Environmental taxes on industries in Indonesia: developing a framework for sustainability

In recent years, developed countries as well as developing countries have resorted to the use of environmental taxes to manage pollution. However, the actual design of environmental taxes differs among countries due to different underlying rationales and experiences. Indonesia as a developing country, has also experimented with these taxes since 1997 to address some of the challenges of environmental degradation that it has been grappling with. In spite of this, the coverage of environmental tax legislations and the actual contribution of environmental taxes in practice still remain unclear. This study critically evaluates these issues with a view to exploring possible ways for developing a comprehensive framework of such taxes to manage pollution from industries in Indonesia. The reduction of pollution from industrial activities would likely contribute to environmental sustainability. The significance of the study lies in the fact that the coverage of environmental tax laws in Indonesia and the role of environmental taxes in practice have not been examined by other scholars. This thesis uses a mixed method approach to conduct the analysis. The approaches are based on the normative and empirical methods. It therefore relies on analysing data from primary and secondary documents as well as data from interviews and survey questionnaires with relevant stakeholders. This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 is the introductory chapter and identifies the gaps in the literature and poses questions that inform the research undertaken in this thesis. It also sets out an outline of the relevant chapters. Chapters 2 and 3 provide the knowledge context for the analysis by discussing the nature and use of pricing instruments in managing environmental degradation. Findings from the analysis are discussed in Chapters 4 and 5. The final chapter is Chapter 6 and it provides a summary of findings as well as propositions of the framework for sustainability in Indonesia.