Essays on international economics
Author
Özer, Seda Köymen
Advisor
Pakel, Fitnat Banu
Date
2015Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
This dissertation consists of three essays on international economics. In
the rst chapter, the long-run e ects of trade liberalization and trade-induced
skill-biased technological change on wages and unemployment are studied by
augmenting a heterogeneous rm trade model with job search and unemployment.
The model predicts that trade liberalization has asymmetric wage effects
on the two types of workers: it increases wage inequality in favor of skilled
workers. Also, unemployment rate in the skilled-labor market falls to a greater
extent, implying a change in the skill composition of unemployment in both
trade partners.
The second chapter aims to unearth the underlying causes of high levels of
the current account de cit by investigating the export performance of Turkish
rms. First, a cross-country analysis reveals that Turkey performs poorly
compared to its competitors in generating a suitable business environment,
promoting innovation and skills, and providing easier access to nance all of
which are known to contribute signi cantly to stimulating export performance. Using a data set from the Productivity and the Investment Climate Private
Enterprise Survey in 2005 and the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance
Survey in 2008/2013, it is con rmed that product innovation, foreign
ownership, the use of foreign inputs, and having a better marketing strategy
are associated with higher probability of exporting. Also, conditional on exporting,
export sales increase with foreign ownership.
The third chapter studies the import dependency of Turkish manufacturing
exports in 2000s. By using TIVA database provided by OECD-WTO, it shows
that compared to its peers (such as Czech Republic, Hungary) Turkish manufacturing
exports depend less on imported intermediates. However, Turkey
requires more intermediate imports than its peers in order to increase its exports
relative to GDP. Using data from various sources (TIVA, Comtrade and
TurkStat), the second part of the chapter provides a detailed analysis of import
dependency in three key industries, namely the transport equipment, textiles
and food. The results show that Turkey mostly specializes in production and
exports of low value added and low-tech activities within these industries. To
increase its exports and domestic value added embodied in exports, Turkey
needs to move towards higher value added and technologically more advanced
stages of production in the global value chain.
Keywords
International TradeSkill-Specific Unemployment
Export Performance of Firms
Trade in Value Added
Turkey