Concentration, Competition, Efficiency and Profitability of the Turkish Banking Sector in the Post-Crises Period

After 2001 crisis, the macroeconomic environment led to important changes in Turkish banking sector which has experienced a process of concentration by involving in merger and acquisition activities and liquidation of some insolvent banks. Using the data from the detailed balance sheets of the banks that operated in the years from 2001 to 2005, we examine the degree of concentration and degree of competition in the market by applying Panzar and Rosse’s approach. We also explore the existence of relationship between efficiency and profitability of the banks taking into account the internationalization of banking. Our results do not suggest the existence of relationship between concentration and competition. There is also no robust relationship between efficiency and profitability.Concentration; Competition; Efficiency; Profitability of the Turkish Banking Sector

Is the Turkish current account deficit sustainable?

During the 2011-2015 period, Turkey's current account deficit as a percentage of GDP was one of the largest among the OECD countries. In this paper, we examine if this deficit can be considered sustainable using the Engel and Rogers (2006) approach. In this framework, the current account of a country is determined by the expected discounted present value of its future share of world GDP relative to its current share. A country, whose income is anticipated to rise relative to the rest of the world is expected to borrow now and run a current account de cit. Our findings suggest that Turkey's current account deficit in 2015 may be considered sustainable if the Turkish economy's share in the world economy could continue to grow at rates similar to the past. The same approach, however, indicates that the current account deficit in 2011, at its peak, was unlikely to be sustainable

Optimal Health Insurance in the Presence of Risky Health Behaviors *

Abstract In this paper I develop an overlapping generations model that incorporates bad behaviors (such as smoking and unhealthy eating habits that lead to obesity) to investigate the equilibrium effects of different cost sharing mechanisms and excise taxation on bad behaviors and medical expenditures. I show that while higher cost sharing induces individuals to refrain from bad behaviors, it has mixed welfare effects across different individuals. For example, if coinsurance rate is increased by 20 percentage points, smoking prevalence goes down by about 2 percentage points and medical expenditures to GDP ratio slightly declines. Although higher cost sharing increases the overall welfare in the economy, unhealthy individuals are either worse off or have much less welfare gains compared to healthy individuals. The quantitative implications of the model are consistent with the variation in smoking prevalence and excise taxes across tobacco and non-tobacco states

İnternet Galaksisi’nde Yolculuk Devam Ediyor: İnternet Galaksisi’nde Türkiye

İnternet Galaksisi’nde Türkiye başlıklı kitap, Türkiye'nin dijitalleşme sürecini çeşitli yönleriyle birlikte değerlendiriyor. Eserde yer alan bölümlerde, Türkiye’de İnternetin tarihinden güncel uygulamalara dijitalleşmeye ilişkin çeşitli başlıklar, yazarlar tarafından incelenmekte ve tartışılmaktadır. Yayının temel amacı, Türkiye'nin dijitalleşme yörüngesini ve farklı yönlerini incelemek ve bu konuda kapsamlı bir bakış açısı sunmaktır. Kitap, Türkiye'de bilgi ve iletişim teknolojilerinin tarihsel gelişimi ve önemli olayları başta olmak üzere bir dizi konuyu kapsamaktadır. İnternetin küresel düzeydeki görünümü ve yaşanan gelişmeler ele alınırken İnternet Galaksisi’nde Türkiye coğrafyasında yaşanan değişimleri; siyasetten, hukuka, ekonomiye, çalışma ilişkilerine ve iletişime geniş bir yelpazede incelenmektedir. Kitapta yer alan bölümler, okuyucuya, Türkiye'nin dijitalleşme yörüngesinin farklı yönlerini anlama ve değerlendirme şansı vermektedir. Bu açıdan da literatüre önemli katkılar sunmaktadır. Kitapta yer alan her bir bölüm; görece özerk değerlendirilme özelliğine sahip olmakla birlikte, ortaklaşa hazırlanan derleme bir çalışmanın taşıması gereken, karşılıklı destek ve tamamlayıcılık niteliklerini de de bünyesinde taşımaktadır. Kitap, bütünlüklü biçimde, Türkiye'de yaşanan dijitalleşme sürecini anlamayı amaçlamakta ve bu süreçte yaşanan zorlukların yanında fırsatları ve dönüşümleri de incelemektedir. Bu eserin, Türkiye'deki dijitalleşme olgusunun etkilerini anlamak ve bu olgunun farklı yönlerini değerlendirmek isteyen okuyucular ve araştırmacılar için önemli bir referans kaynağı olacağı söylenebilir. Bu kitap çalışmasının temelini, çeşitli kaynaklardan toplanan veriler ve yapılan araştırmalar ışığında, Türkiye'de dijitalleşme sürecinin e kapsamlı bir şekilde incelenmesi oluşturmaktadır. Literatür açısından büyük bir önem arz eden bu çalışmada, Türkiye’nin ağ haritasını, bu derece detaylı ve çok boyutlu ele alarak okuyucu ile buluşturması noktasında emeği geçen ve de bu değerli çalışmayı Türkiye Akademisine kazandıran başta kitabın editörleri; Tuğba Asrak Hasdemir ve Tülay Atay olmak üzere, her bölümü birbirinden kıymetli olan kitabın yazarları, İlknur Patan Şahin, Mahmut Fevzi Cengiz, Ayşenur Dal, Uğur Evcim, Zeynep Gültekin Akçay, Eylem Temizer, Seçil Toros, Mehtap Uyar, Mehmet Yumrutaş ve Çağdaş Ceyhan’a kitabın okuyucuları adına teşekkürlerimizi sunarız

Management of patients with connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is similar to connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung diseases (CTD-ILD) in many aspects. However, patients with CTD-ILD have required particular attention during the pandemic since they are at high risk due to -immunosuppressive treatments. Thus, prompt decisions for diagnosis and treatment initiation have become more important than earlier for these patients during the pandemic. Radiological perspectives have become inevitable for the differential diagnosis of this group -during the pandemic, particularly to obtain rapid and accurate results that allow the physicians to start treatment immediately. However, in addition to radiological images, a definitive diagnosis also requires access to extensive information regarding patient history, including characteristics of comorbidities, and clinical and serological findings. Consequently, the differential diagnosis of COVID-19 and CTD-ILD can yield accurate treatment regimens that differ greatly between the 2 diseases, and also prevent the spread of the outbreak with COVID-19 patients treated under isolation

METU Students' college life satisfaction

The research was conducted to identify the factors that influence college students' satisfaction with their college experience. Firstly, the study was focused on the literature review to determine relevant factors that have been previously studied in the literature. Then, the survey analysis examined three main independent factors that have been found to be related to college students' satisfaction: Major Satisfaction, Social Self-Efficacy, and Academic Performance. The findings of the study suggested that the most important factor affecting students' satisfaction with their college experience is their satisfaction with their chosen major. This means that students who are satisfied with the major they have chosen are more likely to be overall satisfied with their college experience. It's worth noting that, while the study found that major satisfaction is the most crucial factor, it doesn't mean that other factors such as Social Self-Efficacy, Academic Performance, and Campus Life Satisfaction are not important. Based on these findings, it is recommend that students prioritize their major satisfaction when making college choices in order to maximize their overall satisfaction with their college experience.Comment: 13 table, 18 figures, 34 page

Concentration, Competition, Efficiency and Profitability of the Turkish Banking Sector in the Post-Crises Period

After 2001 crisis, the macroeconomic environment led to important changes in Turkish banking sector which has experienced a process of concentration by involving in merger and acquisition activities and liquidation of some insolvent banks. Using the data from the detailed balance sheets of the banks that operated in the years from 2001 to 2005, we examine the degree of concentration and degree of competition in the market by applying Panzar and Rosse’s approach. We also explore the existence of relationship between efficiency and profitability of the banks taking into account the internationalization of banking. Our results do not suggest the existence of relationship between concentration and competition. There is also no robust relationship between efficiency and profitability

Attitudes and practices against COVID-19 vaccines in Turkiye

OBJECTIVE: Vaccination is the primary way to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy and refusal are one of the most important challenges against to reach herd immunity. The aim of this study is to examine the reasons for not get-ting vaccinated and the attitudes toward vaccines by people in Turkiye, who were not vaccinated, even though a COVID-19 vaccine was available for them.METHODS: This cross-sectional study is conducted in Eyupsultan district of Istanbul. The study population is 12,540. A questionnaire consisted of three sections as sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines, and Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) scale was used. Among the sample size, participation rate is 69.4%.RESULTS: About 50.2% of the participants (n=259) are male, 80.3% are married, 13.1% are university graduates, and 44.0% are working in a job. About 32.8% of the participants have COVID-19 history. About 34.4% of the participants stat-ed that they would be vaccinated against COVID-19. Although those who define themselves as vaccine refuser are 5.4%, those who still refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19 are 20.1%. In addition to this, those who are hesitant about COVID-19 vaccines are 45.6%. The most frequently preferred vaccine is comirnaty (41.7%). About 13.1% of the participants stated that "if we had a domestic COVID-19 vaccine, I would have it." The most common sources of information about vaccines are television with 78.4%, and health workers are in the last place with 14.7%. "Concerns about side effects" are the most frequently cited (85.9%) reason for not vaccinating. The mean score of the VAX scale is 42.34 +/- 10.93, and the "mistrust of vaccine benefit" is higher among primary school graduates than other educational status groups (p=0.001).CONCLUSION: Anti-vaccination attitudes have increased with the COVID-19 vaccines during pandemic. Our study is valu-able in terms of examining the reasons of individuals who have not gotten vaccinated even though they had no access prob-lems. Prominent concerns of the population should be approached seriously. Otherwise, vaccine hesitancy can be a decisive factor that would prevent the success of the struggle against pandemic