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Boon or bane for development? Turkey’s central state bureaucracy and the management of public investment

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  • Davide Luca

Abstract

While Turkey’s use of public monies has been frequently marred by waste and short-term electoral rewarding, recent research suggests that the allocation of public investment across Turkish provinces between 2004 and 2012 was more responsive to socioeconomic needs than electoral politics. The current paper aims to understand this empirical puzzle by exploring whether the ‘relatively sound’ management of public investment can be explained by the characteristics of the central economic bureaucracy. It draws on process-tracing analysis and in-depth elite interviews. In line with the developmental state literature, the analysis argues that authoritative and insulated public administrations are essential for policy effectiveness, particularly in institutional contexts prone to a high politicisation of the public purse. Yet, in order to prevent bureaucratic capture, bureaus must also be accountable. The analysis in particular shows how increasing the transparency of the state and allowing a stronger oversight of policy performance by the public and the media are extremely important. Conversely, transformations which simply reduce the powers of strong, top-down bureaucracies to increase the indiscriminate control by governments – such as the ones which have occurred in Turkey in recent years – will not lead to stronger institutions, but merely produce different ineffective and unsustainable structures.

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  • Davide Luca, 2017. "Boon or bane for development? Turkey’s central state bureaucracy and the management of public investment," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(6), pages 939-957, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:35:y:2017:i:6:p:939-957
    DOI: 10.1177/0263774X16670666
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    Cited by:

    1. Burhan Can Karahasan, 2020. "Winners and losers of rapid growth in Turkey: Analysis of the spatial variability of convergence," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 603-644, June.
    2. repec:ehl:lserod:115939 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Davide Luca, 2022. "National elections, sub-national growth: the politics of Turkey’s provincial economic dynamics under AKP rule [Shift-share designs: theory and inference]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 829-851.
    4. Pinar Deniz & Burhan Can Karahasan & Mehmet Pinar, 2021. "Determinants of regional distribution of AKP votes: Analysis of post‐2002 parliamentary elections," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 323-352, April.
    5. Davide Luca & Felix Modrego, 2021. "Stronger together? Assessing the causal effect of inter‐municipal cooperation on the efficiency of small Italian municipalities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 261-293, January.
    6. Davide Luca, 2018. "Picking Winners at the Ballot Box: Votes and Local Economic Growth in Turkey," Working Papers 1232, Economic Research Forum, revised 10 Oct 2018.

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