How the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic affected housing sector? Empirical evidence from Turkey

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the relationship between the consequences of the pandemic and the housing sector with econometric tests that allow for structural breaks.Design/methodology/approachStudy data were collected weekly between March 9, 2020, and February 4, 2022, and analyzed for Turkey. In the model of the study, housing loans were used as a housing market indicator, and the number of new deaths and new cases were used as data related to the pandemic. The exchange rate, which affects the use of housing loans, was added to the model as a control variable. This study was analyzed to examine the relationship between the pandemic and the housing sector, time series analysis techniques that allow structural breaks were used.FindingsBased on the result of the analyses, it was concluded that there is a long-run relationship between the pandemic stages and housing markets along with structural breaks. As a result of the time-varying causality test developed to determine the causality relationship between the variables and its direction, a bidirectional causality relationship was identified between all variables at certain dates.Research limitations/implicationsStudy data were collected weekly between March 9, 2020, and February 4, 2022, and analyzed in the case of Turkey.Practical implicationsBased on results of the study, it is recommended that policy makers and market actors take into account extraordinary situations such as pandemics and create a budget allocation that is always ready to use for this purpose.Originality/valueThe empirical examination of the relationship between the pandemic and the housing sector in Turkey provides origina

Is ecological footprint related to foreign trade? Evidence from the top ten fastest developing countries in the global economy

An ecological footprint (EF) refers to the resources that are used by the people or production companies in an area for commerce, which includes the production of food, water resources, and housing; however, it also in-cludes foreign trade of the products produced. The present study aims to examine how foreign trade affects EF and recommend specific new policies or revisions to policies to reduce EF. EF is used as an environmental in-dicator in the present study. The top 10 fastest developing countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey) comprised the study sample. The analyses were con-ducted using annual data for the period of 1990-2018; export and import data were taken as foreign trade variables, and their relationship with EF was tested through two different models. Renewable energy con-sumption (REC) and national income were modeled as control variables, and second-generation panel data analysis techniques were used. When the Durbin-Hausman cointegration test was applied, the data indicated a strong correlation between foreign trade and EF. According to the Common Correlated Effects (CCE) coefficient estimator, there was an inverse relationship between exports and REC and EF and a positive relationship with economic growth. When the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) coefficient estimator was applied, an inverse cor-relation was indicated among exports, imports, REC, and EF. Based on the findings of the analyses, it can be argued that policymakers and market players should manage foreign trade and environmental policies in a harmonized manner, and long-term planning should be shaped around these test results