LOSINA LECTURER OF FE UNY GETS DOCTORATE DEGREE FROM CURTIN UNIVERSITY AUSTRALIA

Losina Purnastuti, PhD. A lecturer in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics (FE) UNY, has won a Doctorate degree from the School of Economics and Finance, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth – Australia. Her dissertation entitled “Returns to Education and Human Capital Externalities: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia” successfully led Losina to graduate with an A from all examiners.

To the editor, Losina explained that her research results show that private return to schooling in Indonesia is relatively lower than other countries in Asia and other developing countries, however, the social return is higher than the private return. This indicates “human capital externalities” in Indonesia. From a gender perspective the return to schooling of women is higher than that of men. When viewed from the level of education, the higher the level of education, the return to schooling also increases. Based on the imperfect substitutability test between low-skilled and high-skilled workers, it confirms the existence of “human capital spillovers” in Indonesia.

The results of Losina's research can be input for policy makers that the estimated return to schooling is a useful instrument as an indicator of education productivity and media to measure incentives for investment in human capital. Public policy makers need to consider this estimated return to schooling as consideration for designing policies that encourage investment in education. During the last three decades, achievement in the field of education in Indonesia has increased rapidly but the return to schooling is relatively low, therefore it is very important to build a labor market with fair competition. In addition, it is also important to pay attention to the interaction of demand and supply of educated workers. The level and type of education that is in high demand should be given special priority and attention by the government. Losina also emphasized the results of empirical studies showing that women workers in Indonesia have been marginalized in the labor market.

During her doctoral education, Losina has presented the results of her research in several scientific forums, including at the International Conference on Applied Economics (ICOAE 2011) which was held at the University of Perugia, Perugia Italy on August 25-27 2011. Losina graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics. and Development Studies (IESP) at the Faculty of Economics, Sebelas Maret University in 1994, and completed a master's program at the National Center for Development Studies, Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government (Crawford School of Economics & Government) the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra-Australia in 2003. (Kirom/ls)