The SMERU Research Institute is an independent institution for research and public policy studies, focusing on various socioeconomic and poverty issues considered most urgent and relevant for the people of Indonesia. The institute has been at the forefront of the research effort to highlight the impact of government programs and policies, and has actively published and reported its research findings. SMERU's research teams are formed by combining researchers from different disciplines. In the social and economic fields, SMERU conducts studies on the impact and performance of government programs and policies related to poverty, health and education. SMERU also focuses its research on the implementation of regional autonomy and decentralization policies, particularly their impact on the provision of public services.
Researchers
Sri Budiyati (bud@smeru.or.id)
Sri Budiyati is a researcher at the SMERU research institute. She holds a BA in sociology from the University of Indonesia, 1985. Before joining SMERU, she held a research position at the Center for Policy and Implementation Studies (CPIS) in Jakarta. She has extended experience in monitoring and evaluation of service delivery at the local level in Indonesia. Her research interests lie with poverty and community health issues.
Widjajanti Isdijoso (anti@smeru.or.id)
Widjajanti Isdijoso is deputy director of the SMERU research institute. She holds a Master of Economic Studies from the University of Queensland, Brisbane-Australia, 1997. Before joining SMERU in 2003, she worked for United Nation Support Facility for Indonesia Recovery (UNSFIR) - UNDP Indonesia, the UN-World Food Program (WFP), and the Center for Policy and Implementation Studies (CPIS) in Jakarta. She has wide experience in social policy analysis in the fields of poverty, and is an expert in qualitative and mixed (qualitative-quantitative) methods for policy evaluation. Her research interests lie with poverty and household dynamics, social policy evaluation, human capital, social protection, and decentralization.
Umbu Reku Raya (uraya@smeru.or.id)
Umbu Reku Raya is a researcher at the SMERU research institute. He holds an MA in Development Studies from Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, 2008 and an MSc in Management from the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, 2000. Before joining SMERU he held a lecturer position at University of Nusa Cendana, West Timor. His research interests lie with human capital formation as multidimensional-poverty alleviation instrument among the disadvantaged groups, community empowerment on improving the maternal and neonatal health status among the poorest poor, and social return to education in Indonesia.
Asep Suyahadi (suryahadi@smeru.or.id)
Asep Suyahadi is director of the SMERU Research Institute. He holds a PhD in economics from Australian National University, Canberra, 1999. Before joining SMERU, he held a research position at the Center for Policy and Implementation Studies (CPIS) in Jakarta. He has wide experience with social policy analysis in the fields of poverty, labour, education, and health, and is an expert in quantitative methods for policy evaluation. His research interests lie with poverty and household dynamics, social policy evaluation, and human capital (health and education).
Athia Yumna (ayumna@smeru.or.id)
Athia Yumna is a researcher at the SMERU Research Institute. She holds an MSc in economics from the University of Warwick, UK in 2008 and BA in economics from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta in 2005. In SMERU, she has been involved in various studies including poverty and households dynamic, socioeconomic and health status of rural-urban migrants, and community-based monitoring system. Her research interests lie with poverty, social protection, economic development, and labor economics.
Selected publications
Sumarto, S., A. Suryahadi, and L. Pritchett (2003) ‘Safety Nets or Safety Ropes? Dynamic Benefit Incidence of Two Crisis Programs in Indonesia’, World Development 31(7), pp. 1257-1277.
Sumarto, S., A. Suryahadi, and W. Widyanti (2005) ‘Assessing the Impact of Indonesian Social Safety Net Programmes on Household Welfare and Poverty Dynamics’, European Journal of Development Research 17(1), pp. 155-177.
Suryahadi, Asep, Wenefrida Widyanti, and Sudarno Sumarto (2003), 'Short-term Poverty Dynamics in Rural Indonesia during the Economic Crisis', Journal of International Development, 15(2), pp. 133-144.
Sumarto, Sudarno, Asep Suryahadi, and Wenefrida Widyanti (2002), 'Designs and Implementation of the Indonesian Social Safety Net Programs', Developing Economies, 40(1), pp. 3-31.
Pradhan, Menno, Asep Suryahadi, Sudarno Sumarto, and Lant Pritchett (2001), 'Eating Like Which 'Joneses'? An Iterative Solution to the Choice of Poverty Line Reference Group', The Review of Income and Wealth, 47(4), pp. 473-487.