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Preference mismatch for environmental policy in Indonesia

Crawford School of Public Policy
People fighting a fire

Event details

Indonesia Study Group

Date & time

Wednesday 17 April 2024
12.30pm–2.00pm

Venue

Hybrid

Speaker

Dr Nicholas Kuipers

8:30-10:00am WIB // 12:30-2:00pm AEST

Join in-person: McDonald Room, Menzies library, ANU

Join online: bit.ly/indonesia-study-group-2024

About the seminar

We study Indonesian voters and politicians’ policy preferences over a suite of issues. We conducted concurrent surveys in advance of the 2024 Indonesian general election and, in a follow up, randomized the provision of information to candidates about voter preferences. We find that voters care about environmental issues more than politicians, and that politicians underestimate voters’ concern. Randomly providing information on voters’ preferences induced changes in politicians’ own stated policy preferences, especially on issues for which politicians initially underestimated voter support. However, information on voter preferences did not affect politicians’ willingness to support costly policy action on environmental issues, nor did it affect politicians’ vote share in the election.

About the speaker

Nicholas is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Presidential Young Professor at the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on Southeast Asia, concerning topics that span comparative politics, political economy, and public policy. His ongoing projects are especially focused on documenting the impact of institutions that govern political and bureaucratic selection in Indonesia.

Image: Army officers try to extinguish fires in peat land areas, outside Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan/Aulia Erlangga, CIFOR/Flickr.

Updated:  16 October 2024/Responsible Officer:  Crawford Engagement/Page Contact:  CAP Web Team