Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies


The Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal produced at the Australian National University in Canberra. It publishes articles and notes about the Indonesian economy. The BIES has been published three times each year since the first issue was produced in 1965. The current editors are Blane Lewis, Arianto Patunru, Robert Sparrow, and Sarah Xue Dong.

Background

In the mid 1960s Professor H. W. Arndt established the Indonesia Project at the ANU. At the time, political and economic conditions in Indonesia were very difficult and economic data were hard to obtain and of doubtful reliability. It was believed, however, that the establishment of a journal would help underpin the proposed work of the newly-formed Indonesia Project in promoting international research on Indonesian economic developments. The first issue of the BIES was published in June 1965, just a few months before the attempted coup in Jakarta on 30 September 1965 which initiated the series of political changes that led to the establishment of the New Order government under President Soeharto. Arndt's plans to establish a new project and journal did not receive strong support from his colleagues. Emeritus Professor Jamie Mackie later recalled that:
When Heinz launched the Indonesia Project and the BIES in 1964-65, the likelihood that either would succeed appeared bleak in the extreme. He mentions in A Course through Life that 'almost everyone I consulted advised against the effort.' ... But Heinz went ahead, and by dint of sheer audaciousness,... perseverence and persuasiveness, he pulled it off.
The journal has been published continuously since then. BIES and the Indonesia Project is now housed within the at the Australian National University.

Links with Indonesia

The Editorial Board of the BIES has always supported an active policy of working in close partnership with Indonesian colleagues. Well-known Indonesian scholars and public policy makers who have worked with the project since the mid-1960s include Professor Armida Alisjahbana, Professor Boediono, Dr Hadi Soesastro, Professor Anwar Nasution, Dr Muhamad Chatib Basri, Professor Mari Pangestu, Professor Panglaykim, Professor Mubyarto, Professor Mohamad Sadli, Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Dr Thee Kian Wie. A local copy edition of BIES is published in Indonesia and is distributed by the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Contents

Each issue of the journal contains:
The journal is ranked as a leading journal on Indonesian economics, development and areas studies. The was 1.517.
Main articles
In April 2020, the "" article was Thomas Power, "Jokowi’s Authoritarian Turn and Indonesia’s Democratic Decline".
The "" article was Eve Warburton, "Jokowi and the New Developmentalism".
The provides information on the contents of recent issues.

Editors of the BIES

BIES editors have been:
The BIES receives financial support from the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Australian Government, the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at the ANU, and the Australian National University.