Judul: Integrasi dan Transmisi Harga pada Pasar CPO dan Minyak Goreng di Indonesia
Abstrak: Cooking oil is considered as one of staple food in Indonesia. The goverment need to maintain the stability of cooking oil’s price because it will affect the wealth of the people. The aims of this study were to gain better understanding on vertikal and spatial integration of crude palm oil and cooking oil markets and to analyze the nature of price transmission both vertically and spatially and the impact of CPO export tax to market integration. Data analysis methods used in this research were:market integration by cointegration test (VAR based) and price transmission by Error Correction Model (ECM) adapted from Taubadel (1998). The research found that there was no cointegration between international and domestic prices of CPO. The implementation of progressif export tax started in 2007 had an impact to integration of international-domestic CPO markets. Vertically, CPO prices (both international and domestic) were cointegrated to domestic cooking oil’s price and the price transmissions were symmetric. Spatially, cooking oil prices of 10 big cities in Indonesia were cointegrated together with Medan and Surabaya as main markets. Price transmission from main markets to local markets were symmetric.
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Judul: Price Transmission and The Effect of Indonesia’s Export Tax on Crude Palm Oil Prices
Abstrak: The crop sector serves as one of the sources of foreign exchange in Indonesia and also contributes to the development of the Indonesian economy. The economic potential of CPO commodity in Indonesia has a huge impact by providing around 5 million employments within the agribusiness palm oil system. Indonesia is the biggest producer and exporter of CPO in the world, followed by Malaysia. As the largest CPO producer in the world, Indonesia should have control over the price and quantity of CPO. Over the past decade, there have been fluctuations in the global price of CPO. These variations in global CPO price are likely to affect the local CPO price as well. As the price of the world CPO fluctuates, Indonesia lacks alternative markets for its local production of CPO. This has resulted in a unstable in the tax revenue of CPO in Indonesia. To solve this, Goverrnment have implemented a Indonesia’s export tax on CPO in order to maintain stability in the income of the CPO producers. The aims of this research are: (1) to assess the market integration and the price transmission between the international CPO market and the domestic CPO market of Indonesia, (2) to analyze the effects of the Indonesian export tax of CPO on the domestic and on the international prices. This study uses secondary time series data that is obtained from relevant institutions. To investigate the price transmission in international CPO markets with respect to the effects of Indonesia’s export tax, several steps of this analysis consist in examining the data by using e.g. the Unit Root Test, the co-integration Test, and estimation of the Error Correction Model (ECM). The results of the price transmission analysis show that the domestic CPO market of Indonesia is integrated with the international market. In the long run, a fluctuation of price in international market will be responded by the domestic CPO market in Indonesia. In addition, although the imposition of the export tax of CPO in Indonesia makes it possible to prevent the instability of the domestic price of CPO, the level of influence is still small. It can be inferred that these policy is effective to increase government revenue as a fiscal instrument with the mininum damage to the farmers or producers of CPO.
Keyword: CPO, ECM, Export Tax, Market Integration, Price Transmission

Judul: Aplikasi Serat Sutra Laba-laba Nephila sp. Sebagai Material Benang Jahit Bedah Pada Vena Jugularis Kelinci
Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan mengevaluasi serat sutra Nephila sp. pada bedah vena jugularis, dan menilai derajat reaksi inflamasi yang ditimbulkannya. Koleksi serat sutra Nephila sp. dilakukan dengan menarik serat sutra Nephila sp. dari kelenjar ampullata kemudian digulung dengan aluminium foil. Beberapa lapis serat sutra Nephila sp. disatukan secara septis dan diikatkan dengan jarum jahit. Tiga ekor kelinci New Zealand White digunakan dalam penelitian ini. Semua kelinci mendapat perlakuan penyayatan pada vena jugularis yang kemudian dijahit dengan serat sutra Nephila sp. Kemudian melakukan euthanasia pada ketiga kelinci dan diamati pada minggu 1, 3 and 5 pasca operasi. Berdasarkan pengamatan perubahan patologi anatomi dan histopatologi pada sampel vena jugularis dari ketiga kelinci, jahitan menggunakan serat sutra Nephila sp. pada ketiga kelinci tidak memberikan efek penekanan pada vena jugularis, yaitu tidak menyebabkan penyempitan lumen vena jugularis aliran darah masih tetap normal (tidak menyebabkan pembendungan). Pengamatan secara histopatologi, pada kelinci 1 minggu pascaoperasi, tampak bahwa bentuk dan struktur vena jugularis yang terdiri dari dinding vena jugularis (tunika intima, tunika media dan tunika advensia) tidak dapat teramati dengan baik. Pada kelinci 3 minggu pascaoperasi ditemukan adanya pembekuan darah. Pada kelinci 5 minggu pascaoperasi tampak bahwa luka bekas sayatan yang dijahit dengan serat sutra Nephila sp. sudah terlihat sembuh dengan baik dan kelihatan seperti tidak pernah mengalami sayatan (operasi). Berdasarkan hal tersebut di atas disimpulkan bahwa serat sutra Nephila sp. adalah biokompatilitas di mana berfungsi sebagai antimikroba, biodegradasi di antara 3 hingga 5 minggu pasca operasi dan menimbulkan sistem kebal imun yang minimal. Dengan itu, serat sutra Nephila sp. dapat digunakan sebagai material benang jahit bedah khususnya pada operasi pembuluh darah.
Keyword: bedah, kelinci, patologi, serat sutra Nephila sp., vena jugularis