Regional Disparity in Indonesia and the New Approach of Asymmetric Decentralization

Abstraksi

Regional disparity has become unfinished agenda in Indonesia, in fact, the decentralization policy has been implemented in this country almost 20 years. In this paper, we seek the impacts of decentralization policy towards reducing disparity across regions. In seeking the answer, we utilize mix methods research. Quantitatively, in macro scope, a panel data of regional income percapita of 34 provinces in Indonesia are analyzed and categorized towards five main islands in Indonesia during 2000-2015 periods. Qualitatively, in micro scope, the information about performance of service delivery in health sector (at least based on Indicators of Minimum Service Standards) is used. In macro level, the findings show that the decentralization policy still has not reduced disparity significantly and even worsened in some islands. In micro level, similarly, a little improvement of inequality of services at least in health services can be observed although it is not too significant. In the end of this paper, we suggest that to reduce disparity or inequality, regions (districts or cities) cannot be treated uniformly. This is perhaps we label it as new approach of asymmetric decentralization, which formulated the degree of autonomy based on fiscal and social-economic indicators. This approach is unlike the old approach of asymmetric decentralization in Aceh, Jogjakarta as well as Papua and West Papua, when the different treatment is given only based on political reasons.