From Fiscal Asymmetry to Affirmative Basic-Service Delivery: Expenditure Performance and Spatial Coverage

Mustakim Mustakim; Abner Herry  Bajari; M. Nur Wahyudin  S; I Gede Wyana  Lokantara

doi:10.37899/journal-la-sociale.v7i4.5212

Mustakim Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Cenderawasih, Papua, Indonesia
Abner Herry Bajari Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Cenderawasih, Papua, Indonesia
M. Nur Wahyudin S Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Cenderawasih, Papua, Indonesia
I Gede Wyana Lokantara Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Medan, North Sumatera, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37899/journal-la-sociale.v7i4.5212

Keywords: Affirmative Services, Asymmetric Decentralization, Basic Services, Indigenous Papuans, Special Autonomy

Abstract

Special Autonomy (Otsus) establishes asymmetric fiscal arrangements intended to enhance basic services for Indigenous Papuans (OAP). However, high budget realization does not necessarily indicate affirmative service delivery or sufficient territorial coverage. This study evaluates Otsus implementation in education, health, and basic infrastructure in Jayapura City, assessing whether realized expenditure maintains an affirmative orientation toward OAP. A mixed-methods policy evaluation incorporates the 2025 Otsus Performance Report (LAPKIN), semi-structured interviews, and spatial mapping of service coverage. The Affirmative Basic Service Index (ABSI) serves as an expenditure-weighted measure of OAP-targeted realized expenditure, supported by diagnostic indicators of budget affirmation, targeting consistency, and financial execution. The results indicate strong overall financial execution, while ABSI reveals substantial but sectorally differentiated affirmative performance. Education exhibits the strongest beneficiary-specific orientation, health combines affirmative and broader public-service functions, and infrastructure demonstrates shared-benefit characteristics. Spatial mapping reveals relatively continuous program coverage in established urban areas and more dispersed patterns in peripheral and eastern territories. These findings indicate that fiscal execution, beneficiary affirmation, and territorial coverage are distinct yet complementary dimensions of asymmetric service delivery. Integrating ABSI with spatial coverage offers a more substantive framework for evaluating whether Special Autonomy translates differentiated fiscal resources into affirmatively targeted and territorially responsive basic services.

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