Sadli Lecture 2023

Crawford School of Public Policy

Event details

Public Lecture

Date & time

Tuesday 16 May 2023
12.30pm–3.00pm

Venue

Hybrid

Speaker

Professor Lisa Cameron (University of Melbourne)

Contacts

Alex Gotts

Registrations open now!

Register to join via Zoom here

Register to attend in-person (Jakarta) here

In person attendants will receive an e-certificate

Program

Gender equality and development: Indonesia in a global context

9:30 WIB/12:30 AEST Welcoming remarks by Dr Teguh Dartanto

9:45 WIB/12:45 AEST Keynote remarks by Em. Prof. Mayling Oey-Gardiner

10:00 WIB/13:00 AEST Lecture by Prof. Lisa Cameron

10:45 WIB/13:45 AEST Discussion by Dr Putu Geniki Lavinia Natih and Dr Asep Suryahadi

11:10 WIB/14:10 AEST Question & answer session

11:55 WIB/14:55 AEST Closing remarks by Dr Firman Witoelar

The event will be held in English. Indonesian language interpretation and Indonesian sign language interpretation will be available.

About the Sadli Lecture

The Sadli Lecture is a collaboration between the Institute for Economic and Social Research (Universitas Indonesia) and the Indonesia Project (The Australian National University). Named in honour of Professor Mohammad Sadli, leading Indonesian policy-maker and economist, the series aims to broaden understanding of and stimulate debate on key economic policy challenges faced by Indonesia.

The annual Lecture is based on a commissioned paper on Indonesia from a comparative economics perspective for the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies.

Beginning in 2023, the Sadli Lecture will also Professor Saparinah Sadli, as well as her late husband Professor Mohammad Sadli. The scope of the series will expand to cover gender equality and social justice in addition to international trade, industrial organisation, development economics and macroeconomics, which were the focus areas of Mohammad Sadli.

This year’s lecture

Gender equality in Indonesia is about where you’d expect given the country’s level of development. Indonesia has more gender inequality than some neighbouring countries and less than others; and less than in the vast majority of Muslim-majority nations worldwide, regardless of level of income.

Women’s economic participation is however low relative to Indonesia’s level of development. Female labour force participation is low as many women leave the work force when they get married and have children, particularly in the formal sector as formal sector employers do not generally offer flexible workplace conditions that would increase their ability to retain female employees.

Social norms that position mothers as the main caregiver play an additional important role in women’s low economic participation. Public information campaigns that challenge people’s perceptions of gender norms are likely to be an important component of efforts to increase women’s economic participation.

Greater female economic participation has pay-offs in terms of increased national economic growth. By contributing to household income and reducing economic stress within the household, greater female labour force participation is also likely to reduce family violence and so lead to happier home and family lives.

A focus on increasing women’s economic empowerment would be far-sighted as the country looks to recover from the pandemic and lay the groundwork for a dynamic future.

About Prof. Lisa Cameron

Lisa Cameron is the James Riady Chair of Asian Economics and Business, and a Professorial Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. She is an empirical micro-economist whose research incorporates the techniques of experimental and behavioural economics so as to better understand human decision-making.

Much of her research focuses on policy evaluation - understanding the impacts and behavioural implications of public policy, with a focus on social and economic issues. She is particularly interested in the welfare of disadvantaged and marginalised groups and the socio-economic determinants of health, particularly in developing countries, including Indonesia.

Lisa received her PhD in economics from Princeton University (USA) writing her dissertation under the supervision of the Nobel laureate Angus Deaton. She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences in 2013.

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