The impacts of oil price shocks in Turkey: sectoral evidence from the FAVAR approach

This paper investigates the effects of crude oil price shocks on the Turkish economy from 2005:01 to 2018:04 using a relatively new technique: the factor-augmented vector autoregressive (FAVAR) approach. The findings indicate the importance of crude oil prices to inflation, sectoral growth, and monetary policy. The main results of the impulse response analyses are as follows: (1) Oil price shocks did not explain changes in industrial production growth or its subsectors; (2) the responses of different price indices to positive oil price shocks are statistically significant and persistent. The largest number of price increases occurs in the transportation and food and beverage sectors; (3) monetary policy does not respond to oil price shocks. One can claim that the interest rate does not respond to oil price and allow the prices to adjust. Afterward, the price adjustment neutralizes the production effects of the oil price shocks. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Investigation of heavy metal pollution in eastern Aegean Sea coastal waters by using Cystoseira barbata, Patella caerulea, and Liza aurata as biological indicators

In order to have an extensive contamination profile of heavy metal levels (Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn), seawater, sediment, Patella caerulea, Cystoseira barbata, and Liza aurata were investigated by using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Samples were collected from five coastal stations along the eastern Aegean Sea coast (Turkey) on a monthly basis from July 2002 through May 2003. According to the results of this study, heavy metal levels were arranged in the following sequence: Fe > Pb > Zn > Mn > Ni > Cu > Cd for water, Fe > Cu > Mn > Ni > Zn > Pb > Cd for sediment, Fe > Zn > Mn > Pb > Ni > Cd > Cu for C. barbata, Fe > Zn > Mn > Ni > Pb > Cu > Cd for P. caerulea, and Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Ni > Pb > Cd for L. aurata. Moreover, positive relationships between Fe in water and Mn in water, Fe in sediment and Mn in sediment, Fe in C. barbata and Mn in C. barbata, Fe in P. caerulea and Mn in P. caerulea, and Fe in L. aurata and Mn in L. aurata may suggest that these metals could be originated from the same anthropogenic source. C. barbata represented with higher bioconcentration factor (BCF) values, especially for Fe, Mn, and Zn values. This observation may support that C. barbata can be used as an indicator species for the determinations of Fe, Mn, and Zn levels. Regarding Turkish Food Codex Regulation's residue limits, metal values in L. aurata were found to be lower than the maximum-permissible levels issued by Turkish legislation and also the recommended limits set by FAO/WHO guidelines. The results of the investigation indicated that P. caerulea, L. aurata, and especially C. barbata are quantitative water-quality bioindicators and biomonitoring subjects for biologically available metal accumulation for Aegean Sea coastal waters