Dilemmas of structural adjustment and environmental policies under instability: Post-1980 Turkey

Abstract

The Turkish structural adjustment since 1980 has been associated with chronic instability. Since the late 1980s, the weaknesses in the fiscal system and the premature external liberalization emerge as the main factors hindering the passage toward stable growth. Enforced and erratic distributional changes and relative stagnation of capital accumulation have undermined the growth potential of the economy. Further, it is demonstrated that existing market structures may negate environmental policies based on market incentives. These observations, as well as those on the interactions of the market system and the environment, create strong arguments in favor of an active state

Turkey: Globalization, Distribution and Social Policy, 1980–1998

“…(5.) See K. Boratav, O. Türel and E. Yeldan (1996, (6.) "Egalitarian" vs. "equitable" labels depend on the sign of g(lp)-g(wr) as explained in the text.…”

“…See Boratav, Türel and Yeldan (1996), Ekinci (1998), Köse and Yeldan (1998), and Balkan and Yeldan (1998) for a thorough investigation of the financial reforms over the 1980s and 90s.…”

“…The successive stages of liberalization have been surveyed elsewhere [Yeldan (1995) and Boratav, Türel & Yeldan (1996;] and will be briefly overviewed in the next section. Since its early inception, Turkish adjustment program was hailed as a "model" by the orthodox international community and supported by generous structural adjustment loans, debt relief, and technical aid.…”

Patterns of Productivity Growth and the Wage Cycle in Turkish Manufacturing

“…5. See È Ozatay (1999); Balkan & Yeldan (1998); Sel ‡uk (1997); Boratav et al (1996); Ekinci (1998); Rittenberg (1991) and Yent Èurk (1999) for an extensive discussion of the post-financial liberalization macroeconomic adjustments in Turkey. …”

On Structural Sources of the 1994 Turkish Crisis: a CGE modelling analysis

“…Evidence suggests that with extensive liberalisation of the financial markets in the late 1980s there has bcen a shift in the secondary relations of distribution favouring rentiers and the financial centres (see for example, Boratav et al, 1994Boratav et al, , 1996Yeldan, 1995). However, given its micro equilibrium structure, the model focuses exclusively on the real sphere of the domestic economy.…”