Conflicts of Interest in Maintaining Village Business Enterprises: Evidence from Indonesia

The aim of this paper is to explain the relationship between the conflict of interests of the village head and the village owned enterprises (bumdes) sustainability in the bekasi regency, indonesia. the study was conducted using qualitative methods. moreover, primary data were obtained through interviews with selected informants who were purposively determined. other data were sourced from secondary data obtained from written documents on bumdes. direct observation of selected objects as reinforcement data from the results of interviews and secondary data has also been used. the study’s findings indicate that the village head’s position in the bumdes structure has encouraged the village head to abuse power. this happens because the political cost to occupy the position of the village head is quite substantial. these conditions encourage the village head to hold a position within the bumdes. the findings of this study have practical implications and suggest that bumdes as an instrument of village development with social and economic functions are prone to be abused by stakeholders. ordinary people are not yet fully participant in a healthy civil society culture, and society’s bekasi regency style that has turned into a suburban community, tends to neglect bumdes. they tend to not want to be involved in activities that seek to build the community’s economy.