Access to credit is crucial to improve farm performance as it allows farmers to procure inputs and technology. However, on the empirical front, evidence of the impact of agricultural credit access remains scanty. This study examines how access to credit from formal and informal sources influences the productivity and technical efficiency of maize farming in ten major maize-producing provinces in Indonesia. Secondary Food Crops Survey data by Statistics Indonesia were employed and analyzed using a quasi-experimental approach, i.e., the propensity score matching (PSM). The estimation shows that agricultural credit access improves farm performance. In fact, the ability to obtain credit from institutions increased productivity and technical efficiency more effectively than from informal sources. This study suggests that agricultural credit access remains relevant in Indonesia and needs to be improved continuously.

This study aims to determine the symmetric and asymmetric effects of exchange rate volatility and other explanatory variables (real exchange rate, industrial production index, and COVID-19) on sixteen (16) food products traded between Indonesia and the United States, Indonesia and China. The study used the ARCH/GARCH approach and estimate the volatility of the exchange rate. Linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) were applied to estimate the short- and long-run effect for the period 2009:M1–2020:M12. Findings from the ARDL method indicate that, in the short-term exchange rate volatility has a significant positive/negative effect on many products exported and imported throughout the study period. Different results were found in the Nonlinear ARDL method where a significant effect occurred especially on the food products import. The result further indicates that exchange rate volatility has a more negative effect symmetrically or asymmetrically. These results imply that most Indonesian traders to the United States and China tend to behave as risk-averse in the long run when responding to the phenomenon of exchange rate volatility. As a measure of robustness, a quantile regression further confirms that exchange rate volatility consistently affects food product trade. With this, therefore, stable exchange rate policies are needed to lessen the harmful effect of volatility on trade flows and balance the risk-taking behaviour among importers and exporters.

Soybean farming in Indonesia, as well as in other countries in the world, has an important role in providing food for the population, food ingredients for the food and beverage industry, and feed ingredients. Some policies have been implemented by the government to increase the profitability, efficiency and competitiveness of soybean farming. This study used the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) method to assess the competitiveness of soybean farming and evaluate the effectiveness of government policies in soybean farming. The results showed that soybean farming had a competitive advantage and comparative advantage. The results of the sensitivity analysis indicate that output price policy is an effective instrument to increase the profitability and competitiveness of soybean farming in Indonesia.

Research on FDI in promoting economic growth has been the focus of recent decades, especially in developing countries. Foreign direct investment can be one of the main objectives in increasing economic growth. FDI is assumed to indirectly contribute to economic growth through a spillover effect on the absorption capacity of a country by increasing the stock of human capital and the quality of institutions. This study aims to analyze the spillover effect of FDI on economic growth in Asian emerging markets. The data were analyzed using dynamic panel regression (GMM) during 2008-2017 period with STATA 14 software.The results in this study strongly indicate that the spillovers of FDI is proven to be able to drive economic growth through human capital and institutions in Asian emerging markets.

1. The agricultural sector plays a central role in Indonesia’s economic development. In 2025, it contributed 13.10% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) and generated employment for nearly ...