TÜRKİYE ORTA GELİR TUZAĞINDA MI YOKSA SÜREKLİ DÜŞÜK BÜYÜMENİN KISKACINDA MI?

DOES TURKEY SUFFER FROM MIDDLE INCOME TRAP OR IS IT STUCK IN PERMANENT LOW GROWTH?

Explaining the disparities in growth rates across both developing and developed countries is one of the vital questions in the theory of economic growth. As an answer to this question the term middle-income trap was introduced about a decade ago and it quickly became popular in politics, media and academics. The aim of the paper is to seek to what extent this term is capable to explain the growth performance of the Turkish economy. Following a brief discussion on middle-income trap, the paper focuses on the Turkish economic growth. It is concluded that the major problem of Turkey is persistent slow long-run growth rather than the growth slowdown following fast growth as suggested by the literature

___

  • Aiyar, S., Duval, R., Puy, D., Wu, Y, and Zhang, L. (2018). Growth slowdowns and the middle-income trap. Japan and the World Economy, 48 (December): 22-37.
  • Ben-David, D. and Papell, D. (1998). Slowdowns and Meltdowns: Postwar Growth Evidence from 74 Countries. Review of Economics and Statistics, 80: 561–571.
  • Bulman, D., Eden, M. and Nguyen. H. (2014). Transitioning from Low-Income Growth to High-Income Growth: Is there a Middle-income Trap? WB Policy Research Working Paper No. 7104. World Bank. Washington, DC.
  • Eichengreen, B., Park, D. and Shin, K. (2012). When Fast-Growing Economies Slow Down: International Evidence and Implications for China. Asian Economic Papers, 11(1): 42-87.
  • Eichengreen, B., Park, D. and Shin, K. (2014). Growth slowdowns redux. Japan and the World Economy, 32(November): 65-84.
  • Felipe, J, Abdon, A. and Kumar, U. (2012) Tracking the Middle-income Trap: What Is It, Who Is in It, and Why? The Levy Economics Institute Working Paper.
  • Gill, I. and Kharas, H. with Deepak Bhattasali et al. (2007). An East Asian Renaissance: Ideas for Economic Growth. World Bank, Washington, DC.
  • Gill, I. S., and Kharas. H. (2015). The Middle-Income Trap Turns Ten. Policy Research Working Paper 7403. World Bank, Washington, DC.
  • Han, X. and Wei, S-J. (2017). Re-examining the Middle-Income Trap Hypothesis (MITH): What to Reject and What to Revive? NBER Working Paper No. 23126, February.
  • Helpman, E. (2004). The Mystery of Economic Growth. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
  • Im, F., and Rosenblatt, D. (2013). Middle-income traps: A conceptual and empirical survey. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6594, World Bank, Washington, DC.
  • Kharas, H., and Kohli, H. (2011). What Is the Middle Income Trap, Why do Countries Fall into It, and How Can It Be Avoided? Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, 3(3): 281–289.
  • Kongsamut, P., Rebelo, S. and Xie, D. (2001). Beyond Balanced Growth. The Review of Economic Studies, 68(4): 869-882.
  • Kuznets, S. (1966). Modern economic growth: rate, structure and spread, Yale University Press, London.