Out-of-pocket health care expenditure in Turkey: Analysis of the 2003-2008 Household Budget Surveys

This paper analyses the prevalence of ‘catastrophic’ out-of-pocket health expenditure in Turkey and identifies the factors which are associated with its risk using the Turkish Household Budget Surveys from 2003 to 2008. A sample selection approach based on Sartori (2003) is adopted to allow for the potential selection problem which may arise if poor households choose not to seek health care due to concerns regarding its affordability. The results suggest that poor households are less likely to seek health care as compared to non-poor households and that a negative relationship between poverty and experiencing catastrophic health expenditure remains even after allowing for such selection bias. Our findings, which may assist policy-makers concerned with health care system reforms, also highlight factors such as insurance coverage, which may protect households from the risk of incurring catastrophic health expenditure

Returns to Foreign Language Skills in a Developing Country: The Case of Turkey

Foreign language skills represent a form of human capital that can be rewarded in the labor market. Drawing on data from the Adult Education Survey of 2007, this is the first study estimating returns to foreign language skills in Turkey. We contribute to the literature on the economic value of language knowledge, with a special focus on a country characterized by fast economic and social development. Although English is the most widely spoken foreign language in Turkey, we initially consider the economic value of different foreign languages among the employed males aged 25 to 65. We find positive and significant returns to proficiency in English and Russian, which increase with the level of competence. Knowledge of French and German also appears to be positively rewarded in the Turkish labor market, although their economic value seems mostly linked to an increased likelihood to hold specific occupations rather than increased earnings within occupations. Focusing on English, we also explore the heterogeneity in returns to different levels of proficiency by frequency of English use at work, birth-cohort, education, occupation and rural/urban location. The results are also robust to the endogenous specification of English language skills

Decreasing trends in cardiovascular mortality in Turkey between 1988 and 2008.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality increased in developed countries until the 1970s then started to decline. Turkey is about to complete its demographic transition, which may also influence mortality trends. This study evaluated trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke mortality between 1988 and 2008. METHODS: The number of deaths by cause (ICD-8), age and sex were obtained from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) annually between 1988 and 2008. Population statistics were based on census data (1990 and 2000) and Turkstat projections. European population standardised mortality rates for CHD and stroke were calculated for men and women over 35 years old. Joinpoint Regression was used to identify the points at which a statistically significant (p < 0.05) change of the trend occurred. RESULTS: The CHD mortality rate increased by 2.9% in men and 2.0% in women annually from 1988 to 1994, then started to decline. The annual rate of decline for men was 1.7% between 1994-2008, whilst in women it was 2.8% between 1994-2000 and 6.7% between 2005-2008 (p < 0.05 for all periods).Stroke mortality declined between 1990-1994 (annual fall of 3.8% in both sexes), followed by a slight increase between 1994-2004 (0.6% in men, 1.1% in women), then a further decline until 2008 (annual reduction of 4.4% in men, 7.9% in women) (p < 0.05 for all periods). CONCLUSIONS: A decrease in CVD mortality was observed from 1995 onwards in Turkey. The causes need to be explored in detail to inform future policy priorities in noncommunicable disease control

Respective Sale Prices for a Parrot and for Nasreddin Hoca's Turkey.

Four page transcript of Turkish oral narrative story No. 2191 titled "Respective Sale Prices for a Parrot and for Nasreddin Hoca's Turkey." The folktale was narrated on August 11, 1999 by Ekici Metin and is part of the Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative.Oral narrative of a Turkish folktale collected by Professor Ahmet Edip Uysal, Dr. Waren Walker and Barbara Walker (Mrs. Warren Walker). Each narrative was translated into English by native Turkish speakers (mostly students), paid for by the Walkers, who then edited the translations

The Prince and Three Seville Oranges.

Thirteen page transcript of Turkish oral narrative story No. 2040 titled "The Prince and Three Seville Oranges." The folktale was narrated in spring of 1966 and is part of the Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative.Oral narrative of a Turkish folktale collected by Professor Ahmet Edip Uysal, Dr. Waren Walker and Barbara Walker (Mrs. Warren Walker). Each narrative was translated into English by native Turkish speakers (mostly students), paid for by the Walkers, who then edited the translations

Nasreddin Hoca and Tamerlane's Elephants.

Four page transcript of Turkish oral narrative story No. 2201 titled "Nasreddin Hoca and Tamerlane's Elephants." The folktale was narrated in the spring of 1962 and is part of the Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative.Oral narrative of a Turkish folktale collected by Professor Ahmet Edip Uysal, Dr. Waren Walker and Barbara Walker (Mrs. Warren Walker). Each narrative was translated into English by native Turkish speakers (mostly students), paid for by the Walkers, who then edited the translations

Cross-phenotype analysis of Immunochip data identifies KDM4C as a relevant locus for the development of systemic vasculitis.

OBJETIVE: Systemic vasculitides represent a heterogeneous group of rare complex diseases of the blood vessels with a poorly understood aetiology. To investigate the shared genetic component underlying their predisposition, we performed the first cross-phenotype meta-analysis of genetic data from different clinically distinct patterns of vasculitis. METHODS: Immunochip genotyping data from 2465 patients diagnosed with giant cell arteritis, Takayasu's arteritis, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis or IgA vasculitis as well as 4632 unaffected controls were analysed to identify common susceptibility loci for vasculitis development. The possible functional consequences of the associated variants were interrogated using publicly available annotation data. RESULTS: The strongest association signal corresponded with an intergenic polymorphism located between HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DQA2 (rs6932517, P=4.16E-14, OR=0.74). This single nucleotide polymorphism is in moderate linkage disequilibrium with the disease-specific human leucocyte antigen (HLA) class II associations of each type of vasculitis and could mark them. Outside the HLA region, we identified the KDM4C gene as a common risk locus for vasculitides (highest peak rs16925200, P=6.23E-07, OR=1.75). This gene encodes a histone demethylase involved in the epigenetic control of gene expression. CONCLUSIONS: Through a combined analysis of Immunochip data, we have identified KDM4C as a new risk gene shared between systemic vasculitides, consistent with the increasing evidences of the crucial role that the epigenetic mechanisms have in the development of complex immune-mediated conditions

Keloğlan and the Three Magic Gifts.

Six page transcript of Turkish oral narrative story No. 756 titled "Keloğlan and the Three Magic Gifts." The folktale was narrated in January of 1985 and is part of the Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative.Oral narrative of a Turkish folktale collected by Professor Ahmet Edip Uysal, Dr. Waren Walker and Barbara Walker (Mrs. Warren Walker). Each narrative was translated into English by native Turkish speakers (mostly students), paid for by the Walkers, who then edited the translations