Syahrizal Kautsar, Rizki Riza Ridwansyah, Nindia Priscilla

The Role of E-commerce on Unemployment, Poverty, and the Environment in Indonesia: Clustering and Path Analysis for Sustainable Development Strategy

Introduction

The role of e-commerce on unemployment, poverty, and the environment in indonesia: clustering and path analysis for sustainable development strategy. E-commerce's dual impact in Indonesia: poverty reduction vs. increased unemployment & environmental harm. Crucial for sustainable development strategies.

Abstract

E-commerce has the potential to open new jobs and reveal poverty through digital entrepreneurship and expanding market access. However, there are other challenges such as the closure of old jobs, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. This study aims to analyze the impact of e-commerce businesses on poverty, unemployment, and environment. This study uses data from 38 provinces in Indonesia in 2023 which includes the percentage of poor people, unemployment rates, and greenhouse gas emissions sourced from BPS, Sentinel-5P satellite imagery, and MERRA-2. The study results show that 38 provinces in Indonesia can be divided into four clusters with different criteria and problems on e-commerce, poverty, unemployment, and environment. In addition, this study shows that e-commerce can reduce poverty but has the potential to increase unemployment rates and reduce environmental quality. So that the right policy is needed so that e-commerce can be utilized to realize sustainable development.

Review

The presented abstract outlines a timely and highly relevant study examining the multifaceted impact of e-commerce on critical sustainable development indicators – unemployment, poverty, and environmental quality – within the Indonesian context. The ambition to analyze these complex interrelationships across 38 provinces using a combination of clustering and path analysis is commendable, addressing a gap in understanding how digital economic transformation intersects with socio-economic and environmental challenges at a regional level. The focus on Indonesia, a rapidly digitalizing archipelago nation, further enhances the study's significance for both local policy formulation and broader insights into developing economies. A significant strength of this research lies in its robust methodological approach, combining cluster analysis to identify distinct provincial groupings and path analysis to model causal relationships. The incorporation of diverse data sources, including official statistics from BPS, Sentinel-5P satellite imagery, and MERRA-2 for environmental metrics, is particularly innovative and promises a more comprehensive and granular understanding than traditional survey-based studies alone. The key findings reveal a nuanced picture: while e-commerce demonstrably contributes to poverty reduction, it also presents potential challenges in increasing unemployment and degrading environmental quality. The identification of four distinct provincial clusters is crucial, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all policy approach would be ineffective and underscoring the need for tailored strategies. While the abstract effectively conveys the study's scope and primary findings, future iterations of the full paper could benefit from elaborating on the mechanisms through which e-commerce might increase unemployment, perhaps exploring job displacement versus job creation dynamics more deeply. Additionally, a clearer articulation of the specific environmental degradation metrics beyond 'greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution' would enhance precision. Despite these minor points for potential expansion, this study makes a valuable contribution by providing empirical evidence for the complex and often contradictory impacts of e-commerce on sustainable development. Its call for "the right policy" is well-justified, and the findings will be instrumental for policymakers in Indonesia seeking to harness the benefits of digital commerce while mitigating its adverse effects to achieve a truly sustainable future.

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