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Jack Ellis · · 4 min readGo-Jek added $3b to the Indonesian economy in 2018, study claims
Photo credit: Go-Jek
Go-Jek contributed 44.2 trillion rupiahs (US$3.1 billion) in added value to the Indonesian economy last year based on income made by drivers and merchants using its platform, according to research from the Demographic Institute of the Faculty of Economics and Business (LDFEB), Universitas Indonesia.
The study tallied the “additional income” made by partners working in each of four verticals that make up the Go-Jek platform.
“Additional income” refers to revenue generated by Go-Jek’s partners after they joined its platform, on top of what they would’ve made if they hadn’t signed up, said LDFEB associate director Paksi Cattra Kamang Walandouw.
“The study calculated the difference between Go-Jek partners’ earnings before and after they joined,” he told Tech in Asia. “We then weighted that difference in proportion to the Go-Jek partner population per service type. The result is the contribution or added value from Go-Jek partners’ income to the Indonesian economy, as a direct result from them having joined Go-Jek.”
Here’s the breakdown by service type, according to the LDFEB study:
- Go-Food merchants made 18 trillion rupiahs (US$1.26 billion) more last year than they would’ve if they didn’t participate in the platform.
- Go-Ride (motorbike ride-hailing) drivers made an extra 16.5 trillion rupiahs (US$1.16 billion).
- Go-Car drivers made 8.5 trillion rupiahs (US$597 million) in additional income.
- Go-Life merchants (including on-demand masseurs and professional cleaners) made an extra 1.2 trillion rupiahs (US$84.3 million).
LDFEB used a quantitative survey method, involving face-to-face interviews with Go-Ride, Go-Car, and Go-Food partners across nine cities – Bandung, Denpasar, Greater Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Balikpapan, Makassar, and Palembang (surveys for Go-Life were done only in the first six cities listed).
Respondents had to have been active on Go-Jek’s platform within the last three months, and were selected by simple random sampling based on the company’s overall partner population.
The sample included:
- 3,886 Go-Ride drivers.
- 1,010 Go-Car drivers.
- 1,000 Go-Food merchants (food and beverage purveyors, not delivery drivers).
- 836 Go-Life partners.
Walandouw claimed the research represents “the largest study of its kind” and believes its findings are “extremely accurate as it involves speaking directly with primary sources rather than depending on secondary data or industry research.”
“Due to the scale of the study and large sample size, we do not believe that anomalous answers would have a significant impact on the results,” he added.
The researchers also calculated how much Go-Jek partners earn in comparison to the average minimum wage in different areas, indicating a substantial earnings boost for “informal economy” workers that join the platform:
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The research found that Go-Jek partners earn above the average minimum wage across the board – though it remains unclear how subsidies factor in.
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