The 2019 Nobel Prize in economics shows that building the correct social infrastructure is expected to quickly reduce the number of poor people.
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The 2019 Nobel Prize in economics shows that building the correct social infrastructure is expected to quickly reduce the number of poor people.
REUTERS/BRIAN SNYDER
Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, two of the three winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, stand together at a news conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., October 14, 2019.
Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Michael Kremer from Harvard University, received the Nobel Prize for their experimental research work in reducing the number of poor people. The Nobel Prize for the three economists coincides with President Joko Widodo\'s five-year work plan to improve the quality of human resources. The President wants Indonesia to be included in the group of rich countries by 2045.
To achieve the target, Indonesia must be able to overcome the problem of poverty and welfare disparity. Field research in Morocco, India and Indonesia by Banarjee and Duflo show that three things must not be disregarded by government policies to improve human quality. The three are education, health services and access to food. These three things are the basic rights of everyone.
Many other studies have shown that children who lack a balanced nutritious intake from the mother\'s womb until the first three years of life, are left far behind physically and intellectually by children with adequate nutrition.
The nutritional deficiencies, which are reflected, among other things, in stunting, will continue after the golden period of the first three years of life. Longitudinal research in many places show that children under five who are malnourished will be unable to compete in the workplace when they are adults and prone to degenerative diseases.
The ambition to make great strides in technology and become a rich country will be difficult to achieve if those three things are not fulfilled.
Providing appropriate education, as Duflo and Banarjee\'s research shows, helps people find work, increase their income and get out of poverty. Building elementary schools throughout Indonesia in the 1970s was therefore considered an appropriate policy.
Access to health services through community health centers (Puskesmas) and integrated health services (Posyandu) also improves the community living standards. Our challenge is to reduce maternal mortality, which is still 305 per 100,000 births.
These three social infrastructure packages must be built together with physical infrastructure if we want to get the greatest benefit from the Digital Industrial Revolution. It is important for use to master digital technology, the Internet of Things and telecommunications as a tool to facilitate accurate data collection and increase productivity. However, what is more important is to prepare the substance that will be delivered through the technology. The substance must be in accordance with the diverse conditions of society.
It is important to develop appropriate and cross-institutional policies to build the social infrastructure. Ensuring nutritious food, health services and quality education for everyone is a necessity. The ambition to make great strides in technology and become a rich country will be difficult to achieve if those three things are not fulfilled.
