Turkey stepping up to eliminate regional economic disparities

2016

Once popular and now effective, the theory of Growth Poles found places in many countries’ regional development agenda to some extents. Turkey is among the countries, which tried to give emphasis on the Theory since its adoption by the world, in especially its development plans and studies preparing ground for the Theory. However, after a long preparation process, Turkey decided to support financially the Theory by determining 12 city centres as Attraction Centres (AC) in less developed regions in a program i.e. Supporting Program for Attraction Centres (SPAC). Present study aims to give brief information about the theory of GP, mention about its reflection on Turkey as AC and summarize the results of the application of AC approach by looking inside a financial support program for ACs, SPAC.

Journal of Management and Sustainability

Five years development plans are prepared by State Planning Organization (former name), Ministry of Development. Development Plans are significant policy documents including information about resources of development goals in long term and related regulations to be made in Turkey. Ten different development plans including the years between 1963 and 2018 were prepared. The common basic goal of these plans is: Ensuring a fortunate and prosperous life for Turkish citizens, raising life standards to higher levels. Reaching more prosperous life standards is possible through a long term and systematic development effort. Regions including cities (except metropolis), districts and villages are called rural areas. Efforts for increasing the economic level of people living in rural areas by using and supporting natural resources in these areas are named regional development policies. Regional development policies are firstly determined and shaped in development plans. Economic activities in ...

2019

Economic growth and development are the main objectives of all countries. Development means an effort to develop the variables of social structure by being influenced by political authority by certain policies. Therefore, development also has a political content. The development is the mobilization of the contemporary civilization and technology stage of a society in line with its structural features and the change of individual abilities, skills and behaviours as a part of this mobilization. Although the main objectives of the countries are to ensure economic growth and development, differences may occur between regions in terms of development and prosperity. Interregional imbalance and development gap is one of the socioeconomic problems that can be encountered in all developed and developing countries. However, interregional imbalances and development differences are more chronic in developing countries. Many countries have resorted to various instruments and mechanisms, such as ...

In this study we investigate the macroeconomic effects of two complementary policy environments to invigorate growth, employment and income equality across two broadly differentiated regions in Turkey: Poor and High/Mid-Income. With the aid of a regional computable general equilibrium model that disaggregate the production structure into thirteen sectoral activities and two geographical regions, we first study the long run dynamic effects of a regional production and investment subsidization programme. Second, we supplement this environment by a productivity enhancement programme in the poor region. Our results reveal that regionally differentiated productivity enhancing measures coupled with a subsidized investment programme to facilitate capital accumulation and reduce the outflow of factors out of the poor region are of utmost importance in designimng a sustained growth path to pull the aggregate economy from the dual traps of middle income and of poverty.

PETER LANG, 2020

This book refers many regional disparities and regional development issues of developed, emerging or underdeveloped countries. Regional imbalances that arises because of economic, geographical, historical or sociocultural reasons, can turn into an important development problem when required preventions are not taken. Therefore, Turkey tries to solve its regional development problems by using regional development policy tools applied seen in many places of the World. For these purposes, each chapter of the book contains the effects and consequences of regional development policies carried out by specific characteristics of regions of Turkey. Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to the authors who wrote these chapters.

OECD Economics Department working papers, 2019

This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. 2 │ ECO/WKP(2019)1 UPGRADING BUSINESS INVESTMENT IN TURKEY Unclassified OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the author(s). Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works.

2014

Disparities across regions and provinces are on the agenda of both developed and developing countries. Differences in terms of development and income between regions are becoming more important policy challenge particularly in developing countries. As a developing country, interregional disparities are seen intensively at east-west direction in Turkey. In recent years with the process of harmonization with the European Union policies, interregional disparities problem and regional development policy issues came to the fore in Turkey. In this paper, Diyarbakır-Şanlıurfa region, located in Southeast Anatolia, the largest region with respect to population identified as regional growth poles by Ministry of Development, is discussed in the framework of regional economic development and competitiveness. Diyarbakır-Şanlıurfa Region is the seventh largest region in Turkey according to population, but socioeconomic development rank of the region is 23 between 26 NUTS 2 regions in Turkey. According to economic base model, local economy shapes regions' size and welfare level. "Information about an area's future population is incomplete without a parallel understanding of the local economy that largely shapes its future." (Klosterman, 1990) As method of the study; in order to determine the basic and leading sectors of regional economy, location quotient technique will be used. Then shift-share analysis will be used to determine competitive areas/sectors of the region and to see economic projection of region. Finally findings and results of the two analyses will be compared and regional economic policy will be developed in the light of the findings. The findings showed that the region has a rapidly growing economy depend on "agriculture", "construction", "mining", "transportation and storage" and "human health" sectors and also for manufacturing industry "food products", "textiles", "non-metallic products"

Turkey Economic Monitor, October 2019 - Charting a New Course, 2019

The Turkish economy has experienced major external adjustments over the past 12 months, including declining current account imbalances, reduced external debt of banks, and a recovery in portfolio flows. These have lessened the external vulnerabilities that had accumulated in the run up to the August 2018 currency shock. These adjustments have reduced the country's external financing needs and contributed to a more stable Lira, notwithstanding bouts of currency volatility in 2019 Q2 and Q3. The adjustments were aided by somewhat agile policy responses and more favorable (than expected) global monetary conditions. Even so, foreign exchange reserves have gotten eroded over the past two years, exposing Turkey to external market pressure. The real sector remains deeply affected by the persistence of macro-financial vulnerabilities. Investment significantly decreased – contracting for four quarters in a row (till 2019 Q2) – whilst industrial production points to a weak turnaround. The gradual recovery from recession in 2018 H2 has been fueled by a pickup in private consumption and net external demand. The decline in inflation has begun, after exchange rate pass-through and episodes of loss of confidence in the Lira had sharply increased consumer prices, averaging 17 percent in the first three quarters of 2019. A gradual decline in producer prices since October 2018 has helped close the gap between PPI and CPI inflation and reduced pass-through pressures on consumer prices. Stagnating output levels, rising costs of production, and high consumer prices have led to significant job losses and falling real wages. Turkey's economy lost around 840 thousand jobs from May 2018 to May 2019, amounting to 2.9 percent of total employment. The unemployment rate increased from 10.6 percent to 14 percent between May 2018 and May 2019, with the youth seeing a jump in their unemployment rate from 19.6 to 25.6 percent. Average real wages declined by 2.6 percent between 2017 and 2018. The rise in unemployment and decline in real wages was experienced by workers across the skills and education spectrums. Poorer households have been the most impacted because many low-income workers are employed in construction and agriculture—the sectors that saw the biggest decline in jobs. Moreover, the long-term impact of a drop in real wages is significantly greater for the poorest households since they have limited coping mechanisms.

2004

The liberalization of the economy in the 1980s promoted the free market system in Turkey, but brought little change to the centralized form of the state inherited from the Ottoman Empire. In such a centralized system, economic development has been also seen as a function and responsibility of the central government. This approach and structure have deterred the evolution of strong norms and coalitions for economic development at the local and regional level. Despite its benefits for an underdeveloped or/and unevenly developed economy, such a centralized system of economic development planning today does not seem suitable for a country, such as Turkey, trying to join the European Union, to liberalize and strengthen its economy. Today, globalization, increased international competition and interdependency, economic re-structuring and the reconfiguration of the role of governments in economy force the state in developed and many developing countries to decentralize and disperse its powers and resources. In light of these recent development and debates, this paper questions both the centralized form of economic development planning and its administrative structure in Turkey. This study firstly introduces the current structure of the public administration and economic planning and secondly examines the confused use of the term "region" in the process of economic development planning in Turkey. In this respect, the paper also presents recent reform initiatives mainly decentralizing the structure of state, government, public administration and economic planning in Turkey. A third goal of the paper is to analyze the questions of how ready Turkey for integration with the EU and how important a role the recent reform initiatives and decentralization efforts in Turkey will play in this process. By doing so, the study also touches on the likelihood and feasibility of the development and implementation of local and regional perspectives in economic development.