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Income Inequality and Economic Convergence in Turkey: A Spatial Effect Analysis

Author

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  • Jülide Yildirim

    (Department of Econometrics, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, julide@gazi.edu.tr)

  • Nadir Öcal

    (Department of Economics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, ocal@metu.edu.tr)

  • Süheyla Özyildirim

    (Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, suheyla@bilkent.edu.tr)

Abstract

Even though the convergence of regional per capita income has been a highly debated issue internationally, empirical evidence regarding Turkey is limited as well as contradictory. This article is an attempt to investigate regional income inequality and the convergence dynamics in Turkey for the time period 1987—2001. First, the Theil coefficient of concentration index is used to analyze the dispersion aspects of the convergence process. The geographically based decomposition of inequality suggests a strong correlation between the share of interregional inequality and spatial clustering. Then, we estimate convergence dynamics employing alternative spatial econometric methods. In addition to the global models, we also estimate local models taking spatial variations into account. Empirical analysis indicates that geographically weighted regression improves model fitting with better explanatory power. There is considerable variation in speed of convergence of provinces, which cannot be captured by the traditional beta convergence analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Jülide Yildirim & Nadir Öcal & Süheyla Özyildirim, 2009. "Income Inequality and Economic Convergence in Turkey: A Spatial Effect Analysis," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 32(2), pages 221-254, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:32:y:2009:i:2:p:221-254
    DOI: 10.1177/0160017608331250
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    16. Lin, Pei-Chien & Huang, Ho-Chuan (River), 2012. "Inequality convergence revisited: Evidence from stationarity panel tests with breaks and cross correlation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 316-325.
    17. Giuseppe Arbia, 2011. "A Lustrum of SEA: Recent Research Trends Following the Creation of the Spatial Econometrics Association (2007--2011)," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(4), pages 377-395, July.
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    20. Celbis M.G. & Crombrugghe D.P.I. de, 2014. "Can internet infrastructure help reduce regional disparities? : evidence from Turkey," MERIT Working Papers 2014-078, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
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