Lack of consensus among researchers in Indonesia concerning real wage trends in rice production has generated disagreement over rural labour market conditions on Java. This paper identifies some empirical difficulties associated with measuring real wages, difficulties which have contributed to conflicting results in the literature. It is argued that the choice of deflator and the time period of analysis play a significant role in the calculation of real wages. In addition, the regional dimension of analysis is shown to be important, particularly during certain discrete time periods in recent history.

This book, based on fieldwork carried out by a team of American and Indonesian economists, investigates Indonesia's potential for maize production. It integrates 3 economic approaches: (1) the commodity systems approach, which traces the technical and market links from input supplier to producer, processor and consumer; (2) the macro-trade approach, which analyses the role of the commodity in generating domestic value-added and foreign exchange; and (3) the food policy approach, which analyses the efficiency of commodity systems and the distribution of their benefits in order to evaluate potential public investments and policy interventions. The conclusion reached is that Indonesia has the potential to expand its maize production by: (1) efficiency in the marketing system and (2) policies encouraging investment in storage and drying facilities.