Estimation of a social discount rate for Turkey

Cost-benefit analysis is probably the most comprehensive method of economic evaluation for public projects. Social discount rate, which makes it possible to compare the social benefits and costs extended over a period of time, has a key role in the allocation of public resources between alternative ends via cost-benefit analysis. Public sector needs to use the correct social discount rate in order to achieve a fair allocation of the fiscal burden between generations. While a high social discount rate may place a heavy fiscal burden on future generations, a low social discount rate may cause unfeasible projects to be approved. However, although social discount rate is a crucial parameter for public project appraisals, there is a lack of updated social discount rate for Turkey. In this study, the social rate of time preference approach is used to estimate this social discount rate. To this aim, both the personal taxation and the food demand methods are employed in order to estimate the elasticity of the marginal utility of consumption, which is a critical determinant of the social rate of time preference based on the Ramsey formula. The overall results show that the social discount rate estimated using the personal tax method is 4.88%, whereas it is 4.41% using the food demand method. Since the level of tax evasion is very high in Turkey, we recommend that the value indicated by the food demand method should be used employing the autoregressive distributed lag cointegration procedure.     

Tourists' shopping experiences at street markets: Cross-country research

Considering shopping as one of the most important motivations for travel, this study focuses on tourists' shopping attitudes towards street markets while on a vacation. Specifically, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model that assesses how price consciousness and perceived utility, as critical drivers of attitudes in street markets, may influence tourist satisfaction and future intentions. As opposed to the structure of previous research, this study is also based on a cross-national comparative study conducted among foreign tourists visiting Algarve, Portugal and Bodrum, Turkey, in the summer of 2011. Study findings confirm that price and utility perceptions are the most important marketplace cues and higher level of satisfaction moderates tourists' willingness to return or recommend street markets in both destinations.     

Tradable and non-tradable expenditure and aggregate demand for imports in an emerging market economy

Using an assumption of non-separability of non-tradable expenditure from imports, this paper examines the impact of the structural transformation undertaken after 2001 on imports and, in turn, the current account stance of Turkey. In this regard, an import demand function is derived under the assumption of non-separability, and is estimated using quarterly time series data from Turkey. The empirical results show that the assumption of non-separability cannot be rejected in the case of Turkey and the relative prices of non-tradable and tradable goods must be among the determinants of import demand in addition to the relative price of imports and real GDP. This result accordingly implies that recent increases in import expenditure are, to some extent, due to changes in the relative price structure in favour of non-tradable goods.     

Maritime transport policy of Turkey

The purpose of this paper is to review recent aspects of the maritime transport policy of Turkey in an explanatory approach. The decisions taken by the Turkish authorities for Turkish maritime policy are analysed both at international and national levels. The decisions are discussed for the current situation in Turkey.     

Universal service in Turkey: Recent developments and a critical assessment

The meaning of universal service in telecommunications has changed considerably in the last decade. Technological advances have created the necessity to redefine the legal framework. While the demand for old universal services falls, new and wider services are to be included in the scope of legal obligations such as broadband. In this transformation of public policy toward universal services, political preferences take precedence over economic considerations. Turkey provides a good case in point. In this paper, the authors assess the legal framework of universal services and its institutional structure in Turkey. The tension between enlarging the scope of universal service and pressures on using revenues efficiently is emphasized.     

Urban Citizenship,the Right to the City and Politics of Disability in Istanbul

Since the late 1990s, the ‘urban citizenship’ literature has accentuated the burgeoning potential of the city as host to more democratic interpretations of citizenship. A more recent literature highlighted the ‘local trap’ in such assumptions, arguing that the local cannot exist outside of neoliberalization. This article examines some of the recent institutional transformations in Istanbul's local government and seeks to understand where these might be situated in this discussion. Three institutions dealing with disability are scrutinized with regard to their power dynamics, discourses and practices. The argument is that, although superficially such developments seem to represent some of the tendencies highlighted by the urban citizenship literature (in terms of their scale, timing and appeal to a group previously excluded from modern citizenship), deeper analysis shows that these often promote charity‐ rather than rights‐based approaches. This is because the push factors in the emergence of these institutions are not the urban struggles on the part of the disability community, but rather the ruling party's populism, the impact of supranational agencies and the demands of non‐disabled residents at district level. Each of the three institutions examined is shaped primarily by one factor, leading to differing degrees of charity‐ and rights‐based practices. Arguments concerning the prospects of more democratic interpretations of citizenship at local level need to consider experiences in diverse settings.