Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia

I write three essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia. The first essay discusses the effects of the education of entrepreneurs—the managers cum owners of micro and small firms—on the firm performance and the entrepreneurs’ earnings. I find some evidence that, on average, better educated entrepr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lau, Siew Yee
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59193/
_version_ 1848799593857286144
author Lau, Siew Yee
author_facet Lau, Siew Yee
author_sort Lau, Siew Yee
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description I write three essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia. The first essay discusses the effects of the education of entrepreneurs—the managers cum owners of micro and small firms—on the firm performance and the entrepreneurs’ earnings. I find some evidence that, on average, better educated entrepreneurs earn more hourly, monthly, and annually, though the return to education differs by sector. I also find female entrepreneurs benefit more from their education, so do entrepreneurs in urban areas. The second essay studies whether social health insurance in Indonesia, Askeskin, that owners of micro and small firms have access to help the firms cope with family hardships experienced by the households. I find some evidence of Askeskin reduces the adverse effects of deaths in the family in the previous year, outpatient care, and traffic accidents on net profits; Askeskin also protects total assets against owners’ need of outpatient care. The third essay analyses the effects of an increase in real wage rates on small farms’ investment in tractors, machines, equipment, and irrigation system, i.e., whether an increase in wages induces farmers to substitute labour for capital. I find some evidence that higher real minimum wages induce greater use of tractors on small farms; higher real agricultural wages encourage smallholders invest more in vehicles. I also find relatively large farms use more tractors as real wages (all types) increase; they also invest more in vehicles when farm labour become more expensive. By contrast, relatively small farms invest more in irrigation systems in response to higher real wages and more in farm equipment when real agricultural wages increase.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T20:38:08Z
format Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-59193
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T20:38:08Z
publishDate 2020
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-591932025-02-28T14:39:52Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59193/ Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia Lau, Siew Yee I write three essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia. The first essay discusses the effects of the education of entrepreneurs—the managers cum owners of micro and small firms—on the firm performance and the entrepreneurs’ earnings. I find some evidence that, on average, better educated entrepreneurs earn more hourly, monthly, and annually, though the return to education differs by sector. I also find female entrepreneurs benefit more from their education, so do entrepreneurs in urban areas. The second essay studies whether social health insurance in Indonesia, Askeskin, that owners of micro and small firms have access to help the firms cope with family hardships experienced by the households. I find some evidence of Askeskin reduces the adverse effects of deaths in the family in the previous year, outpatient care, and traffic accidents on net profits; Askeskin also protects total assets against owners’ need of outpatient care. The third essay analyses the effects of an increase in real wage rates on small farms’ investment in tractors, machines, equipment, and irrigation system, i.e., whether an increase in wages induces farmers to substitute labour for capital. I find some evidence that higher real minimum wages induce greater use of tractors on small farms; higher real agricultural wages encourage smallholders invest more in vehicles. I also find relatively large farms use more tractors as real wages (all types) increase; they also invest more in vehicles when farm labour become more expensive. By contrast, relatively small farms invest more in irrigation systems in response to higher real wages and more in farm equipment when real agricultural wages increase. 2020-02-22 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59193/1/Essays%20on%20Micro%20and%20Small%20Firms%20in%20Indonesia_electronic.pdf Lau, Siew Yee (2020) Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham Malaysia. micro and small firms education social health insurance family hardships mechanisation entrepreneurs
spellingShingle micro and small firms
education
social health insurance
family hardships
mechanisation
entrepreneurs
Lau, Siew Yee
Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia
title Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia
title_full Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia
title_fullStr Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia
title_full_unstemmed Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia
title_short Essays on micro and small firms in Indonesia
title_sort essays on micro and small firms in indonesia
topic micro and small firms
education
social health insurance
family hardships
mechanisation
entrepreneurs
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59193/