3.4. Compensation
There is little transparency in the compensation systems that apply in both public and
private sectors in Indonesia. A paternalistic attitude continues as evidenced by the rice
allowance, which although difficult to quantify creates interesting economic behavior, e.g., it is
not unusual for middle to senior government officials to sell their rice allocation to more lowly
paid members of their organization, who in turn sell the rice back to the (government) rice
market. This is attributed to the rice being very old and of poor quality. On the other hand,
some give their rice allocation to others in return for special favors, such as information. These
allowances do not exist in the same way in the private sector; however, the private sector
employee is likely to earn as much as four times that of a civil service employee (Rohdewohld,
1995).
What is very obvious in Indonesia is the enormous difference between the lowest and
highest paid employees in many organizations. For example, this ranges from 1:7 in the civil
service (Rohdewohld, 1995) to 1:20–1:150 in the private sector.