Do Trade Reforms Promote Nutritional Status? Evidence From Indonesia

There is a long tradition in economic development that highlights the role of nourishment in the transition from a subsistence into a mature economy. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an empirical basis for the relationship between trade reforms and population nutritional status using Indonesia as a case study. The analysis employs a panel data of Indonesian districts from four waves of the National Socioeconomic Survey in 1993, 1999, 2005, and 2011 to estimate the degree to which exogenous variations in tariff barriers affect endogenous variations in nutrient consumption. Simultaneous equation estimation results show that lower tariff barriers are expected to lead to a positive and significant impact on nutritional status.