Ertugrul Deliktas

A Comparative Analysis of Productivity Growth, Catch-Up, and Convergence in Transition Economies

The paper examines the macroeconomic performance of 25 transition economies using a comparable data set. In order to see whether transition to a market-based economy increased economic efficiency, technical progress, and total factor productivity (TFP), we estimate efficiency measures for Eastern European and Baltic countries and the republics of the former Soviet Union using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and data envelopment analysis as a confirmatory analysis. According to the SFA estimates, the average annual efficiency level for the 25 transition economies is 0.548, and the average annual rate of growth in technical efficiency is 1.8 percent for the 1991-2000 period. The average annual technical change in transition economies is -4.3 percent for the period examined. That is, there is no technological progress, but over the period there has been a technological regress. The sum of the rate of change in technical efficiency and technical change implies a 2.5 percent decline in the average annual TFP. These results suggest that, on average, change in technical efficiency is outweighed by the technical regress.

Growth of factor productivity in the Turkish manufacturing industry at provincial level

Karadağ, M., Önder, A. O. and DElİktaş, E. (2005) Growth of factor productivity in the Turkish manufacturing industry at provincial level, Regional Studies 39 , 213–223. This paper estimates the total factor productivity (TFP) change of the private and public sectors in the Turkish manufacturing industry in the selected provinces for 1990–98. It uses data envelopment analysis to compute Malmquist productivity indices decomposed into two components, namely efficiency change and technical change. The results show that many of the provinces show improvement in TFP on average for the public sector, while in the private sector, only half the provinces show growth in TFP. Overall evidence of catching up can be observed only in the private sector. The results also reveal that technical progress plays the main role in productivity growth.

The Impact of Public Capital Stock on Regional Convergence in Turkey

The effect of public capital on regional output and private sector productivity has been the subject of considerable research in the field of regional development literature. However, there have been only a few studies that develop linkages between public capital and regional economic convergence. This study examines the dynamic effects of public capital and transportation capital stocks on output per capita in terms of regional convergence in Turkey at NUTS 2 level. A conditional convergence model based on per capita gross domestic product and per capita public capital and transportation capital stocks is estimated using the panel data set for the Turkish regions for the time period of 1980–2001. The results reveal that public capital has a positive and significant effect on output per capita and thus on regional convergence in some of the models in the Turkish regions,. However, the transportation component of public capital stock has a negative effect on regional convergence in all models employed in the study. This implies that transportation capital stock leads to larger regional disparities between the Turkish regions.

The Size Distribution of Cities and Determinants of City Growth in Turkey

The aim of this study is two-fold. Firstly, this study examines the size distribution of cities by using Zipfs law. The second objective of this study is to investigate the effects of determinants of urban growth in Turkey by using the data for the 1980–2007 time period. The main findings of the study show that there is some evidence that Zipfs law holds in Turkey. Moreover, according to the rank-minus-half rule, the results suggest stronger support for Zipfs law in size distribution of the cities. Furthermore, the regression results indicate that fertility rate, location of the city, migration, agglomeration in services and specialization in manufacturing industry have positive impact, whereas schooling rate has a negative effect on growth of the urban population regarding Turkey.

Orta Asya Turk Cumhuriyetlerinde Kent Nufus Buyukluklerinin Dagilimi: ZIPF Kanunu

Bu calismanin amaci Azerbaycan, Kazakistan, Kirgizistan, Tacikistan ve Ozbekistan’in kent nufus buyukluklerinin dagilimlarinin Sovyet Birligi ve sonrasi donemde farklilik gosterip gostermedigini Zipf Kanunu cercevesinde analiz etmektir. Bu amacla ulkelerin sosyalist donemde ve sonrasinda kent nufus verileri kullanilarak farkli yillari kapsayan yatay kesit verilerine dayali Zipf regresyon analizi yapilmistir. Analiz sonuclarina gore Azerbaycan ve Ozbekistan disinda kalan diger uc ulkede ekonomik sistemlerin farklilasmasi kent nufus buyuklerinin dagiliminda dikkate deger degisikliklere sebep olmamistir.