Dana Desa, Kapasitas Kelembagaan, dan Transformasi BUMDes: Studi Komparatif Tata Kelola Ekonomi Desa di Jawa dan Indonesia Timur

Abstract

This article examines how institutional capacity shapes the governance performance of village-owned enterprises in two contrasting rural governance contexts in Indonesia: villages in Java and villages in Eastern Indonesia. Using a secondary-data-based comparative case study, this article analyzes village fund policy, village development indicators, and institutional governance literature to explain why similar fiscal instruments may produce different local economic outcomes. The article argues that village funds do not automatically generate economic transformation. Their effectiveness depends on the interaction between institutional capacity, accountability mechanisms, social trust, and local market connectivity. The comparison shows that villages in Java tend to benefit from denser infrastructure, stronger administrative capacity, and closer market integration, while villages in Eastern Indonesia face structural constraints related to geography, administrative capacity, and fragmented economic networks. The novelty of this study lies in its attempt to move beyond fiscal-input explanations by conceptualizing village economic governance as a relational mechanism linking fiscal resources, institutional competence, participatory accountability, and local economic outcomes. The article contributes to politics and governance studies by showing that decentralization outcomes are shaped not merely by fund allocation, but by the governance ecology in which funds are embedded.