2025 EDGS Visiting Scholars

Sarah Elyzabeth Gultom is an Assistant Professor of Business Innovation at Monash University, Indonesia. She holds a PhD in Economics from Monash University. Her research is in development economics, focusing on poverty alleviation, inequality, and social policy in Indonesia.

Sarah's current work centers on analyzing the socioeconomic dynamics affecting the livelihoods and well-being of Indonesian farmers. As a Buffett Visiting Scholar, she is conducting an empirical investigation into the influence of peer networks and market information asymmetry on the operational practices of intermediaries (locally known as tengkulak) in Indonesia's agricultural sector. The research aims to identify and evaluate potential policy interventions to mitigate the adverse economic effects of these intermediaries' activities on poverty among Indonesian smallholder farmers.

During her visit, Sarah plans to refine her research methodology, including the experiment and survey designs, so that she has a robust research method for data collection upon her return to Indonesia. She is eager to engage with colleagues at the Northwestern's Global Poverty Research Lab and the Department of Economics. Her visit also aligns with the Pacific Conference for Development Economics in March 2025, at which she hopes to present a paper studying the activities of middlemen in Indonesia's agricultural sector. Her work uses economic experiments and surveys to investigate interventions that can minimize the negative repercussions of middlemen activities to improve farmer livelihood through direct government advocacy.