From Research at the Grassroots Level to Policy Design

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From Research at the Grassroots Level to Policy
Design

• Treena Wu
• Maastricht University

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Agenda

• Policy design policy structure and sequencing,
  timing when one policy switches to another to
  achieve a given objective
• Research informs on the structure, sequencing and
  timing given the parameters by the policymakers
• What research feeds back for policy design is the
  behavior of individuals / households /
  communities
• Case study Relief, rehabilitation and
  development in Aceh Province after the tsunami
  and gt 30 years of civil conflict

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Policy Design

• The structure in the case of Aceh Province is
  foreign aid policy after the tsunami
• Emergency and Relief
• Rehabilitation / Reconstruction
• Development
• The emergency period to assist displaced
  communities (food, medicine, shelter) 6 12
  weeks
• Relief and Rehabilitation / Reconstruction period
  uncertain given various factors

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Policy Design

• Development period waits for the two prior
  periods to be completed.
• World Bank Indonesia waited to kick start the
  engine of economic growth and small medium
  enterprise development in peacetime
• While waiting, the research questions were
  this
• Is there an informal economy even when there is
  disaster (the tsunami and the civil conflict)?
• If yes, should the economy look similar in
  peacetime?

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Research

• Yes, there was an informal economy during the
  period of the civil conflict
• Acehnese combatants would move between Aceh
  Province and Acehnese communities in West
  Peninsula Malaysia.
• A similar movement route was used by male and
  female migrant workers (TKI and TKW), legal and
  undocumented
• This movement route was also the remittance
  corridor for bringing funding and goods back into
  Aceh

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The Researcher Follows the Same Route
Aceh Province
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(No Transcript)
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The Researcher Follows the Same Route

• 1.5 years to gain the trust of migrant workers,
  their households and community
• A debt of gratitude to the kepala desa / keuchik
  (village leaders) for being allowed entry
• 29 detailed household histories from civilians,
  combatants, ex-combatants and their families
  tracked the route, crossed the Straits of Malacca
  and followed the money and goods trail over an 8
  week period
• Triangulation by interviewing the formal and
  informal bureau de change Western Union, the
  Post Office (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore),
  factory employers, the middlemen and the
  migrant workers union

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How Migrant Households Managed Over Time
26th December 2004 February 2005 March
2005 Mid 2005 November 2005
Idul Fitri
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Policy Result

• The World Bank supported the promotion of small
  and medium enterprise (SME)
• The types of enterprise were identified as being
  those that the remittances of migrant workers
  were used for (e.g. warung kopi US3K start up,
  traditional enterprise, communal enterprise
  baking, rattan weaving)
• Specific and separate allocation for women
  recognizing their contributions as migrant
  workers, earning more than their male
  counterparts
• Grant allocated was US50.8 million