The Competitiveness of Turkey with Respect to the Slovak Republic for the 1995-1999 Period

This paper examines Turkey’s international cost competitiveness in manufacturing with respect to the Slovak Republic, and quantitatively investigates the relationship between Turkish cost competitiveness and the exports of manufactured goods at an industry level. The Relative Unit Labor Cost (RULC) measure and dynamic panel data techniques are employed for this analysis. We find that Turkey is not competitive with respect to Slovakia for the 1995-1999 period. The Competitiveness of Slovakia mainly depends on its relatively higher level of labor productivity.Manufacturing export; competitiveness; relative unit labor cost; wage; productivity

Investigation on the Determinants of Turkish Export-Boom in 2000s

This paper investigates the causes of Turkish export-boom after 2000 in the manufacturing sector. We mainly concentrate on cost and productivity aspects of the production in the manufacturing sector. Effects of productivity, wage and exchange rate are analyzed in the framework of the augmented unit labor cost model. Following the Edwards and Golub (2004) paper we use the dynamic panel data techniques for the analysis. In addition, the importance of the above mentioned factors is examined for the rising and declining sectors. We find that manufacturing export is negatively related to the unit labor cost (ULC). Decomposition of ULC into its two components also shows that an improvement in productivity increases export while an increase in nominal wages decreases it. We also find that nominal wage is an important factor in the declining sectors while productivity is the stimulus in rising sectors.Manufacturing export; unit labor cost; wage; productivity; real effective exchange rate

Biomimetic asymmetric catalysis with bioinspired helical foldamers.

153 p.Organocatalysis is a rapidly expanding methodology enabling challenging chemical transformations to be performed in the broad context of sustainable chemistry (metal-free procedures, catalyst recycling). Potential applications include the rapid elaboration of advanced and useful building blocks for pharmaceutical development. Despite major achievements, organocatalysts generally suffer from low rate acceleration and turnover and the need for relatively high amounts to achieve good conversion and selectivity. Enzymes are generally regarded as very efficient catalysts at low loading levels and commonly act through a dual activation mechanism involving multiple cooperative interactions. A fundamental paradigm in nature is the connection between biopolymer function (transport, sensing, signaling, catalysis) primary sequence and folding (e.g. protein tertiary structure). In enzymes, precise organization of active-site side chains in the 3D space, participation of cofactors, electrostatic interactions through folding of the backbone are inherent elements which contribute to enhance the interaction with the substrate ultimately leading to the catalytic activity. The ability to synthesize artificial sequence-based oligomers that fold with high fidelity (i.e. foldamers) raises new prospects for mimicking biopolymers and for creating molecules with emergent functions tailored to various applications including catalysis. The presented works build upon previously published data by the team in an effort to explore new reactions that can be catalysed by oligourea foldamers

Oil prices and emerging market exchange rates

This paper investigates the role of oil prices in explaining the dynamics of selected emerging countries exchange rates. Using daily data series, the study concludes that a rise in oil price is leading to a significant appreciation in emerging economies currencies against the US dollar. In our study, we divide daily returns from 03/01/2003 to 02/06/2010 into 3 subsamples and test the role of oil price changes on exchange rate movements. We employ generalized impulse response functions to trace out the dynamic response of each exchange rate in three different time periods. Our findings suggest that oil price dynamics are changing significantly in the sample period and the relation between oil prices and exchange rates becomes more relevant after the 2008 financial crisis.oil prices; emerging market exchange rates; international financial markets; financial crisis

Design In / Designing the First-Year Studio: An Experimental Study

This article focuses on first-year design studios, which include of “firsts” and difficulties at the same time for both instructors and students in architectural education. The study questions knowledge that students would encounter tools that they would use and experiences that they would practice and a course was developed accordingly. The course was planned in two phases and lasted 14 (8+6) weeks. The first phase included consecutive practices that were supported by theoretical knowledge, the second one focused on a single complex problem (3D-Portfolio design/tower) which consists of basic knowledge and skills. This problem was designed in a way that it contained the following components: (1) ensuring that pluralistic environment in studio becomes a part of the process (2) in this environment, students learn by experience through back-and-forth steps (3) making the model as an active component of design process and (4) ability to handle 1-1 scale. In this article, definition/process of this problem, which can be defined as experimental, is demonstrated in detail. Finally design question is evaluated by course executors through components of this design problem and it is revealed that how and to what extend design components determinant/directive in this process.. Keywords: first year design studio, design education

Oil prices and emerging market exchange rates

This paper investigates the role of oil prices in explaining the dynamics of selected emerging countries exchange rates. Using daily data series, the study concludes that a rise in oil price is leading to a significant appreciation in emerging economies currencies against the US dollar. In our study, we divide daily returns from 03/01/2003 to 02/06/2010 into 3 subsamples and test the role of oil price changes on exchange rate movements. We employ generalized impulse response functions to trace out the dynamic response of each exchange rate in three different time periods. Our findings suggest that oil price dynamics are changing significantly in the sample period and the relation between oil prices and exchange rates becomes more relevant after the 2008 financial crisis

Essays on investment climate in developing countries

This thesis consists of three chapters on investment climate in developing countries. The first chapter examines the investment climate (IC) effects on the growth of developing countries. In contrast to past studies in the IC literature, which narrow their investigation to a subgroup of IC variables, I measure multiple dimensions of the investment climate in a single index. To construct an IC index, I use the methodology proposed by Escribano and Hacihasanoglu (2012 and 2013) to combine 87 firm-specific variables for 27,624 firms in 113 developing countries. This index overcomes multicollinearity and the dimensionality problems of the World Bank s enterprise survey database and makes it possible to compare different countries. I show both theoretically and empirically that IC as a whole does matter to explain cross-country income differences in developing countries. Once I control for the IC, trade or macroeconomic policy does not have any explanatory power on GDP per capita while geography has a weak effect on it. My results contribute to the institutions literature by showing IC as a specific type of institution to achieve higher levels of income. In chapter 2, joint with Alvaro Escribano, we develop an investment climate index (ICI) using enterprise surveys of the World Bank. We propose a simple methodology that allows us to combine a large set of continuous and binary IC variables into an index which proxy the good and the bad qualities of the investment climate. As a byproduct, we also construct IC sub-indices for five different blocks of IC variables: infrastructure; corruption and crime; nance; quality, innovation, and labor skills; and other control variables. When aggregating, we use two options, one with equal weights and the other with unequal weights of those IC variables. The unequal weights of ICI are obtained using principal component analysis (PCA), after transforming all IC variables to binary variables. We identify at least three important advantages of using our IC indices. First, they minimize the loss of information in regression analysis when compared with individual IC explanatory variables. We show, by using a probability of export equation with Turkish data, that our IC indices can proxy a large set of IC variables in regression analysis. Furthermore, we show that these IC indices make a regression analysis, with more than 100 explanatory IC variables, simpler and avoid a serious multicollinearity problem. Second, the ICI offers the possibility of making cross-country comparisons based on the description of the investment climate. For that purpose, we calculate the ICIs for 113 developing and transition countries, and then we show the cross correlation of the aggregate ICI with other aggregate indices like the World Economic Forum s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which is equal to 0.52, etc. Third, these IC indices allow us to incorporate the aggregate investment climate information of a country as an interesting determinant in macroeconomic models analyzing the IC impact on economic growth, cross-country convergence, etc. In chapter 3, I analyze the competitive restrictions of the exporters of Turkish manufacturing sector in terms of the IC variables. Although the Turkish economy experienced certain improvements after 2000, a poor investment climate of Turkey is one of the most important factors of the country's competitiveness with respect to its competitors. Improvements in IC may raise competitiveness by increasing firm-level performance, provide a sustainable growth perspective through higher productivity, and moderate the severe unemployment problem of Turkey by encouraging both domestic and foreign investment. The aim of this chapter is to investigate how IC constraints in Turkey affect exports by showing which components of IC have particular importance for the exporters. This analysis enables us to exactly determine the microeconomic structural reforms for the long-run prospect of Turkish manufacturing export. I estimate the model by using the Heckman model because of the nature of the data at hand.La presente tesis consta de tres capítulos sobre el clima de inversión en los países en vías de desarrollo. El primer capítulo examina los efectos del clima de inversión (CI) sobre el crecimiento de los países en desarrollo. A diferencia de estudios anteriores recogidos en la literatura especializada sobre CI que centran sus investigaciones en un subgrupo de variables del CI, en esta Tesis se tienen en cuenta las múltiples dimensiones del clima de inversión agregándolas en un único índice. Dicho índice ICI solución en parte los problemas de multicolinearidad y dimensionalidad de la base de datos del Banco Mundial basada en encuestas de empresas y posibilita la comparación entre distintos países. Se muestra, tanto de forma teórica como empírica, que el CI en su conjunto es sin duda un factor de peso a la hora de explicar las diferencias de ingresos entre países en vías de desarrollo. Un resultado importante muestra como una vez que se controla por las variables del CI otras variables como las políticas comerciales o las macroeconómicas dejan de tener capacidad explicativa del PIB per-cápita, a la vez que la geografía tiene un débil efecto. Los resultados de esta Tesis representan una contribución novedosa sobre el importante papel que juega la calidad de las instituciones i el CI en el crecimiento de los países en vías de desarrollo. El capítulo 2, desarrolla un índice del clima de inversión (ICI) a partir de las encuestas de empresas del Banco Mundial. Para la elaboración del índice del clima de inversión (ICI), se desarrolla una metodología que permite combinar 87 variables específicas de empresa para 27.624 empresas de 113 países en vías de desarrollo. Esta metodología permite combinar en un índice un amplio conjunto de variables continuas con binarias que representan los aspectos positivos y negativos del entorno de inversión. Como subproducto, desarrollan también subíndices del CI para cinco bloques distintos de variables CI: infraestructuras, corrupción y delincuencia, finanzas, calidad, innovación y trabajo cualificado; junto con otras variables de control. A la hora de agregar, ponderamos siguiendo dos alternativas, una con igual peso y otra con pesos desiguales para las mencionadas variables del CI. Los pesos desiguales de ICI se obtienen utilizando el análisis de componentes principales (ACP), después de transformar todas las variables del CI en variables binarias. Identificamos al menos tres ventajas importantes en la utilización de estos índices del CI. En primer lugar, minimizan la pérdida de información en análisis de regresión si se compara con los resultados de utilizar variables explicativas del CI a nivel individual. Se muestra, mediante un cálculo de la probabilidad de exportar en Turquía, que nuestros índices ICI pueden resumen fielmente a un gran conjunto de variables de CI en un análisis de regresión. Además, mostramos que estos índices ICI hacen que un análisis de regresión con más de 100 variables explicativas, sea mucho más sencillo, además de evitar un grave problema de multicolinearidad. En segundo lugar, el ICI ofrece la posibilidad de efectuar comparaciones entre países basadas en la descripción del clima de inversión. Con ese propósito, calculamos los ICI de 113 países en vías de desarrollo y en transición, para después mostrar la correlación del ICI agregado con otros índices agregados, tales como el índice de Competitividad Global del Foro Económico Mundial (GCI), con una correlación igual a 0,52, etc. En tercer lugar, estos índices ICI nos permiten incorporar la información agregada del clima de inversión de un país como un interesante factor determinante en los modelos macroeconómicos que analizan el impacto del CI sobre el crecimiento económico, la convergencia entre países, etc. El capítulo 3, analiza las restricciones competitivas del sector manufacturero turco en términos de variables del CI. A pesar de que la economía turca experimentó cierta mejoría a partir del año 2000, el de ciente entorno de inversión en Turquía es unos de los factores que más afecta a la competitividad del país frente a la de sus competidores. La mejora deI CI puede incrementar la competitividad de la economía al aumentar el rendimiento de las empresas, proporcionar perspectivas de crecimiento sostenible gracias a la mayor productividad, y al mismo tiempo aliviar el grave problema del desempleo en Turquía fomentando las inversiones tanto nacionales como extranjeras. El propósito de este capítulo es investigar cómo las barreras causadas por el CI en Turquía afectan a las exportaciones, mostrando qué componentes del CI tienen especial importancia para los exportadores. Este análisis permite identificar algunas reformas microeconómicas estructurales a largo plazo para impulsar las exportaciones turcas. Para ello se utiliza el modelo Heckman teniendo en cuenta la naturaleza de los datos del CI disponibles a nivel de empresa

The Competitiveness of Turkey with Respect to the Slovak Republic for the 1995-1999 Period

This paper examines Turkey’s international cost competitiveness in manufacturing with respect to the Slovak Republic, and quantitatively investigates the relationship between Turkish cost competitiveness and the exports of manufactured goods at an industry level. The Relative Unit Labor Cost (RULC) measure and dynamic panel data techniques are employed for this analysis. We find that Turkey is not competitive with respect to Slovakia for the 1995-1999 period. The Competitiveness of Slovakia mainly depends on its relatively higher level of labor productivity