This study reports the impacts of trade liberalization on the economic performance of soybeans in Indonesia. Data for the econometric model reported in this paper was obtained from various sources. The econometric model, its representativeness and ability to describe the Indonesian soybean economy and its validation are briefly reported. The paper outlines the world soybean economy, identifying primary producers and exporters, importers and briefly outlining the Indonesian soybean economy.

This working paper uses a multi-market model to assess ex ante the impact of yield increases for maize, soybean and cassava on cropping patterns, producer and consumer prices, household income and other variables related to maize policy. The findings reveal that raising maize yields alone reduces imports and has generally small but positive effects on output, consumption, income and purchasing power. Raising the yields of all three commodities stimulates production of these crops and reduces imports in particular of maize and cassava but not of soybeans.

In 2010, the Indonesian government introduced a 15 per cent export tax on cocoa beans to promote investments in downstream value-added activities. This paper examines the impact of this tax on domestic welfare and whether the government has imposed optimal taxes on cocoa beans. The research uses a partial equilibrium approach to analyse effects of policy by upstream sectors on downstream cocoa manufacturing. It also presents econometric estimates of import demand and export supply elasticity.

Cocoa plays two major roles in the Indonesian economy, providing important export earnings and a source of employment for millions of rural smallholders. This research uses an Econometric Model to analyse the factors responsible for the Indonesian cocoa demand and to assess the impact of oil prices and interest rate policies on cocoa exports and production. It uses data from 1983 to 2002 and divides the cocoa production regions into four provinces: South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and East Java.

This paper examines factors that influence Indonesian cocoa exports and uses an econometric model to assess potential policy impacts. Results identified export price, cocoa production growth, exchange rate and time trend as significant influences on cocoa exports (R2 = 0.9473). The author concluded that a fertiliser price subsidy could be expected to increase Indonesia cocoa exports and production for cocoa smallholders.