Bu s;ah~ma, Gi.imrtik Birligi'nino 1996-2006 y1llan Beyaz E~ya Sanayi i.izerindeki etkisini degerlendirmeyi amas;lamaktad1r. Beyaz E~ya Sanayi yurtis;inde iiretime 1950'li ylllardan itibaren ba~lanm1~tlr. Uriinlerin pek s;ogu sadece bir yada iki i.iretici tarafmdan i.iretilmi~tir. Ancak, 2000 y1lmdan sonra endustrideki uretici say1s1 u~e ~1kabilmi~tir. Beyaz e~ya sanayinde daha onceki ylllarda yapllan ~ah~malar da endustri de yogunla~mamn yogun oldugunu gostermektedir. 1996 y1hnda Gumruk Birligi'nin ba~lamas1yla, Avrupa Birligi'nden ithal edilen beyaz e~ya urunlerinden ahnan gumruk vergi ve tarifeleri s1f1rlanm1~tlr. Bu nedenle, Avrupa Birligi'nden ithal edilen beyaz e~ya urunleri hacmi geni~lemi~tir. Hem uretici say1s1mn artmas1, hem de yap1lan ithalatm artmas1, beyaz e~ya pazanndaki rekabeti art1rm1~t1r. Levinshon'un en onemli argumam olan, ithalat disipline eder yakla~1m1, Turkiye beyaz e~ya sanayinde de etkin olmu~, artan rekabet ile birlikte rekabet artm1~ ve 1990 h ylllarda ~ok a~m karlar elde edilen beyaz e~ya sanayinde, 2000'li ylllann ortalannda, karhhk oramnda bir du~u~ onemli bir du~u~ kaydedilmi~tir. SektOrde lider konumda olan firmanm "net karhhg1" 1996 %10 iken 2006 y1hnda %4. 7 du~mu~tfu.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the Customs Union on Home Appliance Manufacturing Industry in Turkey in the period between 1996-2006. The home appliance industry has been producing domectically since 1960s. Most of the product in the industry has been produced only by one or two producers for a long time. Only after 2000, the number of producers who produce refrigerator inreased to three. Not only the number of producers but previous studies on the concentration ratios also support that the structure of the home appliance industry is oligopolistic market structure. In 1996, the tariffs for the home appliance products imported from the European Union were reduced to zero. This raised the volume of import from the European Union Countries. The net profit margin for the leading company in Turkey was 10 % in 1996 where the same ratio is 2. 1 % for Whirlpool, a leading multinational company. While in the 15 years period, Whirlpool have kept its profit level around the same ratios during the period from 1991 to 2006, the ratio decreased 4. 7 % for the leading company in Turkey, in 2006. This decrease would be explained by large increase in the volume of the import of these products when the tariffs were removed in 1996.