Course Title: Doctor of Philosopy in Economics

Thesis Title : The Impact of Taxation and Public Expenditure on Income Distribution in Indonesia

Supervisors : Professor Phil Lewis , Dr Tesfaye Gebremedhin and Dr. Muni Perum

Abstract

Even though Indonesia has experienced high economics growth since 2000, there are still many people living in poverty. The question is which segment of the population benefits most from government taxation and expenditures. One of the objectives is to assist government to evaluate tax and expenditure policies that improve the income distribution. Here taxation includes income, consumption and production taxes. Benefits of government expenditure includes both cash benefit and in kind. The study is highly relevant to Indonesia’s current needs and will also contribute to new knowledge in Indonesia regarding the impact of the government policy on income distribution.

Potential Implication for Policy Reform or Management Practices:

Provide information to reform government policy especially in taxation and public expenditure programs to reduce income inequality.

Short Bio:

Kunta W.D. Nugraha is PhD Student in Economics, Faculty of Business and Government, University of Canberra, Australia. Before obtaining World Bank scholarship, he worked at the Fiscal Policy Office, Ministry of Finance, Republic of Indonesia, which deals with fiscal policy, revenue forecasting and budget analysis. His main responsibilities are analyzing, projecting, and reviewing tax revenue in order to be used in proposed state budget and recommendation’s letter to Higher Level Decision Maker in Ministry of Finance. His latest position is Head of Tax Revenue Policy Division. Kunta holds Master of Arts from Boston University, USA in 1999 and Bachelor of Science in Economics from University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia in 1993.