of workers were statistically insignificant, Thai rubber farmers operate at an average of 67% of their potential production efficiency. The North region exhibited the lowest efficiency, whereas both the North and Northeast demonstrated the greatest potential for improvement relative to the national frontier. Climate factors and farm practices were identified as consistent determinants of inefficiency. Policymakers can enhance rubber production efficiency by targeting key interventions, such as climate-smart agriculture practices and improved farm management, to align with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Income Polarization and Crime: Evidence From Indonesia

2024-10-30T08:47:29+07:00

This paper examines the link between income polarization and crime in 33 provinces in Indonesia from 2010 to 2018. Most previous studies used income inequality as an explanatory variable to explain crime. However, income inequality only captures income gaps, not the clustering of individuals. This paper demonstrates that income polarization is an important predictor of crime in Indonesia, especially property crime. Employing system Generalized Methods of Moment (GMM) models for dynamic panel data, this study finds that provinces with higher income polarization are associated with those with higher property crime. There is no significant effect of income polarization on homicide in the case of Indonesia. Furthermore, this study finds no significant effects of income inequality on property crime or homicide.

FDI and Labor: A Dynamic Duo for Vietnam’s Provincial Exports

2024-12-09T18:47:49+07:00

This study investigates the interconnected roles of foreign direct investment (FDI) and labor in driving provincial export performance in Vietnam. Employing the Feasible Generalized Least Squares method and secondary data covering 63 provinces from 2017 to 2022, the research reveals a nuanced relationship between FDI and labor indicators. The result indicates that FDI, skilled labor, and labor size individually boost exports. Furthermore, the impact of FDI on exports might be amplified when combined with a skilled labor force; however, the interaction between FDI and labor size may negatively impact provincial exports due to resource constraints and skill mismatches. These findings underscore the importance of strategic FDI policies and investments in human capital development to foster sustainable and competitive provincial export growth in Vietnam.

Poverty, Institutions, and Village Funds: Case of Rural Areas in Brebes and Banyumas Regencies, Central Java Province, Indonesia

2024-12-02T13:58:14+07:00

This study investigates the influence of spatial connectivity using geographically weighted regression (GWR) on rural poverty and the allocation of village funds in Indonesia. It employs panel data and village census information from 2018 to 2020. Indicators of social institutions are represented by variables of village meetings (musyawarah desa) and mutual cooperation (gotong-royong), whereas political factors are represented by variables related to the village government and the Village Council (Badan Permusyawaratan Desa or BPD). The panel model encompasses 1,130 observations, whereas the GWR model analyzes 565 villages in 2020. From a spatial perspective, locational considerations affect the relationship between village funds and poverty in the Brebes and Banyumas Regencies, demonstrating a positive correlation. The findings of the panel model demonstrate robustness, with village government and village meetings exhibiting a direct effect on rural poverty, whereas BPD and mutual cooperation do not significantly impact poverty through village funds.

Valuing Health Effects of Air Pollution in Northern Thailand: Case Study of Urban Residents

2025-01-11T23:33:32+07:00

Air pollution is a critical issue in rapidly developing regions, including Northern Thailand. This study estimates the health effects of air pollution and residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for respiratory illness prevention. A survey of 480 respondents across eight provinces in Northern Thailand during December 2023 to May 2024, using Contingent Valuation Methods, finds that individual WTP was an average of 367 THB (11 USD) annually for improving air quality and preventing illness. Regional variations in WTP are observed, with Chiang Mai having the highest and Lamphun the lowest. Key factors influencing WTP include gender, age, income, cost of prevention, perception, and pollution acknowledgement. The findings underscore the high value residents place on cleaner air and highlight the need for targeted financial measures, regional smog mitigation, and enhanced public awareness to address air pollution effectively.

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Reshaped Non-Cash Payments in Indonesia?

2023-11-01T11:22:20+07:00

This paper aims to quantify whether the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped Indonesia’s non-cash payments (NCP). Covering monthly real-time gross settlement (RTGS) of NCP data published by the Bank of Indonesia spanning the period 2009M01–2023M06, we explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to June 2023 on NCP by implementing the Newey-West experiment of ITSA. The empirical results reveal that the ITSA precisely measures the COVID-19 pandemic impact on NCP transactions. The effect of the pandemic has varied on transaction volume using various proxies of NCP in Indonesia. The pandemic had a significant positive effect on electronic money in the first month. After that, however, the pandemic negatively affected total debit and credit card transactions. The trend of NCPs postCOVID-19 pandemic has been increasing, supported by positive trends in almost all selected sub-components of NCP except inter- and intrabank debit card transactions. These estimation results indicate that Indonesia’s central bank should intensively innovate different NCP instruments of the payment system policy toward a non-cash society, especially post-pandemic.