MODELING AND SEGMENTATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN ISLANDS OF JAVA USING FIMIX PLS METHOD WITH MEDIATION EFFECT

Human development is a key indicator used to assess the quality of a country's human resources. Although Indonesia's HDI has experienced a significant increase of 75.02 in 2024, inequality is still a pressing issue, especially in terms of gender representation in the workforce. This study aims to identify the influence of poverty, economic, health, employment and education factors on human development in Java Island by considering gender equality as a mediating variable. The data used in the study is limited to 119 districts/cities in Java Island and sourced from BPS publications, the Health Office and the Education Office. The novelty of this study lies in the use of the Finite Mixture Partial Least Square (FIMIX-PLS) approach with mediation effects which is rarely applied in human development research in Indonesia, as well as allowing the identification of latent population heterogeneity and region-based segmentation. The results of this method reveal two distinct district/city segments in Java, with Segment 1 dominated by the variables in this study that have significant direct and indirect effects through the mediation of gender equality on human development, while Segment 2 has characteristics that emphasize the effect of gender equality. Given these differences in characteristics, it is important that contextual and regional segmentation-based development policies are designed by local and central governments. Statistical segmentation approaches such as FIMIX-PLS make a significant contribution to more targeted policy making. By changing the type of intervention according to specific problems, the government can allocate resources more effectively. This supports the achievement of SDG-10 in reducing inequality.