Legal Efficiency and Population Control: Analysis of Indonesia's Family Planning Programme Based on Richard A. Posner's Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61860/jigp.v4i3.347Keywords:
Legal Economic Analysis; Legal Efficiency; Kaldor-Hicks Efficiency; Fiscal Policy Family Planning.Abstract
This paper analyses the Family Planning Programme (KB) in Indonesia through the perspective of Economic Analysis of Law (EAH) developed by Richard A. Posner, with a focus on legal efficiency in internalising demographic externalities and maximising social wealth. This study uses a legal-economic approach, combining normative legal research methods with economic analysis of public policy, particularly Law No. 52 of 2009 on Population Development and Family Development, Government Regulation No. 87 of 2014 concerning Population Development and Family Development, Family Planning and Family Information Systems, and Presidential Regulation No. 72 of 2021 on Accelerating Stunting Reduction. The results show that family planning policies are legal interventions that meet the Kaldor–Hicks efficiency criteria, as their social benefits, such as a decrease in the total fertility rate (TFR), increased female economic participation, and the creation of a demographic bonus, aggregate to exceed their implementation costs. However, inefficiencies still occur due to increased transaction costs and unmet needs, which reflect market failures and bureaucratic constraints. The analysis shows that the 2025 fiscal efficiency policy, which cuts the budget for contraceptive procurement, has the potential to cause greater social deadweight loss in the future. Therefore, it is recommended that family planning policies be directed towards long-term efficiency through budget protection based on incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), reduction of transaction costs, and strengthening of access rights to family planning services.
Downloads
References
Bendix, D., & Schultz, S. (2018). The Political Economy of Family Planning: Population Dynamics and Contraceptive Markets. Development and Change, 49(2), 259–285. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12363
BKKBN & UNFPA. (2012). Discussion paper on family planning, human rights and development in Indonesia. UNFPA Indonesia. Retrieved from https://indonesia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pubpdf/Discussion_Paper_on_Family_Planning%2C_Human_Rights_and_Development_in_ Indonesia_%28SWOP_2012%29.pdf
BPS. (2025). Population Growth Rate (Percent), 2025. https://www.bps.go.id/en/statistics-table/2/MTk3NiMy/population-growth-rate.html
Coleman, D. L. (2017). Sex in Sport. Law and Contemporary Problems, 80.
Comolli, C. L., & Albertini, M. (2025). The unequal childbearing response to labor market uncertainty in Europe: the role of social location, between macro and micro effects. Genus, 81(1), 39.
Cook, E. (2024). Efficiently unequal: The global rise of Kaldor-hicks neoliberalism. Global Intellectual History, 9(1-2), 247-269.
Coulson, J., Sharma, V., & Wen, H. (2023). Understanding the global dynamics of continuing unmet need for family planning and unintended pregnancy. China Population and Development Studies, 7(1), 1-14.
Cserne, P. (2024). Evolution of law and economics. In Research Handbook on Legal Evolution (pp. 446-459). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Dzhumashev, R., & Tursunalieva, A. (2023). Social externalities, endogenous childcare costs, and fertility choice. Journal of Population Economics, 36(1), 397-429.
Eubanks, L., & Furton, G. L. (2024). The institutional structure of pollution: Large-scale externalities and the common law. Public Choice, 201(3), 429-450.
Fathiya, A. N. (2023). Forecasting political disruption: The impending demographic bonus in Indonesia. Journal of Law, Administration, and Social Transformation, 1(2) 2023, 1-6.
Fathiya, A. N. (2023). Forecasting Political Disruption: The Impending Demographic Bonus in Indonesia. JLAST : Journal of Law and Social Transformation, 1(2), 88–93. https://doi.org/10.62527/JLAST.1.2.10
Fitri, H. (2024). Exploring travel behavior among women with disabilities in Jakarta. Transportation research interdisciplinary perspectives, 25, 101097.
Hafid, R. N. H. (2025). Family Planning, Population Growth and Social Welfare: A Qualitative Study. Advances in Healthcare Research, 3(2), 119-131.
Harnay, S. (2023). Richard A. Posner: from Public Choice Theory to Economic Analysis of Law (1969-1973). History of economic ideas: XXXI, 3, 2023, 55-65.
Indonesia. (2009). Law Number 52 of 2009 concerning Population Development and Family Development.
Indonesia. (2021). Presidential Regulation No. 72 of 2021 on Accelerating the Reduction of Stunting.
Kancherla, V., Roos, N., & Walani, S. R. (2022). Relationship between achieving Sustainable Development Goals and promoting optimal care and prevention of birth defects globally. Birth Defects Research, 114(14), 773-784.
Liyanto, E., Nuryana, D., Cahyani, R. A., Utomo, B., & Magnani, R. (2022). How well are Indonesia’s urban poor being provided access to quality reproductive health services?. Plos one, 17(4), e0265843.
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia [Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia]. (2021), Profil Kesehatan Indonesia Tahun 2020. https://kemkes.go.id/app_asset/file_content_download/Profil-Kesehatan-Indonesia-2020.pdf
Nordin, N., Khatibi, A., & Azam, S. F. (2024). Nonprofit capacity and social performance: Mapping the field and future directions. Management Review Quarterly, 74(1), 171-225.
Ortega-Franco, A., Ackermann, C., Paz-Ares, L., & Califano, R. (2021). First-line immune checkpoint inhibitors for extensive stage small-cell lung cancer: clinical developments and future directions. ESMO Open, 6(1), 100003. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ESMOOP.2020.100003
Parisi, F., & Pi, D. (2023). Wealth Maximization Redux: ase of Posner's Economic Approach to Law. History of economic ideas: XXXI, 3, 2023, 101-136.
Posner, E., & Quaglia, L. (2024). Financial regulatory conundrums in the North Atlantic. European Journal of Political Research, 63(2), 682-704.
Richard A. Posner, Economic Analysis of Law, 9th ed. (New York: Wolters Kluwer, 2014).
Rijanta, R., Wibisono, H., Saputra, E., Musthofa, A., Chairani, M. S., Aditya, M. Y., ... & Raharjo, J. T. (2025). Frontier Urbanisation in East Kalimantan: Displacement, Livelihood Shifts, and Contested Development in Indonesia's New Capital. International Journal of Sustainable Development & Planning, 20(8).
Suhatman, A. S., & Aimon, H.(2024). Interlinkages between environmental quality, economic growth, and human capital in Indonesia: Implications for sustainable development policies. Challenges in Sustainability, 12(3), 190-202.
Syed, T. A., Mehmood, F., & Qaiser, T. (2023). Brand–SMI collaboration in influencer marketing campaigns: A transaction cost economics perspective. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 192, 122580.
Thawley, C., Crystallin, M., & Verico, K. (2024). Towards a higher growth path for Indonesia. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 60(3), 247-282.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). (2022). The case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy. Retrieved from https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/EN_SWP22%20report_0.pdf
Van Long, N., Hoang, P. M., & Anh, T. Q. (2025). An Examination of the Interrelationships Between Macroeconomic Policies and Public Health Outcomes in Low-Income Countries Over the Past Two Decades. International Journal of Computational Methods and Applied Sciences, 15(8).
van Noordwijk, M., Leimona, B., Amaruzaman, S., Pascual, U., Minang, P. A., & Prabhu, R. (2023). Five levels of internalizing environmental externalities: decision-making based on instrumental and relational values of nature. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 63, 101299.
Yew, S. L., & Zhang, J. (2025). Health externalities to labor productivity and optimal policies with endogenous fertility, labor, and longevity. Journal of Population Economics, 38(2), 1-42.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Didy Hermawan, Fajar Ronal Harry Pasaribu, Muhammad Gustryan, Muhammad Fathony, Muhammad Fathony, Faisal Santiago

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.



