Logistics process improvement of Kapikule border crossing

Önsel Ekici, Şule (Dogus Author) -- Çekyay, Bora (Dogus Author) -- Özaydın, Özay (Dogus Author) -- Toktaş Palut, Peral (Dogus Author) -- Conference full title: The 15th International Logistics and Supply Chain Congress (LMSCM), October 19, 2017 through October 20, 2017 in Istanbul, TurkeyIn this study, logistics process improvement of Kapikule Border Crossing, one of the largest customs gates, has been evaluated. It is obvious that, any decrease in trade time is expected to realize positive impact on the logistics competitiveness of a specific country. In order to reduce time across all dimensions of the border process, the improvement of physical infrastructure and the proliferation of procedures are the most important issues that should be focused on. The aim of the study is to improve the Kapikule border crossing by reducing the process time. For this purpose, first, in-depth interviews were conducted with the Kapikule customs gate authorities in order to reveal explicitly the process flows. Subsequently, the current situation at the gate was simulated using the Arena simulation software. Finally, several improvement scenarios were tested to identify the ones that will have the highest impact on reducing the queues and the delays at the border

The İmportance of Islamic Financial Literacy in İncreasing the Share of Participation Banking in the Sector: A Comparative Analysis of Turkey and Malaysia

Doktora TeziKüresel ölçekte her geçen gün artan bir potansiyele sahip olan faizsiz finans ve bankacılık uygulamalarının, başlangıç yılları ve gelişim düzeyleri ülkeden ülkeye farklılık göstermektedir. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, faizsiz finans uygulamalarına faizsiz bankacılık kapsamında aynı yıllarda başlayan Türkiye ve Malezya'da, faizsiz bankaların sektör içerisinden aldıkları payın farklılığını "Faizsiz Finansal Okuryazarlık" çerçevesinde analiz etmek ve böylelikle, katılım bankacılığının sektör içerisindeki payının arttırılmasında faizsiz finansal okuryazarlığın önemini değerlendirmektir. Literatürde, "Finansal Okuryazarlık" kavramına istinaden oldukça yeni bir kavram olan "Faizsiz (İslami) Finansal Okuryazarlık (İFO)" kavramına ilişkin genel geçer bir tanımlama ve ölçüm aracı henüz bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışma kapsamında, Faizsiz Finansal Okuryazarlık; doğru finansal seçimlerde bulunabilmek için gerekli olan, faizsiz finansal bilgi, farkındalık, tutum ve davranışların bileşeni olarak tanımlanmıştır. Bu tanımlama kapsamında faizsiz finansal okuryazarlık ölçüm aracının geliştirilmesi, bu çalışmanın birincil amacını oluşturmaktadır. Geliştirilen İFO Ölçüm Modeli aracılığıyla faizsiz finansal okuryazarlık düzeylerinin ölçülmesi ve faizsiz finans ve bankacılığın kullanım düzeyi üzerinden sektör içerisindeki payına etkisinin Türkiye ve Malezya kapsamında analiz edilmesi ise bu çalışmanın ikincil amacını oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmanın birincil amacına istinaden Türkiye ve Malezya'da gerçekleştirilen "Yapı Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik" analizleri, araştırmanın ön uygulamasını temsil etmektedir. Ön uygulama sonucunda, İFO Ölçüm Modeli'ni temsil eden bileşenlere ilişkin Türkiye'de geçerli ve güvenilir bir yapı sergilediği tespit edilerek geliştirilen ölçüm araçlarının, Malezya'da da doğrulandığı tespit edilmiştir. Böylelikle literatüre, geçerliği ve güvenirliği ortaya konulmuş "Faizsiz Finansal Bilgi Testi", "Faizsiz Finansal Farkındalık Ölçeği", "Faizsiz Finansal Tutum Ölçeği" ve "Faizsiz Finansal Davranış Ölçeği" kazandırılmıştır. Geliştirilen ölçüm araçları ile toplanan veriler ışığında, araştırmanın ikincil amacına yönelik olarak oluşturulan hipotezler test edilmiştir. Bu kapsamda, Türkiye'de ve Malezya'da seçilen örneklem üzerinde "Yapısal Eşitlik Modellemesi (YEM)" ve "Bağımsız Gruplar (Örneklemler) t-Testi" uygulanmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda, faizsiz finansal okuryazarlığın bileşenlerini temsil eden söz konusu ölçüm araçları ile oluşturulan ve YEM analizinin ilk aşamasında test edilen İFO Ölçüm Modeli'nin hem Türkiye hem de Malezya'da uyum iyiliği indeksleri bakımından yeterli uyumu sağladığı ve değişkenlere ilişkin tahmin değerlerinin anlamlı olduğu tespit edilmiştir. YEM analizinin ikinci aşamasında hem Türkiye hem de Malezya'da İFO'nun, faizsiz finans ve bankacılık kullanım düzeyinin arttırılmasında ve dolayısıyla faizsiz finans ve bankacılığın sektör içerisindeki payının arttırılmasında önemli bir role sahip olduğuna ilişkin ampirik bulgular sunduğu tespit edilmiştir. Özellikle, "Faizsiz Finansal Bilgi" ve "Faizsiz Finansal Farkındalık" değişkenlerinin hem Türkiye hem de Malezya'da İFO üzerinde oldukça güçlü etkiye sahip olduğuna ilişkin bulgular, söz konusu bileşenlerin, İFO – faizsiz finans ve bankacılık kullanım düzeyi ilişkisinde önemli bir rol üstlendiğine işaret etmektedir. Çalışma kapsamında gerçekleştirilen Bağımsız Gruplar t-Testi sonucunda ise söz konusu bileşenler bakımından Malezya'nın Türkiye'den anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek puanlara sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Başka bir ifadeyle; küresel ve ulusal çapta aldığı paylarla, günümüzde faizsiz finans denilince akla ilk gelen ülkelerden biri konumunda bulunan Malezya'da, katılımcıların "Faizsiz Finansal Bilgi" ve "Faizsiz Finansal Farkındalık" düzeyleri Türkiye'deki katılımcılardan daha yüksektir. Elde edilen bu sonuç, faizsiz bankacılık uygulamalarına başlangıçları aynı yıllara dayansa da Türkiye'nin, Malezya'nın çok daha gerisinde performans sergilemesi durumuyla birlikte değerlendirildiğinde, Türkiye'de Katılım bankacılığının sektör içerisindeki payının arttırılması noktasında bireylerin bilgi ve farkındalık düzeylerinin arttırılmasının önem arz ettiği ifade edilebilir.The starting years and development levels of Islamic finance and banking applications, which have an increasing potential on a global scale, differ from country to country. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the difference in the share of Islamic banks from the sector within the framework of "Islamic Financial Literacy" in Turkey and Malaysia, which started Islamic finance applications within the scope of Islamic banking applications in the same years, and thus to evaluate the importance of Islamic financial literacy in increasing the share of participation banking in the sector. In the literature, there is not yet a generally accepted definition and measurement tool for the concept of "Islamic Financial Literacy (IFL)", which is a fairly new concept compared to the concept of "Financial Literacy". Within the scope of this study, Islamic Financial Literacy; It has been defined as the component of interest-free financial information, awareness, attitudes and behaviors that are necessary for making the right financial choices. Within the scope of this definition, the development of Islamic financial literacy measurement tool is the primary purpose of this study. The secondary aim of this study is to measure the level of Islamic financial literacy through the developed IFL Measurement Model and to analyze the effect of Islamic finance and banking on its share in the sector through the level of use in Turkey and Malaysia. Based on the primary purpose of the study, the "Construct Validity and Reliability" analyses carried out in Turkey and Malaysia represent the pre-application of the research. As a result of the pre-application, it was determined that the components that make up the IFL Measurement Model exhibit a valid and reliable structure in Turkey, and it was determined that the developed measurement tools were also confirmed in Malaysia. Thus, the "Islamic Financial Knowledge Test", "Islamic Financial Awareness Scale", "Islamic Financial Attitude Scale" and "Islamic Financial Behavior Scale" were introduced to the literature, the validity and reliability of which have been demonstrated. In the light of the data collected with the developed measurement tools, the hypotheses formed for the secondary purpose of the research were tested. In this context, "Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)" and "Independent Samples t-Test" were applied on the selected sample in Turkey and Malaysia. As a result of the study, it was determined that the IFL Measurement Model, which was created with the said measurement tools representing the components of Islamic financial literacy and tested in the first stage of the SEM analysis, provided sufficient fit in terms of Goodness of Fit Indices both in Turkey and Malaysia, and the estimation values of the variables were significant. In the second stage of the SEM analysis, it has been determined that IFL has an important role in increasing the level of use of Islamic finance and banking in both Turkey and Malaysia, and therefore in increasing the share of Islamic finance and banking in the sector. In particular, the findings that the variables "Islamic Financial Knowledge" and "Islamic Financial Awareness" have a very strong effect on IFL in both Turkey and Malaysia indicate that these components play an important role in the relationship between IFL – Islamic finance and banking usage level. As a result of the Independent Samples t-Test performed within the scope of the study, it was determined that Malaysia had significantly higher scores than Turkey in terms of the mentioned components.In other words, in Malaysia, which is one of the first countries that come to mind when it comes to Islamic finance, with its global and national shares, the "Islamic Financial Information" and "Islamic Financial Awareness" levels of the participants are higher than the participants in Turkey. When this result is evaluated together with Turkey's performance far behind Malaysia even though the beginning of Islamic banking applications dates back to the same years, it can be stated that it is important to increase the knowledge and awareness levels of individuals in increasing the share of participation banking in the sector in Turkey

The impact of the financial market developments on the manufacturing firms: The Turkish case

Dünyada finansal liberalizasyon süreci 1970‟lerde baĢlamıĢtır. Türkiye‟de bu sürece 1980 sonrasında ekonomi politikalarında yaĢanan dönüĢümle dahil olmuĢtur. Finansal sistem fon aktarımındaki aracılık rolü nedeniyle firmaların yatırım kararları ve büyüme hedefleri üzerinde önemli bir rol üstlenmektedir. Bu tez çalıĢmasında Türkiye‟de finans piyasalarında yaĢanan geliĢmeler hakkında bilgi vermek ve bu makro ekonomik geliĢmelerin firmalar üzerindeki etkilerini test etmek amaçlanmaktadır. ÇalıĢmada son otuz yılda izlenen finansal politikalar göz önünde bulundurulduktan sonra, bankacılık sektöründe ve sermaye piyasalarında önemli değiĢiklikler ve geliĢmeler hakkında bilgi verilmektedir. Finansal piyasaların büyüklüğü, hacmi ve etkinliği çalıĢmada değerlendirilen bu değiĢimler arasında yer almaktadır. Bu amaçla çalıĢmada Türkiye‟de finansal piyasalarda yaĢanan geliĢmelerin Borsa Ġstanbul‟a kote edilmiĢ olan imalat sanayi firmaları üzerine etkisi 1994- 2014 yılları arasını kapsayan dönem itibariyle incelenmiĢtir. ÇalıĢmada verilerin zaman boyutunun firma boyutundan daha kısa olması ve tahmin edici modeller arasında daha güçlü sonuçlar ortaya koyması nedeniyle, GenelleĢtirilmiĢ Momentler Metodu (GMM) kullanılmıĢtır. ÇalıĢmada, finansal piyasalarda yaĢanan geliĢmelerin imalat sanayi firmaları üzerine etkisini incelemek adına sermaye yapısı, yatırım ve büyüme düzeyini temsil eden üç ekonometrik model kurulmuĢtur. ÇalıĢmada yapılan analize göre, birinci modelde bağımsız değiĢkenler talog firma büyüklüğü ve ra2 karlılık düzeyinde meydana gelen bir artıĢın lev1 bağımlı değiĢkenini temsil eden Toplam Borç/ Toplam Aktif oranı üzerinde aynı yönlü bir artıĢa sebep olmayacağı, ikinci modelde bağımsız değiĢkenlerden M2 değerinin ise sermaye harcamaları ile negatif yönlü bir iliĢkiye sahip olduğu, üçüncü modelde bağımsız değiĢkenler M2 para arzında ve ldtalog büyüklükteki değiĢimin gecikmeli değerinde meydana gelen bir artıĢın büyüklük düzeyi üzerinde aynı yönde bir artıĢa sebep olmayacağı görülmektedir.The process of financial liberalization began in the 1970s in the world. Turkey has been involved in this process and the transformation of economic policy after 1980. Due to the role intermediary in the transfer of funds, financial system plays an important role in investment decisions and growth objectives of the company. The aim of this thesis is, to describe the developments in Turkish financial markets at the macroeconomic level and, then, to examine their effects at the level of firms. After reviewing the main financial policies in the last three decades, the paper describes the remarkable changes and progress in the banking sector and capital markets during the same period. This is done by evaluating changes in financial markets size, activity, and efficiency. The paper analyzes the changes in both the access to financial markets and the financing decisions in a sample of Turkish firms. The sample consists of 130 firms that are quoted in the Borsa Istanbul and for which annual balance sheet data for the period 1994-2014 are available and complete. In this study we used to Genaralized Method of Moments (GMM), because of the time dimension shorter than firm dimension and, demonstrate to strong result in comparison with other predictive models. In this study, to examine the impact of developments on the capital structure of the manufacturing industry companies on behalf of the financial markets, it has been established econometric model representing the three levels of investment and growth. According to the analysis conducted in this study, the independent variables in the first model taloga firm size and ra2 profitability level representing lev1 dependent variable of an increase in the Total Debt / Total Assets ratio above will not cause the same way an increase in the M2 value of the independent variable in the second model negative capital expenditure to have a directional relationship is seen arguments, the third model in the M2 money supply and orders of magnitude of the increase in the value ldtalog delayed the change in size will not cause an increase in the same direction

A categorical dea framework for evaluating medical tourism efficiency of "top destinations"

WOS: 000442508400020Over the past decade, medical tourism has been one of the fastest growing sectors in developing countries. In this context, the attempt to monitor the performance of top medical tourism destinations has become a major concern. In spite of the fact that medical tourism has a significantly direct impact on not only GDP but also foreign exchange generation, there is an absence of empirical studies on the key drivers. This study proposes a categorical data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework for evaluating medical tourism performance of top destinations. Finally, research hypotheses are created to analyze the relationship between the countries’ medical tourism performance and their political, regulatory environment, technology and knowledge outputs

Driving forces of Turkey's transportation sector CO2 emissions: An LMDI approach

The transportation sector is one of the main contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As the efforts towards emission mitigation increase, the expectation from the sector arises equally. In this analysis, the transportation sector of Turkey is studied to shed light on the future based on historical realizations. In this respect, the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method is used to assess and reveal the influential factors on CO2 emissions in the sector between 2000 and 2017. The emission intensity of the sector and fuel switching shows promising trends from 2000 through 2010, whereas growing preference for SUVs challenges emission reductions between 2010 and 2017. The results indicate that i) The transportation sector CO2 emissions are mainly driven upwards by economic growth, followed by population and emission intensity effects from 2000 to 2017 ii) The overall impact of transportation intensity shows significant reduction potential iii) Fuel switching incentives and fleet efficiency have a positive effect on emission mitigation from 2000 through 2010. However, this gain is reduced due to the rising popularity of SUVs in the rest of the analysis period. In this respect, CO2 emission mitigation in the transportation sector necessitates 1) careful planning of demand management for freight transportation including master designs production/manufacturing sites, material flows, and demand points coupled with economic activities 2) passenger transportation measures to reduce passenger car travel including zoning for public transit corridors, improved public transportation system 3) well-structured incentives on energy-efficient cars and clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles to convince individuals. Analysis can be generalized on a global scale due to the similar dynamics inherent in the sector.Publisher's Versio

Challenges in the CO2 emissions of the Turkish power sector: Evidence from a two-level decomposition approach

Decarbonization of the energy system is urgent to avert the disruptions in the climate. Considering its share, the low carbon transition of the power sector is pivotal. Growing electricity demand poses unique challenges for Turkey to enact deep decarbonization. It is vital to uncover the contributing causes of emissions to provide strategic oversight for carbon management activities. This study investigates key drivers of CO2 emissions from the power sector using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index decomposition method. While efficiency improvement contributes to sustainable yet minor mitigation, changes in the fossil-fuel share indicate a cycling but significant overall impact.Publisher's Versio

Improving a credit card fraud detection system using genetic algorithm

Işık, Mine (Dogus Author) -- Duman, Ekrem (Dogus Author) -- Conference full title: 2010 International Conference on Networking and Information Technology, ICNIT 2010; Manila; Philippines; 11 June 2010 through 12 June 2010In this study we undertook the credit card fraud detection problem of a bank and tried to improve the performance of an existing solution. In doing so, we did not undertake the typical objective of maximizing the number of correctly classified transactions but rather we defined a new objective function where the misclassification costs are variable and thus, correct classification of some transactions are more important than correctly classifying the others. For this purpose we made an application of genetic algorithms which is a novel one in the related literature both in terms of the application domain and the cross-over operator used. The algorithm is applied to real life data where the savings obtained are almost three times the current practice

Architectural Characteristics and Determination Seismic Risk Priorities of Traditional Masonry Structures: A Case Study for Bitlis (Eastern Türkiye)

The loss of life due to large-scale structural damage has again demonstrated the importance of taking precautions before an earthquake. In this context, determining the risk priorities for the existing building stock and making the final decisions about the buildings is one of the basic measures to be taken before an earthquake. Within the scope of this study, the regional risk priorities have been determined for twenty different masonry buildings in Bitlis (Türkiye), located in the Lake Van Basin, which has a high earthquake risk. The Turkish Rapid Assessment Method was used for masonry structures in this study which was updated in 2019 using the necessary data obtained for each structure on site. In addition, information about the architectural characteristics and current structural conditions of traditional Bitlis houses is given in this study. Current seismic parameters are also obtained for the location of each building. All data in the article were obtained from field research, and this is one of the first studies in which the rapid assessment method was used. In this method, buildings with low scores have a higher risk priority, and building performance scores were obtained between 25 and 85. With this and similar studies, regional risk priorities can be determined, and the number of buildings subjected to detailed assessment can be reduced

The Effects of Risk Management Practices on Financial Performance: An Empirical Analysis on Islamic Banks

Risk is an inevitable reality for financial institutions, and once it is known, the main activity to be done is an effective risk management.The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the effects of risk management practices on financial performance in Islamic banks. This study examines the effect of risk management practices on the financial performances of three Islamic banks operating in Türkiye through regression analysis. The data set of the study consists of a panel data containing 180 observations in total. Return on equity and return on assets, which are used as indicators of banks' financial performance, are dependent variables of the model. The financial ratios used to represent risk management are the independent variables of the model. The findings reveal that leverage ratio and asset utilization ratio have statistically significant effects on the performance of Islamic banks. The results of the study support the findings and arguments in the established body of previous literature. The findings obtained within the scope of this study could be used as guidance for the banks in their financial risk management practices and they will shed light on the future studies