Designing Anti-Poverty Programs in Emerging Economies: Lessons from Indonesia

This is a free public lecture. Space is very limited and registration is required.

Designing Anti-Poverty Programs in Emerging Economies in the 21st Century: Lessons from Indonesia for the World

2019 Sadli Lecture by Professor Benjamin Olken

Governments of developing countries around the world have dramatically expanded social protection programs for the poor in recent decades. In doing so, they face a host of challenges in the targeting, design, and implementation of these programs. Professor Benjamin Olken will describe the results from more than a decade of collaboration with the Indonesian Government to understand how best to tackle these challenges, drawing primarily on evidence from randomized controlled trials. Professor Olken will highlight results that show the advantages of both community-based targeting and self-targeting, the importance of tangible information about beneficiaries’ rights in minimizing leakage, and the remarkable impacts of conditional cash transfers in the medium term. He will also describe several recent studies that use randomization at scale to generate policy-relevant evidence. The presentation is based on a forthcoming paper in the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies (BIES).

Benjamin Olken is professor at the Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research interests focus on development economics in general and the political economies of developing countries (e.g. corruption) in particular. Geographically, a large part of his research is concentrated on Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. Professor Olken leads the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a research centre specialized on the use of randomized evaluations for the purpose of studying poverty alleviation, as one of its Directors.

About the Sadli Lecture

Since 2007, LPEM FEB UI and the ANU Indonesia Project have jointly organized the annual Sadli Lecture series to broaden understanding and stimulate debate among students, academics and policy makers of the key economic policy challenges faced by Indonesia, drawing on the experience of neighbouring countries. It is named in honour of the late Professor Mohammad Sadli who was one of Indonesia's most influential commentators on economic affairs during his lifetime. Now in its 13th year, the annual Lecture is based on a commissioned paper on Indonesia in comparative economic perspective, published each year in the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies.

Program

08:30 – 09:00 Registration and light breakfast

09:00 – 09:20 Welcoming remarks

• Professor Ari Kuncoro, Dean, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia (FEB UI)
• Dr Firman Witoelar Kartaadipoetra, ANU Indonesia Project

09:20 – 09:40 Keynote remarks by Professor Mohamad Ikhsan, FEB UI

09:40 – 10:30 Lecture: “Designing Anti-Poverty Programs in Emerging Economies in the 21st Century:
Lessons from Indonesia for the World”

Professor Benjamin Olken, MIT Department of Economics and The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab/J-PAL

Chair: Dr Arie Damayanti, LPEM FEB UI

10:30 – 11:00 Discussants

• Dr Riatu Qibthiyyah, LPEM FEB UI
• Dr Firman Witoelar Kartaadipoetra, ANU Indonesia Project

11:00 – 12:00 Question & Answer Session

12:00 – 14:00 Seminar closed, lunch

*No certificate will be provided for attendance.