income (Todaro, 2006). This negative impact causes
high inequality to be one of the problems in
development in creating prosperity in a region.
Economic growth is one indicator of public
welfare. Where when an area has high growth, the
area can be said to be a prosperous region. One
indicator of the level of welfare of the population of
a region is the per capita GRDP figure. GRDP is the
net value of final goods and services produced by
various economic activities in an area in a period
(Hadi Sasana, 2001), While GDP per capita is often
used as an indicator of development. The higher the
per capita GRDP of an area, the greater the potential
source of income for the region due to the greater
income of the people of the area (Thamrin, 2001).
This also means that the higher the per capita GRDP
the more prosperous the population of a region. In
other words, if income is high and evenly distributed
between regions, income inequality decreases.
Income inequality between regencies / cities in
North Sumatra. During 2013 to 2016, the highest
and ever increasing per capita income was in the city
of Medan. Then it was followed by Toba Samosir
Regency which although in 2013 the income per
capita was still below Asahan Regency, but in 2013
to 2016 the income per capita of Toba Samosir
Regency was more than that of Asahan Regency.
The next highest per capita income is Karo Regency,
although in 2013 it was still lower than Asahan
Regency.
The lowest per capita income in 2013 until 2016
was Pakpak Barat Regency, then, the second lowest
per capita income was Nias Regency, although in
2013 and 2014 Nias Regency per capita income was
still higher compared to Pakpak Bharat District, but
on average from 2013 to 2016 Nias Regency was
still lower compared to Pakpak Bharat Regency. The
next lowest per capita income is Pakpak Barat
Regency.
For North Sumatra Province during 2013 until
2016 per capita income continued to increase. In
2013, North Sumatra's per capita income was only
Rp. 25,391,986.04, - but in 2016 the income per
capita of North Sumatra Province reached Rp.
36,371,825.67, -. Still not evenly distributed and the
development gap in North Sumatra Province can be
minimized by utilizing the maximum potential of
each region to advance the regional economy
concerned in order to reduce inequality that occurs.
Economic development in an area can be said to
be successful if a region / region can increase
economic growth and improve people's living
standards equally or better known as the Human
Development Index (HDI). The problem that occurs
is the HDI in each region is different, this makes the
HDI value to be one of the factors that influence
income inequality between regions / regions.
Lisnawati (2007) states that "In the context of
regional development, the Human Development
Index (HDI) is set as one of the main measures
included in the Basic Pattern of Regional
Development." This indicates that HDI occupies an
important position in regional development
management. The function of HDI and other human
development indicators will be key to the
implementation of targeted planning and
development.
In 2016, North Sumatra Province had an HDI
value of 70. This value was still lower than the
national HDI value of 70.18. Although the province
of North Sumatra is ranked 8th out of 37 provinces
in Indonesia, but with the increasing value of
inequality every year, it has indicated that HDI in
North Sumatra Province needs special attention from
the provincial government so that its function is a
measure of the success of development in North
Sumatra province can be achieved.
Based on BPS data from North Sumatra Province
in 2016 the highest HDI value in North Sumatra was
Medan City at 79.4. Then the cities of Pematang
Siantar and the city of Binjai were 76.9 and 74.11
respectively. The lowest HDI value is West Nias
City at 59.03. Then followed by South Nias City and
Nias City at 59.14 and 59.75 respectively.
The rate of HDI in North Sumatra Province from
2014 to 2016 has increased. Although all regions in
North Sumatra province experienced an increase in
HDI values, there were several regions in the North
Sumatra province which still had low HDI values
and were far below the other regions. Therefore, this
is where the role of the North Sumatra provincial
government is needed in resolving regional
development inequality so that regional equity in the
North Sumatra province can increase. This is
because the low or high HDI will have an impact on
the level of productivity of the population, the lower
the HDI, the level of productivity of the population
will be low then low productivity can affect the low
income, and vice versa if the higher the HDI the
higher the productivity of the population push the
level of income to be higher (Hidayat 2014).
Government expenditure is one of the tools of
government intervention in the economy which is
considered the most effective. The expenditure is the
consumption of goods and services carried out by
the government as well as financing by the
government for the purposes of government
UNICEES 2018 - Unimed International Conference on Economics Education and Social Science