Billy Tulungen

PhD Candidate in Economics
Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business
Universitas Indonesia

Development Economics · Urban & Regional Economics · Political Economy

I am a PhD candidate in Economics at Universitas Indonesia, working in development economics and urban and regional economics. My dissertation, Shaking Land and Shaking Lives, asks how large seismic shocks reshape social order, household behaviour, and local economies in Indonesian villages. The first chapter is supported by a research grant from the ReCIPE Programme (CEPR and UK FCDO). I also work as a teaching assistant in the graduate econometrics sequence at Universitas Indonesia, across the master’s and doctoral programmes.

Alongside my academic work I have spent a decade in Indonesian public procurement, in provincial government roles and as a nationally certified facilitator, competency assessor, and advisor.

Research Public Procurement CV Email

Selected research

Earthquakes and Communal Conflict: Evidence from Indonesia’s Seismic Zones

with M. Halley Yudhistira and Jahen F. Rezki  ·  Dissertation chapter  ·  Working paper

Damage-level shaking cuts the probability a village reports a mass brawl by 1.73 percentage points against a 6.7 percent base. On the same villages, in the same waves, on the same survey form, theft does not follow it down. What a disaster changes is the kind of disorder a village produces, not simply its level.

Draft (PDF) Supplementary material (PDF) Details

Faith after the Shock: Earthquakes, Religious Expenditure, and the Insurance Value of Religion in Indonesia

Work in progress

Whether religion functions as informal insurance against uninsured risk is usually tested on stated religiosity. This project instead uses household expenditure in rupiah, combined with village-level earthquake exposure, to separate the income effect from the club-good and coping channels.

Details

Public procurement

Alongside my academic work I have worked in Indonesian public procurement since 2016, in provincial government roles and, since 2018, nationally as a certified facilitator, competency assessor, and advisor.

Explore professional practice →

Current

2026–2027

PhD Research Grant, ReCIPE Programme

Centre for Economic Policy Research and UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Earthquakes and communal conflict in Indonesia’s seismic zone

2024–

Teaching Assistant, graduate econometrics

Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia

2025–

Competency Assessor, LSP LKPP

Professional Certification Body of the National Public Procurement Agency