The Timor Puzzle: How did Democratic Republic of Timor Leste since its independence in 2002 have achieved higher Gross Domestic Product per Capita growth and results than Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara despite attaining lower Human Development Index outcomes?

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International Studies (BA)

Kaminski, Maciej Piotr (2026)

The Timor Puzzle: How did Democratic Republic of Timor Leste since its independence in 2002 have achieved higher Gross Domestic Product per Capita growth and results than Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara despite attaining lower Human Development Index outcomes?

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

This thesis examines the “Timor Puzzle”: why the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste has achieved higher GDP per capita growth since independence in 2002 than Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province, while underperforming in Human Development Index outcomes. Utilizing a comparative case study approach, this paper combines the qualitative policy and institutional and quantitive fiscal and developmental indicates analysis grounded in developmental economics. It applies the rentier state and resource curse framework while demonstrating how petroleum-driven growth in East Timor has weaken has weakened incentives for human capital investment, while East Nusa Tenggara’s institutionally implanted social spending has produced steadier human development advancement despite lower income growth.

Timor-Leste, Human Development Index, East Nusa Tenggara, Resource Curse, Developmental Economics, Rentier State, Petroleum Development.

Author: Kaminski, Maciej Piotr

Faculty: Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation: South and Southeast Asia

Supervisors: Sanjukta Poddar

ECTS Credits: 15

Language: en

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The Timor Puzzle: How did Democratic Republic of Timor Leste since its independence in 2002 have achieved higher Gross Domestic Product per Capita growth and results than Indonesian Province of East Nusa Tenggara despite attaining lower Human Development Index outcomes?