Uneven Regional Pattern of Ecological Capital in Indonesia: A Heterodox-Political Economy Perspective

Abstract

This study investigates the regional pattern of ecological capital in Indonesia through the core principles of political economy. In this discourse, the gap between Biocapacity and Ecological Footprint in the regional level (provinces) typically lead a crux problem that determines ecological capital sustainability. From this perspective, thus, a major hypothesis describes that unevenness in ecological capital patterns occur in Indonesian provinces as the gap of Biocapacity and Ecological Footprint is characteristically heterogeneous. In order to demonstrate this hypothesis, this study employs three main analyses. The first analysis is to examine the gap between Biocapacity and Ecological Footprint in Indonesian provinces. It is followed by the second analysis that the regional pattern of ecological capital is scrutinized by the principles of political economy, which are principle of Hegemony, principle of Circular and Cumulative Causation (CCC) and principle of Contradiction. In the third analysis, several results of the second analysis is likely to be utilized for promoting several relevant outcome policies that link to ecological capital sustainability in Indonesia.

Keywords: political economy, ecological capital, uneven regional pattern

JEL Classification: B25