Yesim Kustepeli

Guiding healthier food choice: systematic comparison of four front-of-pack labelling systems and their effect on judgements of product healthiness

Different front-of-pack (FOP) labelling systems have been developed in Europe by industry and organisations concerned with health promotion. A study (n 2068) was performed to establish the extent to which inclusion of the most prevalent FOP systems--guideline daily amounts (GDA), traffic lights (TL), GDA+TL hybrid (HYB) and health logos (HL)--impact consumer perceptions of healthiness over and above the provision of a FOP basic label (BL) containing numerical nutritional information alone. The design included within- and between-subjects factors. The within-subjects factors were: food (pizzas, yogurts and biscuits), healthiness of the food (high health, medium health and low health) and the repeated measurements under BL and test FOP label conditions. The between-subjects factors were: the system (GDA, TL, GDA+TL hybrid, HL), portion size (typical portion size and a 50% reduction of a typical portion) and country (the UK, Germany, Poland and Turkey). Although the FOP systems tested did result in small improvements for objective understanding under some conditions, there was little difference between the provision of an FOP label containing basic numerical nutritional information alone or between the various systems. Thus, any structured and legible presentation of key nutrient and energy information on the FOP label is sufficient to enable consumers to detect a healthier alternative within a food category when provided with foods that have distinctly different levels of healthiness. Future research should focus on developing greater understanding of the psychological and contextual factors that impact motivation and the opportunity to use the various FOP systems in real-world shopping settings.

A comprehensive short-run analysis of a (possible) Turkish Phillips curve

The studies on Phillips curves relating the rate of unemployment to the rate of inflation are the results of the search for a reliable tool for forecasting inflation and implementing monetary policy. The original Phillips curve has attracted considerable attention and since then, it has undergone several important changes. Although the evidence of a negative relationship between the rate of change in a money variable and unemployment rate has not been proven, it is still considered to be critical for policymaking and is on researchers’ agenda (Niskaken, 2002). The existence of a Phillips curve for Turkey is investigated with the linear and non-linear specifications for the conventional and new Keynesian Phillips curves with inflation expectations and natural rate of unemployment for annual (1980–2001) and semiannual (1988:2–2003:1) data sets. The results indicate no evidence of a Phillips curve for all specifications and both data sets. The semiannual data seems to have a better fit in all specifications compared to the annual data. Inflation expectations are found to be significant for inflation rather than unemployment rate in the current period. The results imply that Turkey has to solve its inflation problem by proper policies aimed at lowering the inflation expectations in the economy.

Public Policies and Development of the Tourism Industry in the Aegean Region

Evidence in developing countries, especially in the Mediterranean basin, shows that the tourism sector has an important role in regional industrialization and economic growth [Tosun, C., Timothy, D. & Öztürk, Y. (2003) Tourism growth, national development, regional inequality in Turkey, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 11(2–3), pp. 133–161]. Turkey has been successful in developing resort areas and attracting large number of tourists. The tourism sector is a highpoint industry and a crucial public policy area for the Mediterranean and Aegean Regions. The article has two aims: (1) to determine the significance of the tourism industry in the Aegean Region in Turkey by looking at specialization patterns in economic activities across the country and to identify the provinces of the region within which tourism is a highpoint industry and (2) to explore whether public investment in tourism in the Aegean Region has an impact on the value added created by the tourism industry. A comparison of regional structures of the regions reveals that 30% of tourism licensed accommodation establishments are located in the Aegean Region. The results from the location quotient estimates for 1995 and 2001 reveal that the Aegean Region is highly specialized in the tourism industry, particularly when the spatial distribution of the hotels is observed. Value added created by hotels of the Aegean Region is higher than the country average as well. In addition, the econometric model shows that the regional value added created by the tourism sector between 1995 and 2001 is significantly enhanced by public policies that focus on the sector.

Income Inequality, Growth, and the Enlargement of the European Union

This study investigates the relation between income inequality and economic growth, namely, the Kuznets curve, in the context of EU enlargement. The results have implications regarding how the latest enlargement of the European Union affects the relationship between income inequality and growth, for both EU member countries and the European Union as a region. Estimation results show that there is no evidence of a significant original or reverse Kuznets curve for any of the groups of countries in this study. Therefore, empirical results suggest that the latest enlargement, and a possible future accession of the candidates, may not change the fact that a Kuznets curve does not exist for the European Union.

Transportation infrastructure investment, growth and international trade in Turkey

Investment in transportation infrastructure facilitate the movement of the goods; leading to higher standards of living for the people of the whole globe. Although infrastructure is indispensable to achieve the main development targets in developing countries, such as urbanization, industrialization and sustainable economic development (Kim, 2006), the relationship between infrastructure expenditures, economic growth and international trade is inconclusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of investment on highway infrastructure on international trade and economic growth in Turkey for the period of 1970 to 2005. The empirical results from causality and cointegration analysis suggest only a very weak short run effect of share of exports in Gross National Product (GNP) on highway transportation expenditures but no long run relationships between highway infrastructure expenditures, economic growth and international trade in Turkey.

Knowledge Generation and Innovativeness in Turkish Textile Industry: Comparison of Istanbul and Denizli

Regional innovation system (RIS) requires that two subsystems co-exist in a region: The first subsystem is the knowledge exploitation structure of the industrial base (symbolic, synthetic and analytic knowledge bases) [Moodysson, J., Coenen, L. & Asheim, B. (2008) Explaining spatial patterns of innovation: Analytical and synthetic modes of knowledge creation in the Medicon Valley life science cluster, Environment and Planning A, 40(5), pp. 1040–1056]. The second subsystem is the regional supportive infrastructure or knowledge-generating subsystem which consists of firms, educational institutions, knowledge organizations and other similar infrastructural bases in the region. The objective of the paper is to compare two textile-related clusters in Turkey with respect to the strengths and weaknesses of the RIS. The first region is Istanbul with a textile and fashion design cluster, the second region is Denizli which is an example of a traditional export-oriented centre for bathrobe and home textiles. Results of the empirical findings prove that the two regions having different knowledge bases and RISs have different deficiencies in innovative performance even if they are the subsectors of the same sector (textiles).

The Effect of Railway Expansion on Population in Turkey, 1856–2000

The development of Turkeys railway network started in 1856 with the 130 km İzmir-Aydjn line. Turkeys total railway network now measures 11,005 km. The population distribution and the density of towns on railway routes increased as railway construction proliferated, particularly from 1856 to 1940. Public policies that favored transportation by road after the mid-twentieth century, however, marked the end of the railroads effect on the spread of population.

The innovativeness of the Turkish textile industry within similar knowledge bases across different regional innovation systems

Rapid technological and economic development in the world economy and the systematic and complex nature of innovation processes require specific innovation policy activities, such as having access to new knowledge. Through networking, individuals and organizations can become aware of new technologies and information by engaging in boundary-extending activities. Because there are dissimilarities between knowledge bases, each industrial activity is assumed to have specific types of innovation logics, innovative processes and innovation outcomes. In addition, the generation, diffusion, application and exploitation of knowledge are closely related to a region’s ability to undertake innovations. The objective and contribution of this paper is to compare the innovativeness of two textile-related industries in two cities (Denizli and Adıyaman) in Turkey with similar knowledge bases but differences in regional innovation systems. Denizli is a networked region, but it also shows properties of lock-in deficiency, whereas Adıyaman is an organizationally thin and peripheral region. The results reveal that there are significant differences in the knowledge generation and exploitation structures of the two regions, although they have similar knowledge bases. Such dissimilarities between the regions are explained by their respective knowledge-generating subsystems. The network maps of the Denizli and Adıyaman textile firms show that firms in Denizli have denser regional network ties than those in Adıyaman. The strong network ties of textile firms in Denizli allow the firms to be superior in innovative performance to Adıyaman firms, albeit with the danger of technological lock-in in the Denizli region. Adıyaman, being an organizationally thin region, lacks the necessary institutional structure for networking. Policy tools that are unique to each region are needed to enhance innovativeness.

The Impact of Nutrition Labels on Food Sales: An In-Store Experiment in a Turkish Supermarket

Nutrition information is a policy tool that aims to guide consumers towards healthier diets, thus preventing further increases in obesity. This study focuses on the impact of front-of-pack nutrition labels on Turkish consumers’ purchase decisions. In particular, the study investigates whether both the presence of the label itself and the content provided on the label (here: the presence [vs. absence] of health ticks) impact on consumer demand for food products. The authors propose two hypotheses that are grounded in cue utilization and consumer behaviour theories and conducted an experiment in a Turkish supermarket to test the hypotheses. They manipulated the product packages of three brands offering wafers (including a variety of flavours) to contain a nutrition label on front of the package with information on calories, fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt (in kcal and g per 100 g, respectively). The nutrition information was complemented with either a health tick (56% of the products were eligible) or a placeholder for products that failed eligibility criteria (44%). Total daily in-store sales of wafers were monitored before, during and after the manipulation. The results of the study showed that the presence of the label itself increased consumer demand for the follower brand (but not for the leader brands). The presence (vs. absence) of a health tick on the nutrition labels did not affect sales of more (vs. less) healthful foods. The findings thus indicate that consumers were partly more responsive to the nutrition label per se as opposed to the presence of a health tick on the label. The authors derive implications for implementation efforts of nutrition labels.

The Impact of Road Network on External Trade

Abstract. This article explores the relationship between highway network length and external trade with the EU. Annual data for Turkeys external trade with the EU comes from the Turkish Statistical Institute, and the data for highway network length is obtained from the Turkish Directorate of Highways. The data covers the years 1970–2008, and the relationship between highway network length (km) and Turkeys exports to the EU and Turkeys imports from the EU (EU 15, EU 25, and EU 27) are explored. The findings indicate that highway network length and Turkeys external trade with the EU coincide. The results confirm that there is a strong positive relationship between developments on the Turkish road network and Turkeys external trade with the EU both in the long and short run.