Continuity and Change in Turkey’s Largest Industrial Enterprises, 1970–2010

Drawing on a newly constructed database, this paper examines for the first time the 100 largest industrial enterprises in Turkey over a period of four decades, from 1970 to 2010. As in several other late-industrializing countries, Turkey transitioned from an autarchic to a liberalized and internationalized economy after the 1980s. Our findings show a marked change in large enterprises from a balanced composition of stand-alone family businesses, affiliates of diversified family business groups (FBGs), and state-owned enterprises toward a new configuration dominated by FBG affiliates and, to a lesser degree, foreign-owned firms. This result underlines the central role of the politico-economic and societal context in which the largest enterprises have developed. Furthermore, it demonstrates not only the persistence but also the proliferation of FBGs within a more liberalized and internationalized economic environment. We attribute the expanding prevalence of FBGs and their affiliates despite pro-market reforms to a combination of factors: the new business opportunities created by liberalization and privatization, the internal capabilities of FBGs, and the preferential treatment afforded to entrepreneurs with close ties to the incumbent government.