Research Information System
STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION AND CONTEMPORARY LATE DEVELOPMENT, Manchester, England, 5 - 06 December 2024, pp.1, (Summary Text)
The analysis of structural tranformation on the basis of political economy in case of Türkiye
Emine Tahsin, Phd
tahsin@istanbul.edu.tr
Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, Associate Professor
Lewis's approach of “unlimited labor supply” is not commonly used to analyze the structural transformation in the case of Türkiye. Despite this, the analysis of structural transformation varieties focuses on the dynamics of sectoral growth commonly. The Turkish economy, which is classified as an upper-middle-income country, had a high population growth rate and conditions in which more than half of the population was employed in agricultural activities in the 1930s. Still, today it is among the upper-middle-income countries achieving industrialization and improvements in service sectors. Focusing on the stages of development that the Turkish economy has entered, it can be argued that the structural change from agriculture to industry has been replaced by a shift from agriculture to services. When structural decomposition methods and input-output analyses are taken into account, it can be seen that the Turkish economy, similar to many developing countries, has been accelerating its tendency towards services. However, analyses at the sectoral level show different trends within the services and industrial sectors. The development of the sub-sectors led us to focus on dual characteristics related to productivity, skills, and earning conditions in the labor market. Focusing on the changes in the 12 main sub-sectors, it is evident that in the post-1990 period, the existence of ‘dual’ structures in productive and non-productive sectors is noteworthy. Instead of analyzing the gaps between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors for the last decades, recently heterogeneous structures in agricultural and non-agricultural sub-sectors are becoming more prominent. While the Turkish economy owns improvements in productivity levels for specific sectors, on the other hand, the share of sectors with low productivity is also decisive. In general, under these conditions, the Turkish economy is in a growth trend where the level of productivity remains at low levels and faces a productivity trap. The study aims to analyze the patterns and causes of structural change in the Turkish economy by using structural decomposition methods and input-output table analyses. For the post-1990 period, GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database (ETD) will be used. While for the pre-1990 period, the changes in three main sectors, the manufacturing sub-sector, and certain services sub-sectors will be taken into account. Furthermore, the conditions determining the level of productivity, the distribution of productive capital, and the structure of the labor market will be taken into account. In this context, the reasons for the low level of productivity in the Turkish economy will be tried to be answered. We will take into account the factors that influence the dynamics of exports, the factors that influence industrialization strategies, and the structure of the labor market. We shall outline the circumstances that have led to the low productivity level becoming the standard in the Turkish economy. The legacy of Lewis' dual model will be examined in light of these aspects of the structural transformation in the Türkiye case, and an effort is planned to figure out the conditions that determine dual structures.
Jel Codes: O1,O11, O4, O5
Keywords: Structural transformation, Türkiye and structural change, structural decomposition, Dual economies and structural transformation