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Income Inequality Trends in Turkey

Author

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  • Alpay FİLİZTEKİN

    (Sabancı Üniversitesi)

Abstract

Turkey’s income inequality is one of the highest within the OECD countries. Despite a decline in Gini coefficient from 0.48 in 1994 to 0.41 in 2007, there is an upward trend in the recent years. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of income distribution in Turkey in the last 17 years using evidence from inequality index decompositions by sub-group and by income source. The improvement in income distribution between 1994 and 2003, a time period with high macroeconomic and political instability, can be attributed mostly to decline in within group inequality, whereas convergence between groups contributed to the decline in the first half of the 2000s. The data, however, reveals that the trends both in within and between inequality is reversed in the last four years. The main causes of the aggregate trends were educational attainment and occupational choice, that is, a shift from self-employment to paid employment. Consequently, changing wage inequality and thus changing labor market conditions became an important factor to determine aggregate inequality. There is also evidence that household formations, as a reflection of social and economic developments, are becoming an important source of inequality. The convergence of incomes between regions is possibly a consequence of regional policies of recent years, yet increases in within-region inequalities show that the policies have some deficiencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Alpay FİLİZTEKİN, 2015. "Income Inequality Trends in Turkey," Iktisat Isletme ve Finans, Bilgesel Yayincilik, vol. 30(350), pages 63-92.
  • Handle: RePEc:iif:iifjrn:v:30:y:2015:i:350:p:63-92
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ümit İzmen & Yeşim Üçdoğruk Gürel, 2023. "The importance of linking social capital in unequal and fragmented societies: an analysis of perceived economic well-being in Turkish rural and urban households," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(3), pages 799-817, June.
    2. Attar, M. Aykut, 2021. "Growth, distribution and dynamic inefficiency in Turkey: An analysis of the naïve neoclassical theory of capital," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 20-30.
    3. Emine TAHSİN, 2019. "An Investigation of the Palma Ratio for Turkey Both on National and Regional Level," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 27(41).
    4. Ali T. Cem Başlevent, 2014. "Social Transfers and Income Inequality in Turkey: How Informative Is the Survey of Income and Living Conditions?," Ekonomi-tek - International Economics Journal, Turkish Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 23-42, September.
    5. Mehmet Nazım Tamkoç & Orhan Torul, 2020. "Cross-Sectional Facts for Macroeconomists: Wage, Income and Consumption Inequality in Turkey," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(2), pages 239-259, June.
    6. Ünay Tamgaç Tezcan, 2016. "Reference Groups And Household Consumption: Evidence From Turkey," Ekonomi-tek - International Economics Journal, Turkish Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 71-107, January.
    7. Polat, Sezgin, 2016. "Some Economic Consequences of Higher Education Expansion in Turkey," MPRA Paper 72602, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Cem Baslevent, 2016. "Social Transfers and Income Inequality in Turkey: How Important is the Gender Dimension?," Working Papers 1013, Economic Research Forum, revised Jun 2016.
    9. Aykut Mert Yakut & Ebru Voyvoda, 2017. "Intertemporal CGE Analysis of Income Distribution in Turkey," ERC Working Papers 1703, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Feb 2017.
    10. Nizam MelikÅŸah Demirtas & Orhan Torul, 2021. "Intergenerational Income Mobility in Turkey Abstract:," Working Papers 2021/05, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income Distribution; Inequality; Turkey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists

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