Relationship of Macroeconomic Policies with Stunting: The Role of The Health Budget, Applying Fiscal Autonomy and Reducing Poverty

Abstract

The prevalence of stunting over the past 10 years indicates no significant changes and this indicates that the stunting problem needs to be addressed immediately. The indirect cause of the problem of stunting is influenced by various factors including the health budget, fiscal autonomy, and the level of poverty. This study used a regression model using panel data or pooled data (pooling cross section-time series regression). The cross-section unit was 100 districts and cities in 33 provinces in Indonesia and the year of analysis in 2019. The analysis showed that, partially, the level of poverty influences the incidence of stunting, the health budget influences the incidence of stunting, and fiscal autonomy influences the incidence of stunting. Simultaneously the health budget, fiscal autonomy, and poverty level influence stunting. Our study recommends that the Indonesian government increase health budget, reduce the inter-regional fiscal gap, improve the social welfare of the Indonesian people, and reduce revenue inequality. Keywords: stunting, fiscal budget, health, poverty, macroeconomic.