The process of economic change of the Papuans in Jayapura

Abstract

This paper seeks to explain the process of economic change of the Papuans in Jayapura which tends to be subsistence-oriented in the face of a market economy that came with the wave of transmigration since the 1960s. Amid market economy penetration, Papuans are included in a dual economy where a subsistence orientation to meet domestic needs is still being carried out but at the same time facing a capitalistic market economy so that what follows is only the expansion of subsistence and marginality. History shows that Papuans with a subsistence-based economy find it difficult to compete with price-based markets and a large number of migrants having complex trade networks and more established access to expanses. In addition, the relatively small scale of trade and the lack of technical aspects of trading in a market economy such as bargaining, debts and subscription systems make it difficult for Papuans to collect profits from their trading. The community and the regional or central government responded to this with strategies and policies that provided momentum for the expansion of their commercial businesses. This study then looks at how the strategies and momentum that emerged and utilized optimally by the Papuans to develop their economy and what factors would inhibit or drive it.