Sources Of Non-Performing Loans In Turkish Banking System

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the unlimited deposit insurance on non-performing loans and market discipline. Deposit insurance program play a crucial role in achieving financial stability. Governments in many advanced and developing economies established deposit insurance schemes for reducing the risk of systemic failure of banks. Deposit insurance has a beneficial effect of reducing the probability of a bank run.  However deposit insurance systems have its own set of problems. Deposit insurance systems create moral hazard incentives that encourage banks to take excessive risk. Turkey established an explicit deposit insurance system in 1960. Until 1994, the coverage determined by a flat rate but in that date, Turkey experienced a major economic crisis. In April 1994, Turkish government started to apply an unlimited deposit insurance scheme to restore banking system stability. Unlimited deposit insurance caused a remarkable increase at non-performing loans. This paper empirically estimates the impact of unlimited deposit insurance system on non-performing bank loans (NPLs) and analyses the other potential sources of NPLs

The Relationship between GDP and Unemployment: Evidence from MENA Countries

This paper investigates the long-run relationship between GDP growth and unemployment for the following selected MENA countries: Turkey, Egypt, Israel, and Jordan. Although the results of previous studies in this area are somewhat ambiguous, the literature has traditionally shown a negative relationship between GDP growth and unemployment. In this paper, we expect a negative long-run relationship between GDP growth and unemployment to exist. Therefore, we predict that high rates of GDP growth will lead to a reduction in unemployment. The results of our cross-country comparison model support a negative relationship between these variables

Military Expenditures and Inequality: Empirical Evidence from Israel

The aim of this paper is to examine different shocks to Israel’s business cycle from 1960 to 2007 in terms of the relationship between military expenditures and inequality, Gini coefficient. We begin with the assumption that there is a direct effect of higher military expenditures on income inequality levels in Israel. To capture this, we use the structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model to conduct this kind of different shock analysis and find that military expenditures shock (a rise) has a statistically significant effect on the Gini coefficient index after the first 3 years. This finding implies that military expenditures policies lead to inequality (Gini coefficient) in Israel

Thyroid fine needle aspiration reporting rates and outcomes before and after Bethesda implementation: A single-center experience over 8 years

Aimː To evaluate data from our hospital system before and after the implementation of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology (TBSRTC) and comparison of our data with the previously published studies. Methods: Seven hundred seventy-one patients with thyroid nodules who underwent fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and surgery at our institution were analyzed retrospectively. FNAB results were divided into two parts in terms of the period they related to: pre-TBSRTC (between 2005 and 2010) and TBSRTC (between 2011 and 2013). Results: 341 FNAB were applied in the period of TBSRTC. Of the 341 FNAB, 53(16%) were non diagnostic, 82(24%) were benign, 62(18%) were atypia of undetermined significance or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS), 28(8%) were follicular neoplasms and/or suspicion of follicular neoplasms (FN/SFN), 95(28%) were suspicion for malignancy (SuspM), and 21(6%) were malignant. Rates of malignancy reported on follow-up histopathological examination were non diagnostic in 11%, benign in 4.9%, AUS/FLUS in 23%, FN/SFN in 32%, SuspM in 44%, and malignant in 95.3%. Conclusions: In this study, the distribution of cases in TBSRTC categories and malignancy rates, differed from, recommended by TBSRTC and some studies. Implementation of TBSRTC did significantly affect our institution’s reporting rates

Effects of evening primrose oil and 5-fluorouracil on the healing of colonic anastomoses in rats

Aim: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of evening primrose oil (EPO) on colonic anastomosis. Methods: Sixty rats with colonic anastomosis were randomly divided into six groups. EPO and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) were administered at doses of 5 g/kg/day and 20 mg/kg/day, respectively.  Group 1 served as sham control. The rats in Group 2 (EPO) received EPO (14 days preoperatively), in Group 3 (Extended EPO) received EPO (14 days preoperatively and 7 days postoperatively), in Group 4 (5-FU) received intraperitoneally 5-FU (5 days preoperatively), in Group 5 (5-FU+EPO) received EPO (14 days preoperatively), and 5-FU (5 days preoperatively), in Group 6 (5-FU+ extended EPO) received EPO (14 days preoperatively and 7 days postoperatively)  and 5-FU (5 days preoperatively). Histopathological examination, bursting pressure, and hydroxyproline content were used for evaluation. Results: Significant differences were found between the Groups 1, 2, and 3 and Groups 4, 5, and 6 in bursting pressures. Polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) and lymphocyte infiltration was significantly less in group 3, compared to the control and group 2. The least PMNL infiltration was in group 6 compared to groups 4 and 5.  The hydroxyproline level was different in group 3 compared to the control and group 2. Furthermore, groups 5 and 6 were different compared to group 4. Conclusion: EPO had favorable effects on colonic anastomosis even in groups where 5-FU was used

Interstitial cystitis: a rare manifestation of primary Sjögren’s syndrome, successfully treated with low dose cyclosporine

Chronic interstitial cystitis (IC), mostly affecting middle-aged women, is a very rare manifestation of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). Hereby, we report a 42-year-old woman with pSS, presenting with dysuria, urinary frequency, and suprapubic pain. She was diagnosed to have chronic IC, based upon the cystoscopic biopsy finding of chronic inflammation in the bladder wall. Systemic corticosteroid and azathioprine treatments together with local intravesical therapies were not effective. Therefore, cyclosporine (CSA) therapy was initiated. Initial low dose of CSA (1.5 mg/kg/d) improved the symptoms of the patient, with no requirement for dose increment. After 4 months of therapy, control cystoscopic biopsy showed that bladder inflammation regressed and IC improved. This case suggests that even low doses of CSA may be beneficial for treating chronic IC associated with pSS syndrome

Economic Performance of Turkish Immigrant Men in the European Labour-Market: Evidence from Sweden

This paper uses eleven waves of panel-data to analyse the earnings assimilation of first-generation Turkish immigrant men in Sweden. Employment-probabilities and earnings are estimated in a fixed-effects sample selection model in order to control for both individual effects and panel-selectivity, which arise due to missing earnings-information. Local unemployment rates are used as proxy for varying local market conditions in order to control for the bias caused by equal-period-effect assumption. The results indicate that the earnings of Turkish immigrant men converge to those of natives, but their probability of being employed does not. The assimilation response of Turkish immigrants differs considerably, depending on arrival-cohorts and educational levels

Turkish textile and clothing industry in the post-quota era and some policy options

Textile and clothing (T&C) industry has experienced important developments since 1994. The most important is that Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) signed (1994) under supervision of World Trade Organization. The system governing T&C trade for more than 40 years has expired by means of stipulating a gradual quota reduction during the period 1995–2005. Though signing of ATC does not mean a complete elimination of protection, it may lead to shifts in market shares, trade and investment flows. It is expected that the equilibriums will change in favour of some countries as well as in disfavour of others. The period created serious problems for Turkish T&C industry. This paper attempts to analyse the impact of ATC on Turkish T&C industry.Turkey; clothing industry; textile industry; garment industry; apparel industry; international agreements; quota reductions; World Trade Organization; WTO; protection; market shares; trade flows; investment flows; economics; business research.

The Effect of Religion on Cooperation and Altruistic Punishment: Experimental Evidence from Public Goods Experiments

This paper experimentally examines how religious festivals and the degree of religiosity affect cooperation and altruistic punishment by using public goods experiments. We conducted the experiments in Turkey at different points in time; one on the most religious day during Ramadan (the Night of Power - Laylat al-Qadr) and the other at a time without any religious festivals other than the normal daily prayers. The overall results show no differences in cooperation or altruistic punishment among individuals during Ramadan, even when the degree of their religiosity varied. However, less religious people did change their cooperative behaviour in response to religious festivals. Most of the differences can, however, be explained by differences in beliefs about others contributions. By and large, this indicates the importance of conditional cooperation