Transport and the rural economy: Institutions and institutional change in Ambeso Village,Indonesia

This paper is concerned with the interaction between transport improvements and the rural economy. An institutional approach, based primarily on the new institutionalism theory, was used as the theoretical basis for the analysis. Using the evidence from Ambeso Village of Tana Toraja District, Indonesia, the paper examines the way transport improvements have been introduced and provided opportunities for positive change as well as individual responses to these opportunities. The paper ends by emphasising the role of institutions in the interaction between transport and the rural economy and the need for transport policy and research to transcend its traditional boundaries and address the complexities of institutions and institutional change.