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Pious people, patronage jobs, and the labor market: Turkey under Erdoğan’s AKP

Author

Listed:
  • Cem Oyvat

    (University of Greenwich)

  • Hasan Tekgüç

    (Kadir Has University)

  • Alper H. Yagci

    (Boğaziçi University)

Abstract

In fragmented societies, electoral competition often entails using public office to advance group interests. Using individual-level polling data from 2012 to 2018, we analyze whether age cohorts entering the labor market before and after the religiously conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) assumed power in Turkey experienced different public employment outcomes based on their religion and religiosity. Our analysis reveals that under the AKP rule, pious Sunnis (who constitute a large part of the society) significantly increased their presence in public sector employment (notably among women) and in high-status private jobs (notably among men). Furthermore, the subset of highly religious Sunnis (only 9.3% of the population) improved their likelihood of being employed in the public sector compared to other pious Sunnis and everyone else. Our findings are likely to be driven by the lifting of the headscarf ban in public employment and AKP’s strategic use of public employment and resources to reward like-minded groups in both the public and private spheres.

Suggested Citation

  • Cem Oyvat & Hasan Tekgüç & Alper H. Yagci, 2025. "Pious people, patronage jobs, and the labor market: Turkey under Erdoğan’s AKP," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 203(3), pages 465-491, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:203:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-024-01211-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-024-01211-y
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Turkey; Public sector employment; Patronage; Political Islam; Event-study design; Clientelism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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