Fatma Taskin

Searching for a Kuznets curve in environmental efficiency using kernel estimation

Abstract The paper constructs environmental efficiency indexes for a sample consisting of high- and low-income countries using nonparametric production frontier techniques and then establishes an environmental Kuznets relationship for environmental efficiency by Nadaraya–Watson kernel estimation methodology.

Catching-up and innovation in high- and low-income countries

Abstract The study utilizes a variant of the Malmquist Productivity Index computed by nonparametric linear programming techniques to empirically investigate the catching-up hypothesis for a group of high- and low-income countries. The results show that the countries with low initial per capita income levels catch up at a faster rate while countries with relatively high income depend more on technological progress for their productivity increases.

The role of international trade on environmental efficiency: a DEA approach

Abstract The relationship between trade and environmental conditions receives considerable attention whenever countries are in the process of negotiating trade agreements. In this paper using a non-parametric non-stochastic production frontier approach, we first develop an environmental efficiency index for a sample of high income and low and middle income countries and then examine the role of trade on the changes in environmental efficiency. The paper shows that, in addition to the per capita income which exhibits an environmental Kuznets type relationship, trade-related variables such as trade composition, the share of polluting exports and openness of a country are important determinants of environmental efficiency.

Has European Customs Union Agreement really affected Turkey's trade?

The numerous discussions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of Turkeys becoming a member of the Customs Union has been inconclusive. The empirical analysis that mostly focus on the changes in the volume of trade without much regard to the conjectural changes have also been insufficient. This study attempts to shed light on this issue in a formal analysis of Turkeys international trade by empirically accounting for the changes before and after the Customs Union Agreement (CUA). In doing so, we explicitly account for the concurrent changes in the macroeconomic environment that may have affected Turkeys trade with the rest of the world. Our empirical findings indicate that CUA has not only positively impacted on Turkeys trade, but also led to changes in the behaviour of both exports and imports with regards to their responsiveness to underlying variables.

Domestic Versus International Integration in the Process of Financial Liberalisation

Emerging markets literature reveals that capital market liberalisation transforms segmented stock markets into more integrated ones. However further impact should be expected on the dynamics of the rest of the domestic economy and its relation to stock markets. This study presents evidence to that effect. While existing literature emphasises the world integration aspect of the capital market liberalisation through reductions in the cost of equity, this study shows that the significant change after liberalisation was the emergence of world returns as an influential factor on other economic fundamentals. Information content of world returns influenced emerging market returns prior to capital market liberalisation and this relation continued after capital market liberalisation. What is new after liberalisation is the influence of world returns on the dynamics of the domestic economy as a whole and its relation to stock returns.