The Social Dimension in Selected Candidate Countries in the Balkans: Country Report on Turkey. ENEPRI Research Reports No. 41, 14 December 2007

The European Commission awarded a contract in November 2005 to a consortium composed of the TARKI Social Research Institute (Hungary), CASE, Center for Social and Economic Research (Poland) and CEPS to analyse the socio-economic developments and the process of structural reforms in what were then four candidate countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey. The objective was to identify the major challenges in the current demographic, social and economic context that could be considered relevant in determining the capacity of these countries to function in the European Union. This study presents the findings for Turkey and consists of an analytical section and a statistical annex. The other country reports and synthesis report are published separately in this same serie

Political economy of citizens’ participation in environmental improvement: The case of Istanbul

We aim at questioning, within a political economy framework, the institutional context of environmental policies for the case of Turkey in general and of Istanbul in particular. The paper is centred around a survey study conducted with citizens of Istanbul (n=1565), a metropolitan city whose population is around 9 millions, with regard to their attitudes and behaviours on environmental issues, together with a set of in-depth interviews (n=16) carried out with representatives of business, NGOs, trade unions, and bureaucrats. The point of departure of the paper is the claim that environmental policies are likely to alter, overtly or covertly, the income distribution of societies, and ipso facto those who will be worse off in the ex-post sense will have a clear incentive to influence public authorities and politicians (be they central or local units) in not implementing them—their success depending of course on the extent to which the governing body is not sterile but open to corruption (the so-called “government failures”). The implication of the existence of such government failures on the enforceability of regulations dealing with environmental issues is certainly an area to which attention has recently been given, both at theoretical and empirical levels, where the issue of institutional context has emerged as one if not the important issue in addressing such failures. Turkey, being one of the clear examples of the existence of such corruptive elements, should certainly offer rich inputs to the said discussion, and the paper makes an attempt to questioning the institutional aspect of environmental policies from the point of view of citizens of Istanbul and of different stakeholders.political economy; environment; citizen participation; Istanbul

Stratégies Des Femmes Dans La Lutte Contre La Pauvreté En Zone Urbaine : Cas De L’association Chigata De Natiokobadara Dans La Commune De Korhogo (Côte D’ivoire)

During these last years, the economic activity centres are relatively well developed in Ivorian big cities. They have significantly moved from the countryside to the urban zones. Today, the focus of domestic activities is located in the urban zones and about 60 % of the population from that area lives from it. The category of actors working in the sector is essentially constituted of women. Coming from diverse backgrounds, they implement several types of activities (market gardens, low-lying ground for rice crops, cassava production and processing for “attieke”, cashew nuts processing into butter). Which allow them to better promote the social well-being, taking them out of that cycle of poverty and place the economies on the path to sustainable growth. Since many year, for not being left out, a group of women who form the Association “Chigata” in the city of Korhogo was part of this dynamic focused on the fight against poverty, by the extraction of Shea butter. However, the day-to-day practice of this activity is compromised by many difficulties: use of traditional and archaic tools, difficult exiting of products due to the absence of machinery and roads, the absence of farms, the absence of a reliable market, the absence of training and guidance. This situation threatens women and makes them even more vulnerable. The desire of the research was to analyse the strategies of women's work, the related obstacles and the appropriate ways to strengthen this sector. The study is in three parts. The first part underlines the methodology; the second one is about the processing steps of the cashew nuts into butter and the third one deals with the commercialization strategies and recommendations

On environmental concern, willingness to pay, and postmaterialist values: Evidence from Istanbul

We explore the impact of geographical proximity of environmental problems on environmental concern and willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental improvement, with emphasis on the relevance of Inglehart’s postmaterialism thesis on this inquiry. A questionnaire was administered to 1565 respondents in Istanbul. The Contingent Valuation Method was used to measure WTP. Sea pollution in Istanbul (local issue), soil erosion in Turkey (national issue) and ozone depletion (global issue) were issues chosen for valuation. The sample was separated into three sub-samples, each being presented with only one issue. Individuals distinguish between local and global environmental concern. People with materialist values rather than postmaterialist values exhibit more concern for local environmental problems. However, postmaterialist values determine WTP for improvement in both the local and the global environmental problems. Distinguishing among concern for environmental issues, which are differentiated on the basis of geographical proximity, has relevance for the ongoing postmaterialist values debate.environmental concern; willingness to pay; postmaterialism; Istanbul

Network Effects in Risk Sharing and Credit Market Access: Evidence from Istanbul

It is a truism that households in developing countries that face idiosyncratic income/expenditure shocks may face difficulties in smoothing consumption through formal credit institutions, and hence rely, at least partially, on informal ties. While this issue has been explored extensively in the literature for rural areas, the picture reflecting the urban setting remains relatively uninvestigated. This paper aims to fill this gap by presenting an exclusively designed survey implemented in Istanbul. The results of a multi-stage logit estimation of the survey data indicate that monetary transfers from social networks and formal loans are complements, while general usage of network help implies an increased likelihood of asking for network help for easy and/or favorable access to credit. In addition, material security emerges as the key determinant of both eligibility for and use of a formal loan, and of having network help available in easing the loan approval process by banks.Social networks; risk sharing; credit market access; Turkey; household survey

ETUDE DES DETERMINANTS SOCIOECONOMIQUES DU METIER INFORMEL D’APPRENTI DE GBAKA DANS LA COMMUNE D’ABOBO EN COTE D’IVOIRE

In the 80s, the employment situation has become worse in subSaharan Africa in general and particularly in Côte d’Ivoire. This is demonstrated by a reduction in employment in the formal sector due to reform, dissolution and privatization of many state enterprises, executed as part of structural adjustment programs. The consequence of this reduction in employment in the formal or modern sector is the development of the informal sector, particularly in urban areas. The economic capitals which concentrate a large part of the population are most affected by the development of the urban informal sector. The informal sector has grown steadily in Côte d’Ivoire in recent years, occupying a share of more and more important jobs. From 30% in 1998, its share rose to 31% of total employment in 2002. In the urban area of Abidjan, the share of this sector is significantly larger. It therefore occupies, today, the largest share of jobs in Abidjan. It is estimated that the informal economic sector is the second source of employment after agriculture. Also termed as popular economy, the informal economy is a way of life and even survival of the urban population, for which it provides satisfaction for basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, education, healing, moving. It includes a variety of activities (distribution, preparation, restoration), personal services, repair, recovery and especially urban transport). The Informal participates in the process of urbanization, providing jobs and modest remuneration to a flow of new citizens, at the cost of low productivity and quasi stagnant. Therefore, its characteristics are worth well known and this may be achieved through a study of informal production units including the world of urban transport and its traditional dynamic of job promotion

Are Preferences for Environmental Quality Sensitive to Financial Funding Schemes? Evidence from a Marine Restoration Programme in the Black Sea

This paper uses a non-market valuation study to elicit consumers’ preferences for a marine restoration programme in the Black Sea aiming to reduce the level of public health risk from bathing and improve water quality and the overall level of marine biodiversity. In this context, we administer a stated choice experiment in coastal settlements in Ukraine and Turkey and employ two tax revenue reallocation schemes as payment vehicles. One proposes the financing of the marine restoration programme by the reduction of the public budget for renewable energy and the second by the reduction of the public budget on training for civil servants. We examine the stated preferences and the subsequently derived economic value estimates in the two treatments with the aim to investigate whether the trade-off implied by the funding scheme has implications for the valuation outcome. Results reveal that preferences and marginal rates of substitution between the non-price attributes under consideration differ significantly. In the civil servants’ budget reallocation scheme, the reallocation coefficient is positive, implying that ceteris paribus redistribution of public financial resources from this source is utility-enhancing. The magnitude of the results differs in the two considered countries mirroring their heterogeneity in political and cultural dimensions.Non-Market Valuation; Stated Choice Experiment, Payment Vehicle, Tax Revenues Reallocation, Marine Resources, Black Sea, Marine Biodiversity, Developing Countries