Genel Yayın Yönetmeni / Editor in Chief • C.

Cansın Selin Temana

Kapak & İç Tasarım / Cover & Interior Design • Serüven Yayınevi
Birinci Basım / First Edition • © Mart 2023
ISBN • 978-625-6399-78-5

© copyright
Bu kitabın yayın hakkı Serüven Yayınevi’ne aittir.
Kaynak gösterilmeden alıntı yapılamaz, izin almadan hiçbir yolla
çoğaltılamaz. The right to publish this book belongs to Serüven
Publishing. Citation can not be shown without the source, reproduced in
any way without permission.

Serüven Yayınevi / Serüven Publishing

Türkiye Adres / Turkey Address: Kızılay Mah. Fevzi Çakmak 1. Sokak
U� mit Apt No: 22/A Çankaya/ANKARA
Telefon / Phone: 05437675765
web: www.seruvenyayinevi.com
e-mail: [email protected]

Baskı & Cilt / Printing & Volume

Sertifika / Certificate No: 47083
 International Academic
Research and Reviews in Social,
Human and Administrative
Sciences

March 2023

Editor
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Salih BATAL
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE GRIP OF THEORIES AND
CULTURAL VALUES
Ömer ÇAMUR............................................................................................... 1

CHAPTER 2
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS IN IMPROVING
PUBLIC HEALTH
Ceylan BOZPOLAT, Yavuz CÖMERT........................................................ 21

CHAPTER 3
THE EFFECTS OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL
TRANSPORT TYPES
Ramazan YILDIZ........................................................................................... 45

CHAPTER 4
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND ASSESSMENTS ON TURKEY
Hazal Koray ALAY......................................................................................... 67

CHAPTER 5
IS A COMMON EUROPEAN IDENTITY POSSIBLE IN THE
EUROPEAN UNION?
Akif ÇARKÇI, Recep ŞEHITOĞLU, MD Nazmul İSLAM...................... 87

CHAPTER 6
DIGITAL ACTIVISM AND HASHTAG FEMINISM
Berna GÖRGÜLÜ, Naim ÇINAR................................................................ 103

CHAPTER 7
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE BALKANS:
INTEGRATED BWM-BASED CoCoSo METHOD
Naci Yılmaz..................................................................................................... 121
CHAPTER 8
AN APPLICATION FOR AGGREGATING THE CRITERIA WEIGHTS
OBTAINED BY DIFFERENT OBJECTIVE WEIGHTING METHODS
AND THEIR USE IN COPRAS
Mehmet Hakan ÖZDEMIR ......................................................................... 141

CHAPTER 9
DOLLARIZATION IN TURKEY
Can MAVRUK ............................................................................................... 155

CHAPTER 10
TRANSFERABLE UTILITY GAMES AND THE EXISTENCE OF CORE
ALLOCATIONS
Mehmet KARAKAYA.................................................................................... 183

CHAPTER 11
AN ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGIC RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA
AND CHINA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERDEPENDENCE
Eylül Beyza ATEŞ ÇIFTÇI............................................................................ 199

CHAPTER 12
TALENT MANAGEMENT
Aylin AKYOL.................................................................................................. 233

CHAPTER 13
SMART GASTRONOMY TOURISM APPLICATIONS
Mahmut BARAKAZI..................................................................................... 259

CHAPTER 14
RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANIES’ RECENT OUTLOOK ON
BORSA ISTANBUL WITH MOORA AND MABAC METHODS
Orhan Emre ELMA........................................................................................ 277

CHAPTER 15
APPROACHES TO COMPETITIVENESS AND PORTER DIAMOND
MODEL
Ayhan KULOĞLU ..................................................................................293
CHAPTER 16
MAIN MENTAL DISEASES OF IMMIGRANTS AND ASYLUM
SEEKERS
Candan OZKAN, Selami Varol ULKER...................................................... 323

CHAPTER 17
THE EFFECT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE BANKING
SECTOR
Zikrullah ZALAND, Hatice İMAMOĞLU................................................. 345

CHAPTER 18
THE IMPACT OF DECLINE IN MORTALITY RATE ON ECONOMIC
GROWTH IN THE LATE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Bilal İSLAMOĞLU, İdris AKKUZU............................................................ 357
 
CHAPTER 19
SHORT-TERM METRIC IN TV ADVERTISEMENTS: AN
EXPERIMENTAL APPLICATION
Fatma Nur YORGANCILAR ATATOPRAK.............................................. 367

CHAPTER 20
THE EFFECT OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP ON PRODUCT AND
SERVICE INNOVATION: THE MODERATOR ROLE OF PERCEIVED
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT
Saadet Ela PELENK....................................................................................... 377
 CHAPTER 1
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE
GRIP OF THEORIES AND CULTURAL
VALUES

Ömer ÇAMUR1

1  Assist. Prof. Dr., Bingol University, Vocational School of Health Services,

Department of Management and Organization, Orcid Id: 0000-0001-6447-
1475, [email protected]
2 . Ömer Çamur

1. INTRODUCTION
Theories are information put forward as a result of observing and
explaining any phenomenon. Theories, which are important in terms of
understanding and interpreting the world we live in, are common both in
social life and in social institutions created by the society. This is also true
for public administration. Public administration is a structure created to
meet the common needs of the society as the executive tool of the state.
There are many theories that have emerged in the historical process in
order for the public administration to realize what is expected from it. The-
ories are commonly used in areas such as making sense of the public ad-
ministration, interpreting it, improving the service production processes,
providing the services needed by the citizens in an effective and efficient
manner, and demonstrating a successful administration.
Theories are very important and effective in public administration’s
providing service successfully. However, some problems may occur in
successful implementation of theories in public administration. Most im-
portant of these problems are that public administration theories are not
created for every country and that theory applications are applied by dif-
ferent countries in the form of policy transfer. This situation is one of the
leading factors that prevent public administration theories from being suc-
cessful in country practices. This is because the structure and culture of
each society is different from each other.
Culture refers to all the material and spiritual values ​​that individuals,
who are social beings and therefore have to live together, have created
in the historical process. Culture encompasses the shared, learned behav-
iours and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation. Cul-
ture, which forms the system of social relations, is the main activity area
required for the survival of human societies. Cultural values ​​that shape life
are effective in every area where the individual is present. This is also true
for public administration, which operates to meet social needs. In the light
of this information, this study will first explain what public administration
theories and cultural values ​​mean. The rest of the study will provide sug-
gestions on how to solve the problems experienced by public administra-
tion, which is between theories and cultural values.
2. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THEORIES OF PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
Theories are analytical tools through which people make sense of their
experiences with the world and which are used to understand a particular
subject, explain it in detail, reveal the different dimensions of the sub-
ject, and make predictions in terms of its relation to other fields. Theories,
which encompass all of the thoughts and views about a subject, express
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .3

the systematic grouping of concepts that are connected to each other (Ateş,
2020: 4). Theories are explanations for understanding the way things hap-
pen in social life or natural events. They are the basic elements that shape
the way we perceive and interpret the world we live in and our reactions
to the events we experience (Taşçı, 2013: 4). Theories, which can be effec-
tive on social life and all social institutions created, have a very important
place in today’s modern world. This situation requires humans to live to-
gether (Denek, 2010: 33). Humans who have to live together have tried to
create effective and efficient organizations in order to meet their needs and
they have developed different management theories on the subject (Şahin,
2004: 523). Very important ideas have been put forward in order to reveal a
successful management approach within the historical process. The devel-
opment of theories in the field of management, which corresponds to the
history of humanity, is a new phenomenon. This situation is related to the
recent acceptance of management science as a discipline.
Public administration, which is a special field of management science,
expresses the organizational structure of the state as a structural concept
(Ökmen and Parlak, 2008: 4). Public administration is social structures
created to produce the basic needs of citizens. Public administration is a
field closely related to many disciplines. In this respect, it is closely related
to different disciplines such as politics, law, business, economy, psychol-
ogy and sociology (Ökmen and Çağatay, 2016: 82). This situation causes
the expansion of public administration as a concept and the increase in
knowledge about public administration. In addition, the relationship of
public administration with many different disciplines brings about being
influenced and benefiting from theories emerging in related fields. Public
administration is accepted as an art with its feature of making suggestions
to administrators and a science to the extent that it examines organization-
al problems (Ergun and Polat, 1988: 8).
Especially since the last quarter of the 20th century, the separation
of political science and public administration from each other and the ex-
amination of public administration as a separate discipline has led to an
increase in scientific studies in the field of public administration. In this
process, different studies have been carried out in the field of public ad-
ministration, both in theory and in practice, and a public administration
adventure has started until today (Bayansar and Uzun, 2022: 1837). Many
theories have been developed in the field of public administration during
this process.
The main purpose of the theories that emerge in the field of public
administration is to create an effective and efficient public administra-
tion. Theories of public administration have emerged sometimes to solve
a problem directly, sometimes to adapt the public administration to new
4 . Ömer Çamur

developments, and sometimes to cover the deficiencies of different theo-

ries by seeking alternatives. Therefore, theories of public administration
consist of many management theories that deal with public organizations
from different perspectives.
The world is going through an intense transformation from the pro-
cess that started with industrialization to the present. This transformation
also affects public administration and the development of theories in the
field of public administration. According to Bayansar and Uzun, the sub-
ject of management continues to be the subject of different new criticisms
and thoughts after being grounded on a scientific basis. A new study or
idea that emerges in the field of management is usually the product of an
effort to improve or change the existing situation. However, every innova-
tion brings with it different problems, and therefore, studies on manage-
ment continue to be conducted (2022: 1837).
Theories of public administration are very effective on the change of
public administration. There are many factors that make change inevitable
in terms of public administration. These can be listed as the increase and
change in human needs over time, the politicization of public policies, the
inability of traditional bureaucracy to meet needs, the loss of value and
prestige of public administration in terms of performance, the changes in
the understanding of politics and economy, and the increase in the impor-
tance given to people and civil society (Dursun, 2018: 22). It is of course
possible to increase the reasons for the change in public administration.
The important factor here is the path to be followed for the change and
transformation of public administration. Theories emerging in the field of
public administration play a very important role in the transformation of
public administration and they have an impact on the direction of change.
According to Varol, theories of public administration contribute to a sys-
tematic understanding of the public sector and to guiding public admin-
istrators in the functioning (2021: 97). Therefore, theories are needed in
public administration. This is because theories of public administration
are needed in order to keep the important social developments today under
control. Theories are important, especially in order to provide a systematic
organization of information on behaviour in the field of management, to
see the gaps that exist and to understand the consequences and costs of
different courses of action. Again, theories are needed to predict social ac-
tions and to control the harmful consequences that may occur in the future
(Caldwell, 1970: 178).
Change has led to the development of theories in the field of public
administration and the emergence of different theories within the process
(Leblebici, 2015: 54). Many theories have emerged in the process from
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .5

the 20th century, when public administration was the subject of scientific
research, to the present day. Güler divided the development of theories in
public administration into four different phases chronologically. In gen-
eral terms, it is possible to list the phases as Classical-traditional school
(1900-1925), neoclassical-behavioural school (1925-1950), modern school
(1950-1980) and neomodern school (1980-2005) (2005; 2). These stages,
which are discussed with a very general classification, contain different
theories within themselves. The theories in each classification are similar
in terms of general characteristics and public organizations are examined
from different perspectives.
It can be stated that in general sense public administration theories
criticize each other or emerge as a reaction to each other. However, it is not
sufficient to evaluate public administration theories only as a reaction. In
fact, public administration theories have emerged with different assump-
tions and conceptualizations about people, society and organization. With
a very general evaluation, classical organizational theories accept organ-
izations as “rational” systems and emphasize the importance of organi-
zational system for an efficient management. Neoclassical organizational
theories oppose considering only the organizational structure in order to
ensure organizational efficiency and emphasize the importance of the el-
ement of “human” in productivity (Aydın, 2015: 158). Modern organiza-
tional theories have led to the development of different and new theories
with the thought that classical and neoclassical organizational theories are
insufficient. Postmodern organization theories, on the other hand, have led
to a paradigm shift and the emergence of new theories in line with a ser-
vice understanding that puts people in the centre in parallel with the devel-
opment of globalization and information and communication technologies
(Seçtim and Erkul, 2020: 42).
Each public administration paradigm and each of the theories with-
in this paradigm has an origin story and an administrative problem that
needs to offer a solution. Almost all public administration theories have
adopted an approach that prioritizes the problem in whichever environ-
ment they have been developed as a solution to the problem (Ateş, 2020:
15). Therefore, each theory focuses on a different area of ​​the organization.
Again, the concept and method preferences of each theory are different.
Some theories choose a method of analysis based on experimentation and
observation, while others prefer a more positive and empirical tradition
(Öztaş, 2015: 274). Different perspectives and analysis methods for institu-
tions have brought about the emergence of many theories.
Theories do not contain clear information about the correctness or
incorrectness of the decisions taken. Public administration theories pro-
vide a normative basis for how political decision processes should work.
6 . Ömer Çamur

The fact that different theories can predict different decision processes is
a matter of which values ​​the theory adopts. Just as a theory may not be
enough to understand all reality, not every theory can explain every situa-
tion. Therefore, it can be stated that theories develop concepts, definitions
and metaphors (Leblebici, 2015: 56).
Public administration theories are effective in providing services ef-
fectively and efficiently, in eliminating existing problems, in providing
public services with new methods, in establishing and explaining citi-
zen-management relations, and in the transformation of public administra-
tion. For this reason, it should be stated that theories are very effective and
important in the successful functioning of public administration. How-
ever, some problems may arise in the successful application of theories
in public administration. The most important of these problems is that
public administration theories are not created for every country and that
different countries try to apply theory practices in the form of policy trans-
fer. This situation is one of the most important factors that prevent public
administration theories from being successful in country practices. This
is because the structure of each society and its cultural values ​​are different
from each other. Culture has to be taken into account because of its impact
on management.
3. CULTURAL VALUES
Culture is a comprehensive concept studied by different disciplines.
This makes it very difficult to explain what culture means. Culture has
emerged with people, who are social creatures, living with other people.
Culture, which affects both individual and social life directly in all his-
torical periods, covers all areas of life. Therefore, it is not easy to define
culture.
Culture, which can mean different things, is defined as “all of the ma-
terial and spiritual values ​​created in the historical and social development
process and the tools used in creating them and transmitting them to the
next generations, showing the extent of human dominance over their natu-
ral and social environment” by Turkish Language Society (sozluk.gov.tr).
Culture is everything created by human beings in line with their aims, in-
tentions and thoughts (Özlem, 2012: 183). Culture is all of the values ​​found
in the conscience of a nation (Yılmaz, 2014: 97). According to another
definition, culture is the most general knowledge of man about humani-
ty and the intellectual activities shown in a civilization (Timuçin, 2004b:
340).
Culture, which is commonly expressed as “a lifestyle”, consists of the
values ​​that members of a group believe in, the norms they follow, and the
material things they create (Gökalp, 2011: 28). Culture is the descriptor of
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .7

all elements in social life expressed by concepts such as rules, institutions,

social norms, trust, civic virtue, morality, belief and values (Aktan and
Tutar, 2007: 1). Culture, which covers a very broad area in individual and
social life, is a privileged area with its own dynamics within human ac-
tivities. Being privileged gives culture a special importance among other
areas of social life (Ergur, 2011: 18).
According to Güvenç, culture is a concept that includes four basic
features. According to these features, “Culture is the cumulative civiliza-
tion of a society or of all societies. Culture is a specific society. Culture is
the resultant of a series of social processes. Culture is a theory of humans
and society” (1979: 95). With these features, it can be stated that culture
develops specific behavioural models, rules and social institutions in many
areas starting from the traditions of different societies separated by fac-
tors such as religion, race, language and history, to law, economy, political
and economic systems, from art to literature, from leisure time habits to
religious ceremonies. In this respect, culture is the most important factor
affecting the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in society
towards each other and their mutual relations. Culture is a phenomenon
that exists outside of individuals and creates a common lifestyle by mak-
ing human societies behave like a single organism. Therefore, culture is
the only factor that determines attitudes and behaviours in a society re-
garding views about family, judgments about gender, habits, celebrations,
eating and drinking, dressing style, accommodation habits, interpersonal
relationship types and many other private and public areas (Ballı, 2001:
190-191).
Culture encompasses shared, symbolic, learned behaviours and be-
liefs that are passed down from generation to generation (Kottak, 1987:
35; cited from Berger, 2014: 142). Humans, who are members of a certain
society, learn, defend, keep their culture alive and transfer it to next gen-
erations. This process is a prerequisite and inevitable function of cultural
existence (Güvenç, 1979: 4). Therefore, culture rises on three basic as-
pects. Culture is inherited from the upper generation, lived as a legacy, and
passed on to the next generations as a legacy (Aktan and Tutar, 2007: 2).
Culture is not an unchanging area. Culture is a process in which new
structures emerge with the continuous change of values (Ergur, 2011: 12).
Cultural change is a process of adaptation to social needs. The change
does not take place suddenly in the whole cultural system, but by spread-
ing from certain segments to others (Gümüştekin, 2011: 320). Each age is
shaped by certain lifestyles that develop as a result of certain social and
economic conditions. Social and economic transformations change life-
styles, and accordingly, values ​​ change constantly. This transformation in
social life also changes the culture. Cultural change takes place through
8 . Ömer Çamur

adaptation. Culture that exists in every society adapts to the natural en-
vironment and changes over time. Therefore, depending on the change,
each age carries various cultural values ​​that develop according to its own
lifestyle (Timuçin, 2013b: 28; Güvenç, 1979: 105).
The lifestyle adopted by a society in order to meet its needs, consti-
tutes the culture together with its material and spiritual elements (Güngör,
2006: 68). Therefore, culture is generally expressed as the set of material
and spiritual values ​​in a society (Aktan and Tutar, 2007: 2). This situation
brings about the emergence of culture in two different types as material
and spiritual culture. Material culture is the functional tools and equipment
taken from or originating from another culture. All kinds of materials pro-
duced or created by man constitute the material culture. Spiritual culture
on the other hand consists of values, attitudes, beliefs and symbols in a
society. The behaviour patterns of any society originate from the spiritual
culture. The structure of any society in a certain time period is shaped by
the relationship between the material and spiritual culture of that society
(Avcıoğlu, 2020: 316; Gümüştekin, 2011: 319).
Culture is embodied through values ​​in individual and social life. In
other words, values transfer culture to real life. According to Tümuçin, all
cultural values ​​are embodied in people’s beliefs, worships, behaviours, ac-
tivities and what they say (2004b: 342). Therefore, there is a very close re-
lationship between values ​​and culture. The only source of values is culture
(Güvenç, 1979: 95). Social culture produces abstract criteria called values ​​
in culture. Individuals who have just joined the society first internalize
values ​​and then socialize (Yazıcı, 2014: 214). Every society needs values
to exist. Values ​​make social culture unique and differentiate it from other
cultures. The formation and continuity of the differentiation between ‘us’
and ‘them’ is realized through values (Yapıcı et al., 2012: 130).
Values are the soul of culture (Canatan, 2011: 50). Values are deep in
the social structure and they are at the base of behaviour and habits in daily
life (Güven, 2011: 78). Human acts become concrete in the axis of criteria
such as right-wrong, good-bad, unjust, unfair-justice. Values ​​rooted in be-
liefs are a result of this tendency to become concrete. All societies have to
set criteria in the way of making sense of the behaviours of individuals and
in the activities of transforming nature. Otherwise, social life would not be
possible. For this purpose, values ​​that will ensure the continuity of social
life and turn into traditions and customs through repetition are accepted
as common founding elements. Thanks to values, individuals in society
produce, perceive, share and reproduce the meanings of actions without
the need to communicate directly (Ergur, 2011: 11).
The change in culture occurs through the change in values. Struc-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .9

tural differences between individuals, differences in choice between in-

dividuals, their culture, and the way they relate to the world lead to the
emergence of new values (Maslow, 2001: 161). In every age, old and new
cultural values ​​coexist in the process of cultural change. Besides causing
cultural conflicts, this situation also brings about the operation of every
society with a complex cultural order. Therefore, culture is a complex area
of ​​values ​​where old and new values ​​coexist (Timuçin, 2013a: 117).
Culture is both the founder and the reflection of the way in which
the system of social relations is formed and organized. Regardless of the
approach taken, culture is the basic field of activity necessary to establish
and maintain the existence of human societies (Ergur, 2011: 18). Culture
is the foundation of individual and social life. Cultural values which shape
life are effective in every area individuals exist. This situation is also true
for public administration, which operates to meet social needs. Therefore,
it can be stated that culture is effective in the functioning of public ad-
ministration and in the processes of realizing theories related to public
administration.
4. CULTURAL VALUES AND THEORIES OF PUBLIC AD-
MINISTRATION
As the face of state reflected on citizens, public administration op-
erates to produce public services. Public administration acts in accord-
ance with predetermined laws and rules in today’s modern states. Rational
functioning of public administration is closely related to its adherence to
the relevant rules. However, management is a social function and it is af-
fected by the society in which it exists. Therefore, it is not possible to
evaluate public administration independently of the society it is in and the
cultural values ​​of the society. This is due to the fact that public adminis-
tration is an open system.
First of all, it should be stated that culture is not the only factor that
is effective in the decisions and functioning of the public administration.
Public organizations are affected by environmental factors such as glo-
balization, technological developments, political structure, size, etc. This
shows that different factors are evident on the structure and functioning
of public administration. However, according to Ergun and Polatoğlu, the
main part of a social system and institutions is humans (1998:13). There-
fore, ‘human’, which constitutes the humane element of public administra-
tion, shapes administration with its actions and processes and transforms
the administration with its values. This situation brings culture to a privi-
leged position in terms of public administration.
Public administration renews itself periodically due to changing po-
litical, economic and social conditions because as an open system, public
10 . Ömer Çamur

administration has to keep up with changing conditions around. Thus, the

ever-changing and diversifying desires and demands of the society can be
met more effectively. For this reason, different theories about public ad-
ministration have emerged over time. Emerging theories have developed
theoretical and conceptual models on how to create a more transparent,
effective, strong, sustainable and efficient public administration. However,
despite all efforts for reform, it is not possible to say that public administra-
tion has completely changed in accordance with these theories and models
and has reached an effective application in any country (Peter, 2001, cited
from Ayhan, 2021: 326).
Cultural values ​​are very effective in the failure of public administra-
tion and theories of public administration to fully demonstrate the success
expected from them. According to Emre, even the simplest organization in
a society is affected by the general values ​​of the society (2003: 459). This
is because there is a very intense communication between the structure of
a society and the structure of the organizations in that society. Since social
structure means human relations that take place on a certain basis, it is
quite natural for human relations to affect the structures of organizations
in a society (Kongar, 1976: 25). This is actually due to the fact that people
are at the centre of the relationship between organizational life and culture.
Humans are both an element of the administrative structure and members
of social life. Humans, who provide the communication between the or-
ganization and social life, are affected by the society on the one hand and
affect the organization on the other hand. This is also evident for public
administration because the reason for the existence of public administra-
tion is the provision of public services. Public administration operating in
line with this purpose is intertwined with the society. Therefore, public
administration is heavily influenced by the cultural values ​​of the society.
Every state is the state of a society. Therefore, each state reflects all
the characteristics of society at a high level. Culture, which constitutes the
basic features of a society, is clearly reflected in all the actions of the state
as a regulatory force. In other words, the cultural level of the state and the
cultural level of the society are completely compatible with each other
(Timuçin, 2004a: 51). Public administration, which includes an orientation
from the state to the society and ultimately to the human (Saklı, 2011: 111),
is the dependent variable in the social whole (Güler, 2004: 4). This situ-
ation causes the public administration to be constantly affected by social
developments and the changing cultural values ​​of the society.
Individual behaviours are the basis of the effectiveness of cultural val-
ues ​​in public administration. Behaviours should be evaluated and inter-
preted in the context of culture (Aça and Demir, 2020: 1273). Each culture
presents individuals with an unconscious schema for all the actions of life
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences . 11

and creates its own norms of values ​​and behaviour over time. Humans are
born and grown up in a ready-made culture. Therefore, human is the prod-
uct of the culture in which he/she lives (Cuche, 2013: 51; Aktan and Tutar,
2007: 2). From this point of view, culture is a phenomenon that shows itself
in human behaviour and determines how people should behave.
In a chain hierarchy, culture affects the individual and the individual
affects the institution (Gültekin and Sığrı, 2007: 275; Ören, 1999: 313).
Therefore, the general values ​​of the society have a great impact on the ac-
tions of the personnel working in public institutions and the management
procedures and practices of the relevant institution (Okçu et al., 2020: 296).
Public administration’s being influenced by cultural values ​​differs ac-
cording to individualistic and collectivist cultures. Individualism is valid
in societies where ties between individuals are not tight; every individual
is responsible for taking care of himself/herself and his/her family. Collec-
tivism, on the other hand, is specific to societies where there is a sense of
belonging and loyalty to strong and loyal groups from the moment individ-
uals are born throughout their lives (Hofstede, 1984: 83).
In individualistic cultures, individual’s interests are more important
than group interests, while in collectivist cultures group interests direct
the individual’s thoughts and behaviours. Individuals of collectivistic cul-
tures care more about getting group approval than individuals of individ-
ualistic cultures (Kağıtçıbaşı and Cemalcılar, 2014: 90). In individualistic
cultures, the relationship between individuals is weak. In collectivist cul-
tures, community ties are very strong and being a member of a group or
society is very important. Therefore, while the concept of ‘I’ is valid in
individualistic cultures; the concept of ‘us’ prevails in collectivist cultures
(Gültekin and Sığrı, 2007: 277). Individuals with individualistic and col-
lectivist cultural values ​​live together in all societies. For this reason, it is
not possible to group a society into a purely individualistic culture or a
collectivist culture. The main criterion that is effective in this grouping is
the behaviours exhibited by the people who make up the society. If the ma-
jority of the society shows individualistic behaviours, it is classified as an
individualistic culture, and if it shows collectivistic behaviours, it is clas-
sified as a collectivistic culture. The effect of both cultural classifications
is different on public administration. According to Emre, the structure
and functioning of public administration are completely different between
societies with an individualistic culture and societies with a collectivist
culture. Traces of collectivist culture are clearly seen in Turkish public
administration. As a result of the collectivist culture in Turkey, family
and friendship relations are given importance. This situation creates the
expectation that individuals should help their family and friends under
all circumstances. Therefore, decisions that need to be made objectively
12 . Ömer Çamur

in public administration can be made in line with personal requirements

(2003: 477-488).
All organizations are cultural assets that are constantly reproduced by
the stakeholders who constitute them. It is not possible to speak of a single
best organizational structure. All organizations have their own character-
istics (Erdemir, 2013: 176). This situation arises from the cultural structure
of the society in which the organization exists. Public administration is
the basic structure that exists in almost every society to meet the needs
of citizens. Cultural differences differentiate the formation, structure and
functioning of public administration. Therefore, all evaluations and the-
ories about public administration should be developed within the context
of cultural differences. Theories applied in Turkish public administration
have been produced directly from international centres or with developed
western-centred perspectives (Güler, 1994: 4). This is a reality that has
been ongoing from the Tanzimat era in Turkey. Those who prepared the
Tanzimat were a group of statesmen who were brought up with western
culture. These statesmen believed that the problems in the country could
be solved by taking over the institutions developed by the western states.
In other words, Ottoman State had to adopt the institutions developed by
the European civilization and try to be like them (Ergun and Polatoğlu,
1988: 76). The understanding that this situation would solve the country’s
problems was also effective in the following periods and western-centred
methods and techniques were adopted in solving the problems related to
public administration. According to Akın-Yalçın, there is an intense par-
allelism between the dynamics that are effective in shaping the discipline
of public administration in Turkey and the developments at the level of
public administration based in the United States and Europe (2020: 36).
Therefore, it can be said that the theories created by different civilizations
are still effective in the development of Turkish public administration.
Güler stated that there are two main sources of problems in Turkish
public administration. The first of these is that the Turkish public adminis-
tration discipline is ‘imported’ in terms of both its field and analysis mod-
els. The second is that the approach, model, concept and terms developed
in Turkish public administration are determined by the reality of the place
transferred (1994: 16). The main reason for this situation is the exami-
nation of Turkish public administration independently of economic and
social conditions. The parallelism between public administration issues
and theories, especially between the USA and Turkey, summarizes this
situation. The main problem here is that the US public administration has
different economic and social conditions than Turkey. This is because two
countries which have different development level of the productive forces
and formation of social institutions should also have different methods of
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences . 13

examining administrative institutions (Akbulut, 2006: 175).

The basis of the problems experienced in the application of theories
related to public administration lies in the fact that individuals act in line
with the values ​​they have. For example, classical management theory is
compatible with the culture in which it developed, the American culture.
Although classical management theory deals with the principles that are
common to all organizations, it has experienced many changes in the
process. The only way to understand this change is to study human be-
haviour in detail (Ergun and Polatoğlu, 1988: 132; Yalçın, 2010: 90). This
understanding also applies to other theories of public administration. The
important point here is that each public administration system and organi-
zation has its own specific conditions and environment. Even two different
organizations within a public administration system cannot be subject-
ed to uniform examination, analysis and recovery prescriptions (Üstüner,
1995: 68). Therefore, every public organization should be evaluated in line
with the conditions it is in.
Analysis unit and level of public administration theories is organi-
zation. Management is the actions of the public administrator. Managers
work according to principles and doctrines, not laws (Varol, 2021: 96).
The main reason for the contradiction here is that research on public ad-
ministration is reduced to a technical process and public administration
is examined only as an organization. The starting point of research on
public administration should be determined as ‘social relations’ instead of
‘organization’ and public administration should be evaluated from a broad
perspective. In fact, it is a necessity for public administration research to
go beyond the limitation of ‘organization’. Social foundations of adminis-
trative institutions can be examined only in this way (Üstüner, 1986: 150;
Akbulut, 2006: 175).
Organizations are not areas about which universally valid information
can be produced in every society and culture (Taşçı, 2013: 12). Therefore,
an ethnocentric management style that has been successful somewhere
today may fail elsewhere (Demir, 2008: 122). The main reason for this
situation is cultural differences. The concepts related to organization and
management should be evaluated within the context of cultural differenc-
es. General understanding of the society affects the management style and
organizational forms. Management activity can achieve success as long
as it is compatible with the social culture (Öztürk, 1997: 40-41). In most
of the articles written and words spoken about public administration in
Turkey, administration has been discussed in isolation from its social en-
vironment. Therefore, the focus of scientific theory discussions on public
administration is that public administration theories are independent of
cultural values. However, administrative system is in close communica-
14 . Ömer Çamur

tion with the social environment it is in. Applying administrative theories

developed in another country without considering the cultural patterns and
values ​​of a country will not produce the expected results (Ergun and Pla-
toğlu, 1988: V, 91; Akbulut, 2007: 23).
Humans implement all kinds of systems. Therefore, human is the
main factor in shaping the decisions to be taken within the organizational
system (Emre, 2003: 396). Humans, who are very important for organi-
zational life, are not only members of the organization, but also members
of the social environment that surround and contain the organization. In
this direction, people will carry the dominant culture in the environment
to management (Bozkurt, 1995: 47). It is very difficult to say that a public
official can stand out from social values ​​and be objective and impartial as
a member of the society. Even if this is accepted as possible, a social struc-
ture founded on theoretically neutral principles will be shaped according
to the cultural values ​​of the majority in practice (Ballı, 2001: 29-30). Theo-
ries developed elsewhere and at different times may be useful in the devel-
opment of some hypotheses, but these theories cannot be adopted as final
solutions. It cannot be argued that certain structures will be functional for
the same purposes in every country without testing them. Management
changing theories specific to each country can be revealed by research
methods to be conducted in that country (Heper and Berkman, 1979: 4). It
should be stated that cultural values ​​should be taken into account in order
for the theories related to public administration to realize the intended
change in administration. The basic solution for this is “to question the
design by international capital today and to be a candidate to undertake
the design”, in the words of Güler (1994: 18). In other words, theories of
public administration should be formed by taking into account the cultural
values ​​of countries.
5. CONCLUSION
Theories emerging in the field of public administration provide very
important transformations on the structure and functioning of public ad-
ministration. Theories formed on issues such as how public administration
can provide more effective and more efficient services, how its problems
can be solved, how it can keep up with the developments in global, eco-
nomic, technological, political and social areas, how public services can be
produced with new methods, how citizen-management relationships can
be created and explained have significant effects. Therefore, theories are a
necessity in the field of public administration and they are very important
for the administration to realize what is expected from it. However, it is
very difficult to state that public administration theories fully show the
success expected from them in practice. The main reason for this situation
is trying to apply theories of public administration in public administra-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences . 15

tions of all countries with a universal understanding and expecting them

to be successful. However, public administration is a social structure and
is affected by the society it is in. This situation brings the cultural values ​​
of the society to be effective in public administration and directly affects
the success rate of public administration theories.
It is not possible to isolate public administration from culture. It is
humans who will implement each system. Humans are entities that carry
the culture of the society in which they live and shape the administration
with their values. Culture, which is effective on the meaning world of in-
dividuals, the way they perceive events, how they behave and how they
make decisions, is effective in the decisions and practices of the public
administration. Therefore, cultural values ​​need to be taken into account in
any case related to public administration.
There is a close relationship between the theories produced in order to
realize a successful transformation in public administration and cultural
values. It is more successful in applying the theories that are formed by
taking cultural values ​​into account. It is a big mistake to think that any
theory created by different countries will lead to the same success in all
countries. Public administration structure of each country has been cre-
ated in line with the social structure and cultural values ​​of the relevant
country. Theories created in another country and time may lead to some
important developments, but these theories are not a definitive solution.
Theories applied in Turkish public administration are in parallel with the
theories applied in western civilizations. This situation is one of the main
obstacles to the success of the theories applied in Turkey because the social
structure and cultural values of Turkey are different from those of western
countries. Therefore, the first thing to do is not to evaluate public admin-
istration theories independently of the social and cultural structure of the
countries, and instead to develop public administration theories specific to
each country. It is thought that the theories to be created in this respect will
transform public administration more successfully.
16 . Ömer Çamur

REFERENCES

Aça, M., & Demir, B. A. (2020). A journey towards the semantic and functional
realm of the cultural and social behaviors: Behavioral folklore. Motif Aca-
demy Journal of Folklore, 13(32), 1253-1277.
Akbulut, Ö. Ö. (2006). Türkiye’de kamu yönetimi incelemesini tanımlayıcı bir
kavram önerisi: Ölçücülük-Ideametric. Amme İdaresi Dergisi, 39(4), 159-
193.
Akbulut, Ö. Ö. (2007). Kamu yönetiminde kuramın yokluğu ya da yapılabilirliği
üzerine yöntemsel bir tartışma. In Ş. Aksoy & Y. Üstüner (Ed.), Kamu Yö-
netimi (pp. 5-29), Ankara: Nobel Publishing.
Akın-Yalçın, Yeşim (2020). Psychology discipline in Turkish public administrati-
on: From human relations in administration to psychology of management.
Memleket Siyaset Yönetim, 15(33), 35-60.
Aktan, C. C., & Tutar, H. (2007). Bir sosyal sabit sermaye olarak kültür. Pazarla-
ma ve İletişim Kültürü Dergisi, 6(20), 1-11.
Ateş, H. (2020). Kamu yönetimi teori ve yaklaşımlarını anlamak. In H. Ateş (Ed.),
Kamu Yönetimi Teorileri (pp. 3-16), Ankara: Savaş Publishing.
Avcıoğlu, G. Ş. (2020). Perceptions of culture and civilization in Turkish socio-
logy. Selçuk Unıversity Journal of Studies in Turcology, (48), 313-326.
Aydın, A. H. (2015). Yönetim Bilimi. Ankara: Seçkin Publishing.
Ayhan, E. (2021). Robert B. Denhardt ve yeni kamu hizmeti yaklaşımı. In H. Ateş
(Ed.), Kamu Yönetimi Teoriler (pp. 321-348), Ankara: Savaş Publishing.
Ballı, A. Ş. (2001). Çokkültürlülük ve sosyal adalet. Konya: Çizgi Kitabevi Pub-
lishing.
Bayansar, R., & Uzun, H. (2022). Transition from new public management ap-
proach to public value management approach in terms of effects on public
managers. Third Sector Social Economic Review, 57(3), 1836-1858.
Berger, A. A. (2014). Cultural criticism: A primer of key concepts. Ö. Emir (Tr.),
İstanbul: Pinhan Publishing.
Bozkurt, Ö. (1995). Sosyoloji ve yönetim bilimleri. Kamu Yönetimi Disiplini Sem-
pozyumu Bildirileri (Vol 1) (pp. 45-50), Ankara: TODAİE Publishing.
Caldwell, Lynton K. (1970). Theory and practice of public administration: Scope,
objectives, and methodsı. D. Dicle (Tr.), Amme İdaresi Dergisi, 3(1), 177-
180.
Canatan, K. (2011). Değerler sosyolojisi açısından “Hutbe-i Şamiye”nin çözüm-
lenmesi”, Köprü Dergisi, (114), 49-64.
Cuche, D. (2013). La notion de culture dans les sciences sociales. C. Arnas (Tr.),
İstanbul: Bağlam Publishing.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences . 17

Demir, H. (2008). Kültürel renk körlüğü: Kültürel değerler ve iş tatmini arasındaki

ilişki üzerine güçlendirmenin aracılık (mediation) etkisi. Atatürk Univer-
sity Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences, 22(2), 211-237.
Denek, M. N. (2010). İslam, eşitlik ve sosyal adalet. Ankara: Phoenix Publishing.
Dursun, H. (2018). Management approaches in public administrations. Enderun
Dergisi, 2(2), 20-28.
Emre, C. (2003). Yönetim bilimi yazıları. Ankara: İmaj Publishing.
Erdemir, E. (2013). Postmodern örgüt kuramı. In D. Taşçı & E. Erdemir (Ed.),
Örgüt Kuramı (pp. 162-191), Eskişehir: Anadolu University Press.
Ergun, T., & Polatoğlu, A. (1998). Kamu yönetimine giriş, Ankara: TODAİE Pub-
lishing.
Ergur, A. (2011). Kültürün önemi. In A. Ergur & E. Gökalp (Ed.), Kültür Sosyolo-
jisi (pp. 2-23), Eskişehir: Anadolu University Press.
Gökalp, E. (2011). Kültür: Antropolojik yaklaşım. In A. Ergur & E. Gökalp (Ed.),
Kültür Sosyolojisi (pp. 24-51), Eskişehir: Anadolu University Press.
Güler, B. A. (2005). Kamu yönetimi yaklaşımları nasıl sınıflandırılabilir?.
http://80.251.40.59/politics.ankara.edu.tr/bguler/pdf/kysinişan.pdf,
08.10.2022.
Güler, B. A. (1994). Nesnesini arayan disiplin: Kamu yönetimi. Amme İdaresi
Dergisi, 27(4), 3-19.
Gültekin, N., & Sığrı, Ü. (2007). “Individualism-Collectivism” as a cultural di-
mension and it’s reflections on the organizational culture. Marmara Uni-
versity Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, 23(2), 273-286.
Gümüştekin, N. (2011). The concept of culture and the analysis of cultural struc-
ture from Ottoman to present. Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu
38. ICANAS (Uluslararası Asya ve Kuzey Afrika Çalışmaları Kongresi) 10-
15.09.2007, Ankara, 317-326.
Güngör, E. (2006). Türk kültürü ve milliyetçilik, İstanbul: Ötüken Publishing.
Güven, Z. (2011). Kültür olgusunun ideolojik kullanımları. In A. Ergur & E. Gö-
kalp (Ed.), Kültür Sosyolojisi (pp. 68-83), Eskişehir: Anadolu University
Press.
Güvenç, B. (1979). İnsan ve kültür, İstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi Publishing.
Heper, M., & Berkman, Ü. (1979). Türkiye’de kamu yönetimi araştırma ve eği-
timinde kavramsal, kuram ve yönetim sorunları. Amme İdaresi Dergisi,
12(2), 3-18.
Hofstede, G. (1984). Cultural differences in management and planning. Asia Paci-
fic Journal of Management, (1), 81-99.
Kağıtçıbaşı Ç., & Cemalcılar, Z. (2014). Dünden bugüne insan ve insanlar. İstan-
bul: Evrim Publishing.
18 . Ömer Çamur

Kongar, E. (1976). Toplumsal yapı-örgütsel yapı ilişkileri üzerine bir deneme. In

Ö. Bozkurt (Ed.), Yönetim Sosyolojisi-Yönetim Sosyolojisi Kollokyumuna
Sunulan Bildiriler-Tartışmalar (pp. 25-39), 14-15 Ekim 1976, Ankara: TO-
DAİE Publishing.
Kottak, C. P. (1987). Cultural anthropology. B. A. Şafak, S. Altuntek, S. Özbudun,
& S. Özbek, (Tr.) Ankara: Ütopya Publishing.
Leblebici, Ö. (2015). Disaster administration approachs and effects of disasters
on environment in the context of public policy. Memleket Siyaset Yönetim,
10(23), 41-77.
Maslow, A. (2001). Toward a psychology of being. O. Gündüz (Tr.), İstanbul: Pe-
gasus Publishing.
Okçu, M., Usta, S., & Ceyhan, H. (2020). Changing public administration appro-
ach and bureaucracy culture. Karamanoglu Mehmetbey University Journal
of Social and Economic Research, 22(39), 291-311.
Ökmen, M., & Çağatay, U. (2016). Kamu hizmeti-yerel hizmet ilişkisi ve açılım-
ları üzerine notlar. Yerel Politikalar, (6), 77-104.
Ökmen, M., & Parlak, B. (2008). Kuramdan uygulamaya yerel yönetimler, ilkeler,
yaklaşımlar ve mevzuat. İstanbul: Alfa Aktüel Publishing.
Ören, Ş. (1999). Kültür ve davranış ilişkisi. Ataturk University Journal of Social
Sciences, (25), 305-314.
Özlem, D. (2012). Kültür bilimleri ve kültür felsefesi. İstanbul: Notos Book Pub-
lishing.
Öztaş, N. (2015). Yönetim. İstanbul: Otorite Publishing.
Öztürk, A. (1997). Yönetim-kültür ilişkisi ve Türk işletmelerinin yönetim kültü-
rünün tanımlanmasına ilişkin bir çalışma. Istanbul Management Journal,
9(27), 40-52.
Peter, B. G. (2001). The future of governing. Kansas: The University Press.
Saklı, A. R. (2011). Public administiation as an interdisciplinary discipline. Gazi
University Journal of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences,
13(2), 97-120.
Seçtim, H., & Erkul, H. (2020). Yönetim yaklaşımları üzerine kuramsal bir değer-
lendirme. Management and Political Sciences Review, 2(1), 18-50.
Şahin, A. (2004). Yönetim kuramları ve motivasyon ilişkisi. The Journal of Selcuk
University Social Sciences Institute, (11), 523-547.
Taşçı, D. (2013). Örgüt kuramlarına giriş. In D. Taşçı & E. Erdemir (Ed.), Örgüt
Kuramı (pp. 2-29). Eskişehir: Anadolu University Press.
Timuçin, A. (2004a). Demokrasi bilinci. İstanbul: Bulut Publishing.
Timuçin, A. (2004b). Felsefe sözlüğü. İstanbul: Bulut Publishing.
Timuçin, A. (2013a). Estetik bakış. İstanbul: Bulut Publishing.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences . 19

Timuçin, A. (2013b). Estetik. İstanbul: Bulut Publishing.

Üstüner, Y. (1986). Kamu yönetimi disiplininde yöntem sorunları. In S. Atauz
(Ed.), Türkiye’de Sosyal Bilim Araştırmalarının Gelişimi (pp. 141-150),
Ankara: Turkish Social Sciences Association Press.
Üstüner, Y. (1995). Kamu yönetimi disiplininde “Kimlik Sorunsalı”. Kamu Yöne-
timi Disiplini Sempozyumu: Kuram ve Yöntem Sorunları (II) Grubu (pp.
59-69), 13-14 October 1994, Ankara: TODAİE Publishing.
Varol, A. (2021). The dilemma of decision making in leadership. Scienceup, 11,
96-97.
Yalçın, L. (2010). Kamu yönetimi kuramları: Yöntembilimsel bir değerlendirme.
(Unpublished PhD Thesis), Ankara University Institute of Social Sciences,
Ankara.
Yapıcı, A., Kutlu, M. O., & Bilican, F. I. (2012). Value orientations of teacher can-
didates. Electronic Journal of Social Sciences, 11(42), 129-151.
Yazıcı, M. (2014). Values and position of social values in social structure. Fırat
University Journel of Social Sciences. 24(1), 209-223.
Yılmaz, M. K. (2014). Birlikte Yaşama Kültürü. Köprü Dergisi, (126), 97-107.
https://sozluk.gov.tr/, (Date of access, 26.10.2022).
20 . Ömer Çamur
 CHAPTER 2
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MARKETING
CAMPAIGNS IN IMPROVING PUBLIC
HEALTH1

Ceylan BOZPOLAT2
Yavuz CÖMERT3

1  Bozpolat, C. & Cömert, Y. (2015). Social Marketing Activities of the State

Directed to Health: The Case of the Campaign of Struggle with Obesity.
(Doctorate Thesis). Department of Business Administration, Production
Management and Marketing Program, İnönü University, Social Sciences
Institute, Malatya.
2  Ph.D. Asst. Prof. Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, ORCID ID: 0000-
0002-9672-8308
3  Ph.D. Assoc. Prof. İnönü University, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7580-7197
22 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

INTRODUCTION
Today, encouraging social marketing campaigns and communication
elements are frequently used in the public sector to improve public health.
These campaigns consist of programs designed to encourage individually
beneficial behavior change with a focus on social benefit (Grier and Bryant,
2005: 319). Most of the social marketing campaigns implemented in Turkey,
especially in the last decade, have health content. This shows that social
marketing has a significant potential in solving health problems. Although
social marketing practices in Turkey have a recent past, they have been
used in the world to correct many health problems (insufficient physical
activity, high-fat, low-vegetable diet) before the 2000s (Coreil, 2009:
329). Publicly controlled social marketing professionals deliver health
communication messages aimed at behavior change on national television
channels (as a public service announcement), billboards, and posters in
schools and hospitals. In social marketing, as in traditional marketing, it
is to offer value to the target audience by showing the positive aspects
of being healthy and adopting the targeted behavior with the campaigns
(Evans, 2008: 182). The state prefers to reduce public health expenditures
by promoting healthy life, rather than undertaking financial obligations
to cure diseases, which are the outputs of unhealthy life (Cugelman et al.,
2011: 2). Ornish (2008) stated that with the disease prevention program
he implemented, health insurance expenses decreased by 50% in the first
year and by 20-30% in the following period.
Although social marketing is based on commercial marketing
as stated above, four basic features are effective in the success of the
application (Gordon et al., 2006: 1134). The first is observing voluntary
behavior change after the campaign. Because sustainable behaviors can
be gained voluntarily. The second feature is that behavior change provides
a significant benefit to the individual (French and Gordon, 2015: 28). The
benefit that an individual will get in return for quitting his or her habitual
behavior can affect the level of motivation. While the first two features
are individual-based success criteria, the last two features are related to
the institutions or organizations that make the campaign. While managing
the campaign, the relevant institution should first research the market
potential, segment the market in line with the data obtained as a result of
the research, and then select the department that will respond the fastest to
the change in behavior and develop an appropriate marketing mix strategy.
The last feature is that social benefit is more important than corporate
benefit in social marketing.
In many countries of the world that care about the improvement of
public health, social marketing campaigns in various categories have been
organized and the effectiveness of these campaigns has been researched
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .23

by many academics. Gordon et al. (2006) examined the results of studies

conducted before 2006 to evaluate the effectiveness of social marketing
campaigns in three categories (improving nutrition, increasing physical
activity, and substance abuse). As a result of the research, there is evidence
that social marketing interventions have a significant effect in the categories
of nutrition (increasing fruit-vegetable consumption, reducing fat
consumption, improving dietary knowledge), physical activity (behavioral
change, providing information about physical activity) and substance
abuse (reducing smoking and alcohol use, preventing illegal drug use). The
results of this large-scale study have been an inspiration to investigate the
effect of social marketing campaigns on behavior change in Turkey. In this
context, in the present study, the potential of social marketing campaigns
in improving and protecting public health is explored specifically in the
“Fight Against Obesity” campaign carried out by the Ministry of Health
of the Republic of Turkey.
The study is designed in three parts. In the first part, the concepts of
obesity and social marketing, which are the focus of the application part
of the research, are mentioned first, and then the types of campaigns for
social marketing are explained and the results of previous research in the
literature are included. The second part consists of a series of sub-titles,
such as developing the questionnaire, choosing the population to which
the questionnaire will be applied, collecting data, and creating a research
model. In the third part, the methods and findings used in analyzing the
data are presented. The results of the current research were compared with
the results of previous research, and some suggestions were given to the
campaign practitioners to increase the effectiveness.
1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The concept of obesity and social marketing is discussed in this
section. Then, the concept of campaign and the types of social marketing
campaigns are mentioned and the results of previous similar studies are
given.
1.1. Obesity
According to the World Health Organization, obesity is the amount
of fat the body stores that can impair human health. While 25-30% and
15-20% fat ratios in women and men, respectively, are considered normal,
a rise in these rates above 30% and 25%, respectively, is considered the
onset of obesity (Woodward et al., 2005: 98). It may be possible to correct
with behavior modification and medical treatment (Altunkaynak and
Özbek, 2006: 139). Body Mass Index (BMI) value is widely used in the
diagnosis of obesity. This value is calculated by dividing the person’s body
weight by the square of their height. According to the technical report
24 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

number 854 of the World Health Organization, individuals with a BMI

of 30 and above are considered obese (WHO, 2007). Obesity has been an
epidemic that has been affecting the world population since the 1990s and
has become increasingly difficult to control. Due to the increasing number
of obese people, the World Health Organization has considered obesity
as a neglected health problem (Batch and Baur, 2005: 130). According to
the International Obesity Task Force report, more than 1 billion people in
the world population are overweight and approximately 30% of them are
obese. Obese individuals constitute one-third of the adult population in
many developed countries, especially in Australia, Canada and the United
States (Cismaru and Lavack, 2007: 10). When Turkey’s data is analyzed,
similar to world statistics, according to the “Turkey Nutrition and Health
Survey-2010” report, 30.3% of the country’s population consists of obese
individuals (Bozpolat and Cömert, 2015: 28).
There are many factors that cause obesity. Stress, education, alcohol
use, genetic background and environmental factors (Batch and Baur, 2005:
130), especially irregular diet and insufficient physical activity, trigger
obesity. For example, low-educated individuals are more likely to be obese
because they have less knowledge about healthy food choices and sports
(Björntorp, 2001: 306). All these negative factors that cause obesity bring
along many diseases. Health problems such as fatty liver, diabetes, high
blood pressure, respiratory distress, psychological problems, gallbladder
diseases, dermatological diseases are just some of them (Björntorp, 2001:
402). With all these diseases, obesity competes with smoking in terms
of preventable cause of death (Algazy et al., 2009: 2252). On the other
hand, obesity increases hospitalization and drug costs by 36% and 77%,
respectively (Seiders and Petty, 2004: 153). Social marketing campaigns
have been carried out in many countries and by many researchers, and
their effectiveness has been evaluated, primarily due to the improvement
and protection of public health, and then the reduction of health costs
(Thomas, 2009; Sugerman et al., 2011; Walls et al., 2011; Llauradó et
al. 2015). The focus of obesity-related campaigns is to reduce portions,
to increase the frequency of fruit-vegetable and protein-based diets and
physical activity (Cohen et. al, 2010: 380). The purpose of these messages
in the campaigns is to ensure that people have an ideal BMI (Anderson et
al., 2009: 341). In addition, since it is aimed to provide social benefit by
improving individual health, work and non-work life with the campaigns,
it attracts the attention of practitioners (Tengilimoğlu et al., 2014: 3). In this
context, this research was conducted to reveal the effect of social marketing
practices within the scope of the “Fight Against Obesity” campaign on the
behavior of adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .25

1.2. Social Marketing

Changes in the understanding of marketing towards the end of the 20th
century have led both for-profit and non-profit organizations to act with
a sense of social responsibility (Kurtoğlu, 2007: 128). In other words, as
a result of the “self-actualization” stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,
societies have turned to individual-oriented practices and this situation
has expanded the boundaries of classical marketing and caused its social
aspect to gain importance (Lazer and Kelley, 1973: 11). Market conditions
in the 1970s and the following decade, the increase in the number of
dissatisfied consumers, ecological problems (climate crisis, decrease
in natural resources) and various legal changes have an impact on these
orientations of marketing managers (Mucuk, 2001: 9). In this direction
social marketing emerged in the early 1970s with the idea of solving social
problems and thus providing social benefit, independent of the commercial
benefit of traditional marketing (Kotler and Levy, 1969: 12). Later, Kotler
and Zaltman (1971: 5) defined social marketing as the use of elements of
the traditional marketing mix (product, price promotion, distribution) in
the adoption of social ideas. Andreasen (1994: 110) extended the views of
Kotler, Levy, and Zaltman as follows: adapting marketing techniques for
individual and social well-being into practices that will enable voluntary
behavior change. Similar to all these opinion leaders, Weinreich (2010:
4) defines social marketing as the use of marketing techniques to adopt
behaviors that will increase the quality of life of the target audience or the
whole society.
The aim in social marketing is to provide a positive change in
thoughts and behaviors in areas such as health (disseminating regular
sports, preventing alcohol and drug use, etc.), environment (establishing
recycling systems, protecting nature, protecting endangered animals, etc.)
and education (increasing literacy rate, etc.) in order to increase the level of
social welfare. Velioğlu and Çoknaz (2008: 457) discussed social marketing
purposes under four headings: teaching, creating a new trend, changing
belief and behavior. Studies focusing on the importance of physical activity
frequency for a healthy life (Wong et al., 2004: 1) and the harms of substance
addiction (Janssen et al., 2013: 1) exemplify the teaching purpose of social
marketing. The “Long Live Our School” campaign, which was launched in
Turkey in 2004, is an example that can be shown to create a new trend in
society. The purpose of the campaign; to repair 81 village primary schools
in 81 provinces with the support of the public (www.tocev.org.tr). Another
example on the subject is; it is the “Let’s Go Girls to School” campaign,
which was launched to enable girls to study. Changing families’ beliefs and
attitudes and making them behave sensitively in this regard are examples of
beliefs and behavior change purposes (www.unicef.org.tr).
26 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

Social marketing accelerates the adoption, rejection, continuation, or

abandonment of a particular behavior by a particular audience (Kotler et.
al. 2002: 12). Institutions or organizations that want to direct a behavior
have often benefited from social marketing activities until today. The first
social marketing campaign in the literature was started in 1967 in India
in order to protect the society from HIV, a sexually transmitted disease.
The campaign aimed to change behavior by giving messages about loyalty,
secure relationships and protection methods (Meadley et al., 2003: 3).
Social marketing campaigns target primary audiences of the population
rather than individuals and focus on mass behavior change (Lefebvre, 2011:
58). Social marketing is widely used in international health programs for
mass behavior change. Studies on the use of contraception methods, drug
and prevention of starting smoking, organ donation and obesity are among
the most common examples of health-related social marketing practices.
In this context, Mostafa (2010: 108), in his study evaluating the behavioral
attitudes towards organ donation in Egypt, stated that campaigns that are
compatible with cultural values, that include information and awareness
can be effective in order to get the support of the public about organ
donation. In another similar study, it was emphasized that in order to
change the negative attitude towards organ donation, it would be beneficial
to design social marketing advertising content in a way that addresses
religious concerns (Lwin et al., 2002: 74). In the study conducted in the
field of sexual health, it was concluded that with the intervention of social
marketing, young people became conscious of birth control methods
and reflected on their behaviors (Van Rossem and Meerkers, 2000: 383).
Thrasher et al. (2011: 328) in their study examining the effectiveness of
smoke-free law in Mexico concluded that social marketing campaigns
help to establish norms for fighting smoking. In the study, in which the
contribution of social marketing strategies to the prevention of childhood
obesity was investigated, 41 interventions were examined and it was found
that all 9 interventions made in the five-year period covering 1997-2002
resulted in behavior change (Gracia-Marco et al., 2011: 472).
1.3. Types of Social Marketing Campaigns
The campaign is defined, in TDK Dictionary, as a period of activity
for a certain period in the fields of economy, culture, social etc. (TDK,
2015). Social problems or desired events are considered as inspiration when
organizing a campaign (Argan, 2007: 79). Social marketing campaigns are
categorized under four headings: behavior, education, value and action-
oriented, according to the purpose of their initiation (Kotler et al., 2002: 6).
Behavioral campaigns are used extensively in the healthcare industry. The
behavior of an individual while protecting his/her health and experiencing
any health problem is defined as health behavior. Various individual and
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .27

social resources play a role in these health behaviors of individuals (Araz

et al., 2007: 113). Targeted behavioral change begins with persuading
the individual. In addition to the communication created with behavior
campaigns, persuasion is also affected by factors such as needs priorities,
personal preferences, alternative attitudes and behaviors (Tabak, 2003:
66). The attitude that is the preliminary step of the behavior change is
defined as the predisposition of a mental, emotional, and behavioral
response that the individual organizes based on any object, social
subject, or experience, knowledge, emotion, or motive in the self or its
surroundings (İnceoğlu, 2010: 22). Behavior campaigns have an important
place in the transformation of attitude into behavior and are divided into
two as individual and social behavior campaigns in themselves. The aim
of individual behavior change campaigns is to change the behavior that
causes social problems. In this context, campaigns on issues such as
reducing alcohol and tobacco use, quitting drug use, and traffic safety aim
to change individual behavior. Social behavior campaigns, on the other
hand, raise awareness of social problems and contribute to the knowledge
of the limits of the legal framework necessary to overcome these problems
(Argan, 2007: 82). An example of this is the application of fines to smokers
in closed areas as part of the cigarette quit campaign.
In educational campaigns, first of all, the questions such as what
(on which subject), when (the day on which the education will be given,
hour etc.), how (which methods and tools will be used), where (the
place where the education will be given) who (the person that will give
the education) must be answered thoroughly (Merdol, 2008: 7). Such
campaigns are aimed at informing society about a certain social problem
(Kotler vd., 2002: 6). Public spotlights explaining the benefits of physical
activity, the use of breast milk for the first six months, early diagnosis in
breast cancer, brushing teeth for oral health, and the importance of hand
hygiene in preventing diseases can be given as an example of this type
of campaign. Value-oriented campaigns aim to change the inaccurate
knowledge, attitudes and thoughts existing in society. These campaigns
aimed at removing prejudices about any social issue are effective in
changing the wrong ideas and attitudes resulting from lack of information
(Kotler, 2005). Insufficient or incomplete information on organ donation
and changing the prejudices caused by religious approaches can be given
as an example in this context (Argan, 2007: 82). Finally action-oriented
campaigns are designed to encourage the target audience to take action on
a specific topic (Argan, 2007: 79). Red Crescent’s campaigns to increase
blood donation or healthy diet and active life walk activities organized by
the Ministry of Health in many cities in the context of the fight against
obesity can be evaluated in this framework.
28 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

When the literature is examined, it is seen that there are many

researchers investigating the effectiveness of the campaign types described
above. In this section, only the results of the campaigns carried out in the
field of health are included. In the study of Truong (2014: 16), in which
he evaluated the status of social marketing research conducted in a 15-
year period covering 1998-2012, he underlined that the most research was
done in the field of health. He also stated that many of these studies have
been successful in behavior change. In a study conducted in the distant
transition period, it was determined that anti-smoking campaigns have a
reducing effect on cigarette consumption. In the analyzes made before and
after the campaign, it was observed that the annual per capita cigarette
consumption decreased from 5% to 4% (Warner, 1977: 645). In another
study in which it is claimed that the use of drunk driving can be reduced
with mass media campaigns, it was determined that great savings were
achieved in medical costs as a result of the campaign (Tay, 2005: 26). In a
study evaluating the effectiveness of health communication campaigns in
general, it was revealed that it is possible to change nutritional behaviors
with communication activities such as feedback, effective message content
and presentation (Snyder, 2007: 32). Cameron et al. (2013: 2059) have
organized an online campaign based on the idea that the classical media
campaigns in the field of organ donation in the USA are insufficient.
Members were informed about organ donation via a platform developed on
Facebook, and people who agreed to be donors were entered into the organ
donation list through their own state records. After becoming a donor, this
situation was shared with his/her friends in the Facebook network. With
the campaign, the number of donors, which were 616 at the beginning,
increased to 13,054. A study on abortion law in India revealed that raising
awareness and perception about abortion law with proper communication
interventions will result in beneficial behavior change. The authors also
stated that social marketing activities for behavior change are an effective
way to improve knowledge and perceptions about abortion in situations
where women’s access to abortion services is prevented due to myths,
misunderstandings and lack of information (Banerjee et al., 2013: 149).
Numerous social marketing campaigns are organized in the USA, where
the prevalence of obesity is the highest in the world, and the effectiveness
of these campaigns is discussed by many researchers. Burton et al. (2006:
1669) evaluated how the writing of nutritional information on restaurant
menus, in order to reduce the prevalence of obesity in the USA, reflected
on the purchasing intentions and preferences of customers. As a result of
the research, it was determined that writing nutritional information on the
menu reduces the consumption of less healthy foods and has a potentially
positive effect on public health. George et al. (2016: 283) launched a six-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .29

week social marketing campaign to increase awareness of obesity, prevent

type 2 diabetes, and increase participation in nutrition and sports programs
in two poor states of New York City, USA. Behavior change messages
were posted at the transportation stops in the region within the scope
of the campaign. In addition, social media and websites were also used.
With the research, it has been concluded that social marketing campaigns
supported by preventive activities can be effective in drawing attention to
health problems. The importance of lifestyle change was emphasized with
the “100 small steps in the fight against obesity campaign” in the USA.
The 67th step of this campaign is to encourage the use of stairs instead of
escalators in public spaces. In this study, in which the effect of incentives
in related areas on the use of stairs was examined, it was predicted that
a 2.8% increase in the use of stairs could result in weight loss and/or
prevention of weight gain (Dolan et al., 2006: 25). Again, with the increase
in childhood obesity in the USA, a social marketing campaign called
“Food Friends-Making New Foods Fun for Kids” was launched. Teachers,
parents and caregivers were identified as campaign collaborators. With
the campaign, changes in children’s behaviors were observed with clues
such as being a role model in trying new food, giving the right to choose
among the new dishes offered (Bellows and Anderson, 2006: 37). All these
studies documented that social marketing campaigns provide positive
behavior change and inspired the current study. The increasing prevalence
of obesity in Turkey has brought up the evaluation of the effectiveness of
the campaign of the “Fight Against Obesity” which is a social marketing
campaign carried out in this context.
2. METHODOLOGY
Obesity in Turkey was first put on the agenda at the European
Ministerial Conference on Counteracting Obesity in 2006. At the end of
the conference, a protocol was signed and activities to combat obesity were
started (WHO, 2007: 12). First, the Department of Obesity, Diabetes and
Metabolic Diseases was established under the Ministry of Health, and then
an action plan was prepared for the “Obesity Fight and Control Program”
covering the years 2010-2014. The aim of this program, which is within the
scope of preventive health services, is to inform the society about healthy
nutrition and physical activity. In 2012, the “Obesity Struggle Movement”
campaign started across the country, with a public spotlight describing
the importance of body mass index and an active life, and communication
materials such as reducing portion sizes and taking 10,000 steps a day,
banners and billboards (www.saglik.gov.tr). In this part of the study, the
empirical results of the research carried out in order to determine the level
of social change created by the “Fight Against Obesity” campaign on the
target audience are included.
30 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

2.1. Purpose
This study was conducted in order to reveal the role of social marketing
campaigns in improving public health in the context of the campaign to
fight against obesity. In addition, it was aimed to determine whether this
campaign created a behavioral change in the target audience. In other
words, the effect of the fight against obesity campaign on the behavior of
adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life was investigated.
2.2. Sample
The population, from which the research results are generalized and
the sample is selected (Gürbüz and Şahin, 2014: 132), consists of adult
individuals in the city center of Nevşehir. The numerical data used in
determining the sample size of the study (based on the December 2014
census) were obtained from the Nevşehir Regional Directorate of the
Presidency of the Turkish Statistical Institute. According to the information
received, there are a total of 21 neighborhoods in the city center. In order
to increase the representative power of the sample, stratified sampling
method based on the ratio of neighborhoods to the total population was
preferred. The city center population being in the range of 50-100 thousand
required a sample size of at least 384 people at 5% margin of error and
95% confidence level (Altunışık et al., 2007: 127). In this direction, data
were collected as a result of face-to-face interviews from 400 people who
agreed to answer the questionnaire. The number of people to participate
in the survey in each neighborhood and their gender distribution were
determined according to their percentages in the total population.
2.3. Scales
The scale used in the research consists of three parts. In the first part,
there are 30 questions graded according to the Likert scale (1= I absolutely
disagree ... 5= I strongly agree). These questions measure how individuals
evaluate social marketing activities within the scope of fight against
obesity. The questions in this section are adapted from Develi (2008). In
addition, while developing the questions, the official website of www.
beslenme.gov.tr, which contains all the details of the campaign to fight
against obesity, was also used. In the second part of the scale, questions
about demographic characteristics such as age, gender and income were
asked, followed by questions about body weight and physical activity
in order to calculate the body mass index. In the last part, prepared by
the researchers themselves (with reference to the www.beslenme.gov.tr
official website) and there are two importance scale questions (1=Not at
all effective....... 5=Very effective), each consisting of six questions. These
questions are aimed at determining the factors that are effective in the
reflection/inability of individuals to reflect the philosophy of healthy diet
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .31

and active life on their behaviors. Content validity based on expert opinion
(Yükselen, 2009: 99) was carried out to make sure that the final version of
the scale contains a sufficient number of questions that can represent the
phenomenon to be measured. In line with the opinions of academic experts,
it has been determined that there is no problem with the content and clarity
of the measurement tool. Another analysis that should be done in case the
scale is used in different samples is reliability analysis. A reliability level
of 0.70 and above, measured by the Cronbach α coefficient, indicates that
the measurement tool is reliable (Bryman and Cramer, 1997: 78; Hair et
al., 2006). The reliability of the scale was supported in the preliminary
analysis made on the data of the pilot study conducted with 40 people.
2.4. Research Model
Descriptive researches are used in many fields when it is desired
to obtain complete and accurate information about the target audience
(Nakip, 2006). The model created for the purpose of the research is shown
in Figure 1. According to the model, social marketing practices (with the
content of fighting obesity) to improve public health have a positive effect
on the behavior of adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life.
Under this main assumption, six sub-hypotheses were formed. These;
H1: Public responsibilities and sample practices positively affect the
behavior of adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life.
H2: Promotion methods positively affect the behavior of adopting
philosophy of healthy diet and active life.
H3: Effectiveness of the campaign positively affects the behavior of
adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life.
H4: Informing positively affects the behavior of adopting philosophy
of healthy diet and active life.
H5: Physical activity practices positively affect the behavior of
adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life.
H6: Mass media positively affects the behavior of adopting philosophy
of healthy diet and active life.
32 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

Figure 1: Research Model

In the research model, ‘public responsibilities and sample practices’,

‘promotion methods’, ‘informing’, ‘physical activity practices’ and ‘mass
media’ were defined as independent variables and the behavior of adopting
philosophy of healthy diet and active life as dependent variable.
3. ANALYSİS OF DATA
After the collected data were coded and entered into the SPSS package
program, a multi-stage analysis procedure was carried out. Firstly, two
preliminary analyzes were performed, namely reliability analysis and
normality test. Then, the general characteristics of the sample volume were
summarized by frequency analysis. Afterward, the expressions related
to social marketing practices related to the fight against obesity were
evaluated with explanatory factor analysis and sub-dimensions or factors
were tried to be obtained. The relationship between the emerging factors
was evaluated by correlation analysis. Factors were named according to the
contents of their sub-expressions. Finally, multiple regression analysis was
performed to determine the effect of independent variables (dimensions
revealed by factor analysis) on the dependent variable. In this section, the
details of the analysis are given
3.1. Reliability Analysis and Normality Test
Reliability is expressed as the confidence that the same results will be
obtained on another sample that will be made for the same purpose of the
measurement tool. If this value, which is interpreted with the Cronbach
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .33

α coefficient, is 0.80 and above, it indicates that the measurement tool is

quite reliable (Bryman and Cramer, 1997: 78). As a result of the analysis,
the total reliability of the 30-item scale was determined as 0.881. In order to
control whether the data is normally distributed, which is the prerequisite
of factor analysis, skewness and kurtosis values were checked. The fact
that these values are between ±2 limits indicates that the data are normally
distributed (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2013: 68). As a result of the analysis,
it is seen that the data provide the normality assumption. As a result of
the analysis, it is seen that the data provide the normality assumption.
In addition, it was determined that nearly half of the participants were
working individuals (n=206, 51.5%) with a bachelor’s degree or higher
education (n=196, 49.1%).
3.2. Frequency Analysis
In this section, the general characteristics of the people participating
in the research were evaluated with frequency distribution in line with the
answers given to the questionnaire. First, height and weight information
was asked with an open-ended question in order to calculate the BMI of
the participants. BMI information was obtained by formulating it with the
help of Microsoft Excel. Accordingly, 28.8% of the sample size was in the
overweight category, and 8.5% was in the obese category. The fact that
37.3% of the participants in the study had a weight problem reveals the
importance of the subject and the necessity of researching it. On the other
hand, the participants were classified as predominantly male (n=212, 53%),
married (n=231, 57.8%), and between the ages of 25-45 (n=245, 61.3%).
3.3. Factor Analysis
Factor analysis is a type of analysis that reveals the basic factors
of a scale consisting of many expressions that are thought to be related
and helps to understand the relationships between these factors more
easily (Altunışık et al., 2007: 222). With the help of this analysis, two
prerequisites must be met before factoring the current research scale
with 30 expressions. The first is that the sample volume is sufficient.
According to Büyüköztürk (2002: 480), the sample size should be at least
five times the number of expressions in the scale. Although the size of 150
is sufficient for the current scale, the sample volume is determined as 400.
In addition, a sample size of this size allows to include expressions with a
factor load of 0.40 and above into the analysis (Gürbüz and Şahin, 2014:
305). The second prerequisite is provided according to the Kaiser-Mayer-
Olkin value and Bartlett test results. According to Norusis (1993: 49), a
KMO value of 0.60 and above indicates the suitability of the data set for
factor analysis. The KMO value and Bartlett test results for the current
data set are shown in Table 1.
34 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

Table 1: KMO and Bartlett’s Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. 0.89

Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 3340,143

df 435
Sig. .000
When Table 1 is examined, it is seen that the KMO coefficient takes a
value of 0.89. In this context, it can be said that the sample size is sufficient
for factor analysis. After the prerequisites were met, the 30-item research
scale was factored by applying principal component analysis, which is
one of the methods frequently used in social sciences. As a result of the
analysis, it was seen that there were 6 factors that explained 55,589% of
the total variance and had an eigenvalue above 1. Cronbach α and loading
values of the factors are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Explanatory Factor Analysis Results

Component Eigenvalue % of Variance Cronbach α Explanation

1 3.372 12.967 0.816 9 expressions, 0.705……0.530*

2 2.628 10.106 0.778 7 expressions, 0.741……0.528*
3 2.577 9.912 0.779 3 expressions, 0.761……0.569*
4 2.454 9.437 0.702 3 expressions, 0.740……0.556*
5 1.953 7.512 0.746 2 expressions, 0.733……0.683*
6 1.532 5.891 0.752 3 expressions, 0.768……0.706*

*Indicates the lowest and highest factor loadings.

% of Total Explained Variance =55.589
9 Rotation, Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis

Looking at Table 2, it is seen that the resulting factors have reliability of

0.70 and above. This ratio means that the factors created by the expressions
combined with factor analysis are reliable (Nakip, 2006). According to
Table 2, the number of expressions included in the analysis is 27. The
three expressions before the analysis were excluded because their factor
loads were below 0.50. According to Kurtuluş and Okumuş (2006), it is
acceptable to have a total explained variance percentage of 50 or more.
Finally, considering the expressions constituting the factors, 6 factors were
named as public responsibilities and sample practices, promotion methods,
effectiveness of the campaign, informing, physical activity practices and
mass media. Pearson Correlation analysis was performed to determine the
direction and degree of the relationship between the factors (Nakip, 2006:
423). The analysis results are summarized in Table 3.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .35

Table 3: Correlation Analysis Results

Factors 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Public Resp. and Sample Prac. 1 .588 .367 .252 .433 -.023
2. Promotion Methods 1 .358 .247 .526 .029
3. Effectiveness of the Campaign 1 .378 .253 .047
4. Informing 1 .203 -.066
5. Physical Activity Practices 1 -.031
6. Mass Media 1

According to Table 3, while there is a positive correlation at the level

of 0.01 among the first 5 factors, there is a negative and weak relationship
between the mass media factor and other factors. Before the regression
analysis, it is expected that there will be a significant relationship between
the independent variables and the dependent variable (the behavior of
adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life). In the analysis, it was
determined that there was a positive and significant relationship between
public responsibilities and sample practices (r=0.395; p<0.01), promotion
methods (r=0.392; p<0.01), effectiveness of the campaign (r=0.346; p<0.01),
informing (r=0.214; p<0.01), physical activity practices (r=0.289; p<0.01)
and mass media (r=0.134; p<0.05) factors and the behavior of adopting
philosophy of healthy diet and active life.
3.4. Regression Analysis
Multiple regression analysis is used when it is desired to investigate
the effect of more than one independent variable on a dependent variable
(Nakip, 2006: 330). In this study, the effect of the dimensions of social
marketing practices determined by factor analysis on the behavior of
adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life was examined by
multiple regression analysis. The values obtained as a result of the analysis
are as shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Multiple Regression Analysis Results

Unstandardized Standardized Collinearity

t Sig.
Independent Variables in Coefficients Coefficients Statistics
the Model
Std.
B Beta(β) Tolerance VIF
Error
(Constant) 1.066 .329 3.235** .000
Public Responsibilities
.220 .092 .183 2.384* .018 .564 1.772
and Sample Practices
Promotion Methods .152 .087 .143 1.752 .081 .498 2.008
Effectiveness of the
.136 .057 .162 2.367* .019 .709 1.411
Campaign
36 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

Informing .031 .059 .035 .531 .596 .777 1.287

Physical Activity
.087 .061 .096 1.412 .159 .715 1.398
Practices
Mass Media .124 .055 .132 2.267 *
.024 .971 1.030
R .487
R2 .237
Adjusted R2 .217
Std. Error of Estimate .68678
F(6-236) 11.921
The Level of Sig. .000
Durbin-Watson 2.079

Dependent Variable: The behavior of adopting philosophy of healthy diet and

active life.
*
p< 0.05. **p< 0.01.

As seen in Table 4, Variance Inflation Factors (VIF) values were

calculated for each regression equation so as to examine the multiple
correlation problem. The maximum VIF value in the model is 2,008.
This is well below 10 which is regarded to be the upper limit (Midi et
al., 2010: 259). The lowest tolerance value is 0.498, and it is much higher
than the lowest limit value of 0.10 (Hair et al., 2006). The Durbin-Watson
coefficient is about 2. For this reason, there is no multiple correlation
problem in the multiple regression model. The positive value of the beta
coefficient indicates that the effect is positive. A significance level of 0.00
indicates that the research model is statistically significant. In addition, the
correlation (R) is 0.487 and the coefficient of determination (Adjusted R²) is
0.217. These results show that 21.7% of the behavior of adopting philosophy
of healthy diet and active life can be explained by the dimensions of social
marketing practices, which are the independent variables in the research
model.
The research model, in which 6 factors determined as a result of
the exploratory factor analysis and the behavior of adopting philosophy
of healthy diet and active life were accepted as dependent variable, is
statistically significant (R2= 0.237; F(6-236)=11.921; p<0.01). According to
the model, the independent variables account for 32.35% of the dependent
variance. As a result of the analysis, it has been determined that in
dependent variables of as public responsibilities and sample practices
(β=0.183, p<0.05), effectiveness of the campaign (β=0.162; p<0.05) and
mass media (β=0.132; p<0.05) have a positive effect on the behavior
of adopting philosophy of healthy diet and active life. H1, H3 and H6
hypotheses were accepted. The effects of promotion methods (β=0.143,
p>0.05), informing (β=0.035, p>0.05) and physical activity practices
(β=0.096; p> 0.05) on the behavior of adopting philosophy of healthy
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .37

diet and active life are not statistically significant. Hence, H2, H4 and H5
hypotheses have been rejected.
4. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
Governments are activating social marketing practices that trigger the
necessary behavioral change to reduce the incidence of obesity. Gracia-
Marco et al. (2011) stated that the lifestyle shaped by daily behaviors is the
main determinant of obesity. The current study evaluates the effectiveness
of an intervention aimed at changing lifestyles with healthy eating and
physical activity practices to reduce the risk of obesity in the general
population. This intervention was introduced to the public as the “Fight
Against Obesity” campaign, which is a national social marketing practice
carried out in the field of health in Turkey. Although it is thought that the
campaign will have a high impact on behavior change, the results of the
research show that this change is not as much as expected. Similarly, the
Change4Life program to reduce obesity in the UK has also had a limited
impact on attitudes and behaviors, although it has raised awareness of
obesity (Llauradó et al., 2015: 10). Behavior change at a rate of 21.7%
in the campaign to fight against obesity is realized with the positive
contribution of public responsibilities and sample practices, effectiveness
of the campaign and mass media. In this context, it is important that the
government authorities regularly inform the society about nutrition and
active life, the campaign advertisements are believable, the government is
sensitive to obesity, the stories are told in the campaign advertisements, and
the effective use of mass media such as radio, newspaper and magazine.
Despite all these features that have a positive effect on behavior
change, it has been determined that promotion methods, informing and
physical activity practices do not have an effect contrary to expectations.
The theme, person or persons, sound, music, message content and viral
marketing used in the campaign advertisement have no effect on the
behavior of individuals. Mollaoğlu (2016: 50) stated in his study that
it may be more beneficial in behavior change to prepare the content of
the advertising message by determining the factors that prevent healthy
eating and living an active life with a preliminary research. In addition,
when the impact power of the visual and auditory elements used in
these advertisements made under the name of publicity is increased, it
can create emotional effects in individuals (Sözen, 2013: 167). This can
be a trigger for behavior change. Moreover walking activities organized
by official institutions and exercise equipment in parks do not have an
encouraging role in physical activity. It is recommended to take urgent
corrective actions regarding non-continuous walking activities and the use
of exercise equipment in parks that are not clearly stated how to use and
what they are for.
38 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

Based on the results of the current research, it can be said that, like
many studies in the literature (Gordon et al., 2006; Burton et al., 2006;
Dolan et al., 2006; Gracia-Marco et al., 2011; Truong, 2014; George et al.,
2016), the contribution of social marketing campaigns to behavior change
cannot be ignored in this study. In order to increase the share of this limited
contribution, some suggestions are made to the practitioners.
First of all, it is necessary to improve the content quality of these
advertisements, which are published under the name of public service
advertisement. Remarkable, impressive, visually and audibly rich message
content should be created that is compatible with the expectations and
wishes of the target audience. On the other hand, educational cartoons and
school milk program applied within the scope of prevention of obesity in
schools should be developed. Although these practices aim to eat healthy,
unhealthy snacks and fast food-style meals in school canteens reduce the
effectiveness of the program. Continuous inspection of school canteens
and implementation of constructive policies in this area may be beneficial.
According to Hoelscher et al. (2013) in addition to providing information
on healthy nutrition in schools, reflecting the acquired knowledge
to the lifestyle is more important in preventing obesity. In campaign
advertisements, it should be conveyed with convincing messages that it
is important in sports and active life as well as nutrition. In the campaign
advertisements, which are emphasized with the slogan of 10,000 steps
a day, the exercise equipment in the walking paths and parks should be
reminded. Red walking paths and blue bicycle paths should be built in
such a way that many parts of the city can be reached. In addition, physical
and mental benefits of being active can be mentioned.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .39

REFERENCES

Algazy, J., Gipstein, S., Riahi, F., & Tryon, K. (2009). Why governments must
lead the fight against obesity. Medicine, 361(23), 2252-60.
Altunışık, R., Coşkun, R., Bayraktaroğlu, S., & Yildirim, E. (2007). Sosyal bilim-
lerde araştırma yöntemleri. 5.Baskı, Sakarya Yayıncılık, Sakarya.
Altunkaynak, B. Z. & Özbek, E. (2006). Obezite: nedenleri ve tedavi seçenekleri.
Van Tıp Dergisi, 13(4), 138-142.
Anderson, L. M., Quinn, T. A., Glanz, K., Ramirez, G., Kahwati, L. C., Johnson,
D. B., ... & Task Force on Community Preventive Services. (2009). The
effectiveness of worksite nutrition and physical activity interventions for
controlling employee overweight and obesity: a systematic review. Ameri-
can Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(4), 340-357.
Andreasen, A. R. (1994). Social marketing: its definition and domain. Journal of
Public Policy & Marketing, 13(1), 108‐14.
Araz, A., Harlak, H., & Meşe, G. (2007). Sağlık davranışları ve alternatif tedavi
kullanımı. TSK Koruyucu Hekimlik Bülteni, 6(2), 112-122.
Argan, M.T. (2007). Organ Bağışını Artırmada Sosyal Pazarlama Yaklaşımı: Or-
gan Bağışına Yönelik Bir Tutum Araştırması. Yayınlanmamış Doktora
Tezi. Anadolu Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Eskişehir.
Banerjee, S. K., Andersen, K. L., Warvadekar, J. & Pearson, E. (2013). Effective-
ness of a behavior change communication intervention to improve knowle-
dge and perceptions about abortion in Bihar and Jharkhand, India. Interna-
tional Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 39(39), 142-151.
Batch, J.A. & Baur, L. A. (2005). 3. Management and prevention of obesity and
its complications in children and adolescents. Medical Journal of Australia,
182(3), 130-135.
Bellows, L., & Anderson, J. (2006). The food friends: Encouraging preschoolers
to try new foods. YC Young Children, 61(3), 37.-39.
Björntorp P., (2001). International Textbook of Obesity. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.,
West Sussex, UK.
Bozpolat, C. & Cömert, Y. (2015). Devletin sağlığa yönelik yürüttüğü sosyal pa-
zarlama uygulamaları: Obezite ile mücadele kampanyası örneği. Doktora
Tezi, İnönü Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Malatya.
Bryman, A. & Cramer, D., (1997). Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS for Win-
dows. Routledege, NewYork.
Burton, S., Creyer, E. H., Kees, J., & Huggins, K. (2006). Attacking the obesity
epidemic: the potential health benefits of providing nutrition information in
restaurants. American Journal of Public Health, 96(9), 1669-1675.
Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2002). Faktör analizi: Temel kavramlar ve ölçek geliştirmede
40 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

kullanımı. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi, 32(32), 470-483.

Cameron, A. M., Massie, A. B., Alexander, C. E., Stewart, B., Montgomery, R. A.,
Benavides, N. R., ... & Segev, D. L. (2013). Social media and organ do-
nor registration: the Facebook effect. American Journal of Transplantation,
13(8), 2059-2065.
Cismaru, M., & Lavack, A. M. (2007). Social marketing campaigns aimed at pre-
venting and controlling obesity: A review and recommendations. Internati-
onal Review on Public and Non Profit Marketing, 4(1-2), 9-30.
Cohen, D. A., Sturm, R., Lara, M., Gilbert, M., & Gee, S. (2010). Discretionary
calorie intake a priority for obesity prevention: results of rapid participa-
tory approaches in low-income US communities. Journal of public health,
32(3), 379-386.
Coreil, J. (Ed.). (2009). Social and behavioral foundations of public health. Se-
cond Edition, Sage Publications, California.
Cugelman, B., Thelwall, M., & Dawes, P. (2011). Online interventions for social
marketing health behavior change campaigns: a meta-analysis of psycho-
logical architectures and adherence factors.  Journal of Medical Internet
Research, 13(1), 1-25.
Develi, E. İ. (2008). Sosyal pazarlama açısından kamu sektörü reklamlarında he-
def kitle tutumu Doktora Tezi, Marmara Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Ens-
titüsü, İstanbul.
Dolan, M. S., Weiss, L. A., Lewis, R. A., Pietrobelli, A., Heo, M., & Faith, M. S.
(2006). ‘Take the stairs instead of the escalator’: effect of environmental
prompts on community stair use and implications for a national ‘Small
Steps’ campaign. Obesity Reviews, 7(1), 25-32.
Evans, W. D. (2008). Social marketing campaigns and children’s media use. The
Future of Children, 18(1), 181-203.
French, J., & Gordon, R. (2015). Strategic social marketing. Sage Publications,
London.
George, K. S., Roberts, C. B., Beasley, S., Fox, M., Rashied-Henry, K., & Bro-
oklyn Partnership to Drive Down Diabetes (BP3D). (2016). Our health is
in our hands: a social marketing campaign to combat obesity and diabetes.
American Journal of Health Promotion, 30(4), 283-286.
Gordon, R., McDermott, L., Stead, M., & Angus, K. (2006). The effectiveness of
social marketing interventions for health improvement: what’s the eviden-
ce?. Public Health, 120(12), 1133-1139.
Gracia-Marco, L., Vicente-Rodriguez, G., Borys, J. M., Le Bodo, Y., Pettigrew,
S., & Moreno, L. A. (2011). Contribution of social marketing strategies to
community-based obesity prevention programmes in children. Internatio-
nal Journal of Obesity, 35(4), 472-479.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .41

Grier, S., & Bryant, C. A. (2005). Social marketing in public health. Annual. Re-
view of Public Health, 26, 319-339.
Gürbüz, S., & Şahin, F. (2014). Sosyal bilimlerde araştırma yöntemleri.  Seçkin
Yayıncılık, Ankara.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006).
Multivariate Data Analysis. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River,
NJ, 1-816.
Hoelscher, D. M., Kirk, S., Ritchie, L., Cunningham-Sabo, L., & Academy Posi-
tions Committee. (2013). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Diete-
tics: interventions for the prevention and treatment of pediatric overweight
and obesity. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(10),
1375-1394.
İnceoğlu, M. (2010). Tutum, Algı, İletişim. Beykent Üniversitesi Yayınları No: 69,
5. Baskı, İstanbul.
Janssen, M. M., Mathijssen, J. J., van Bon–Martens, M. J., Van Oers, H. A., &
Garretsen, H. F. (2013). Effectiveness of alcohol prevention interventions
based on the principles of social marketing: a systematic review. Substance
Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 8, 1-11.
Joslyn, R.A. (1980). The content of political spot ads. Journalism Quarterly, 57(1),
92-98.
Kotler, P., & Zaltman, G. (1971). Social marketing: an approach to planned social
change. Journal of marketing, 35(3), 3-12.
Kotler, P. (2005). Improving the Impact of Social Marketing. Date of access:
10.09.2015 http://www.authorstream.com/kotler-education-ppt.
Kotler, P. & Levy, S. J. (1969). Broadening the concept of marketing. Journal of
Marketing, 33(1), 10-15.
Kotler, P., Roberto, N. & Lee, N. (2002). Social marketing: Improving the quality
of life. 2nd Edition, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks.
Kurtoğlu, S. (2007). Sosyal pazarlama kavraminin analizi. Sosyal Bilimler Dergi-
si, (1), 125-134.
Kurtuluş, K., & Okumuş, A. (2006). Fiyat algılamasının boyutları arasındaki iliş-
kilerin yapısal eşitlik modeli ile incelenmesi. Yönetim Dergisi: İstanbul
Üniversitesi İşletme Fakültesi İşletme İktisadı Enstitüsü, 17(53), 3-17.
Lazer, W. & Kelley E. J. (1973). Social Marketing: Perspectives and Viewpoints.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education/ Irwin.
Lefebvre, R.C. (2011). An integrative model for social marketing. Journal of So-
cial Marketing, 1(1), 54-72.
Llauradó, E., Aceves-Martins, M., Tarro, L., Papell-Garcia, I., Puiggròs, F., Arola,
L., ... & Giralt, M. (2015). A youth-led social marketing intervention to en-
courage healthy lifestyles, the EYTO (European Youth Tackling Obesity)
42 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert

project: a cluster randomised controlled0 trial in Catalonia, Spain.  BMC

Public Health, 15, 1-12.
Lwin, M. O., Williams, J. D., & Lan, L. L. (2002). Social marketing initiatives: na-
tional kidney foundation’s organ donation programs in Singapore. Journal
of Public Policy & Marketing, 21(1), 66-77.
Meadley, J., Pollard, R. and Wheeler, M. (2003). Review of DFID Approach to
Social Marketing, DFID Health Systems Resource Centre, London.
Merdol, K.T. (20089. Beslenme Eğitimi ve Danışmanlığı. Sağlık Bakanlığı Ya-
yınları, Ankara.
Midi, H., Sarkar, S. K., & Rana, S. (2010). Collinearity diagnostics of binary
logistic regression model. Journal of Interdisciplinary Mathematics, 13(3),
253-267.
Mollaoğlu, S. (2016). Televizyonda yayımlanan obezite ile ilgili kamu spotları-
nın obez bireylerin kilo vermeye yönelik tutum ve inançları üzerine etkisi
ve grafik tasarım açısından incelenmesi. Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Cumhuriyet
Üniversitesi, Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Sivas.
Mostafa, M. M. (2010). Altruistic, cognitive and attitudinal determinants of organ
donation intention in Egypt: a social marketing perspective. Health Marke-
ting Quarterly, 27(1), 97-115.
Mucuk, İ. (2001). Pazarlama İlkeleri. 13. Basım, Türkmen Yayınevi, İstanbul.
Nakip, M. (2006). Pazarlama Araştırmaları: Teknikler ve SPSS Destekli Uygula-
malar. 2. Baskı, Seçkin Yayıncılık, Ankara.
Norusis, M.J. (1992). SPSS for Windows: Base System User’s Guide, Release 5.0.
SPSS Incorporated.
Ornish, D. (2008). The spectrum: A scientifically proven program to feel better,
live longer, lose weight, and gain health. Ballantine Books.
Seiders, K., & Petty, R. D. (2004). Obesity and the role of food marketing: A poli-
cy analysis of issues and remedies. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing,
23(2), 153-169.
Snyder, L. B. (2007). Health communication campaigns and their impact on beha-
vior. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 39(2), S32-S40.
Sözen, M. (2013). Sinemada anlam yaratan bir öğe olarak ışık tasarımı ve örnek
çözümlemeler. Selçuk İletişim, 7(4), 152-168.
Sugerman, S., Backman, D., Foerster, S. B., Ghirardelli, A., Linares, A., & Fong,
A. (2011). Using an opinion poll to build an obesity-prevention social mar-
keting campaign for low-income Asian and hispanic immigrants: report
of findings. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 43(4), S53-S66.
Tabachnick, B. & Fidell, L.S. (2013). Using Multivariate Statistics. Sixth edition,
Pearson, Boston.
Tabak, R. S. (2003). Sağlık İletişimi, 2. Baskı. Literatür Yayıncılık, İstanbul.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .43

Tay, R. (2005). Mass media campaigns reduce the incidence of drinking and dri-
ving. evidence-based. Healthcare and Public Health, 9(1), 26-29.
TDK (2015). Access Address: http://www.tdk.gov.tr.
Tengilimoğlu, D., Güzel, A. & Günaydın, E. (2014). Sosyal pazarlama kapsamin-
da dumansiz hava sahasi: örnek bir uygulama. Gazi Üniversitesi İktisadi ve
İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 15(2), 1-26.
Thomas, J. (2009). Using social marketing to address obesity: the ongoing’Li-
verpool’s Challenge’social marketing programme. Journal of Communica-
tion in Healthcare, 2(3), 216-227.
Thrasher, J. F., Huang, L., Pérez-Hernández, R., Niederdeppe, J., Arillo-Santillán,
E., & Alday, J. (2011). Evaluation of a social marketing campaign to sup-
port Mexico City’s comprehensive smoke-free law. American Journal of
Public Health, 101(2), 328-335.
Truong, V. D. (2014). Social marketing: A systematic review of research 1998–
2012. Social Marketing Quarterly, 20(1), 15-34.
Velioğlu N. & Çoknaz, M. D. (2008). “Sosyal Pazarlama”, Güncel Pazarlama Yak-
laşımlarından Seçmeler. Ed. İnci Varinli & Kahraman Çatı, Detay Yayın-
cılık, Ankara.
Walls, H. L., Peeters, A., Proietto, J., & McNeil, J. J. (2011). Public health campa-
igns and obesity-a critique. BMC Public Health, 11(1), 1-7.
Van Rossem, R. & Meekers, D. (2000). An evaluation of the effectiveness of tar-
geted social marketing to promote adolescent and young adult reproductive
health in Cameroon. AIDS Education and Prevention, 12(5), 383-404.
Warner, K. E. (1977). The effects of the anti-smoking campaign on cigarette con-
sumption. American Journal of Public Health, 67(7), 645-650.
Weinreich, N. K. (2010). Hands-on social marketing: a step-by-step guide to de-
signing change for good. 2nd Ed. Sage Publications. California
WHO (2007). European Ministerial Conference on Counteracting Obesity Confe-
rence Report. Copenhagen, Denmark.
Wong, F., Huhman, M., Asbury, L., Bretthauer-Mueller, R., McCarthy, S., Londe,
P., & Heitzler, C. (2004). VERB™—a social marketing campaign to incre-
ase physical activity among youth. Preventing Chronic Disease, 1(3), 1-7.
Woodward, G., Ritchie, L., Gerstein, D., Crawford, P. (2005). Obesity Dietary and
Developmental Influence. Taylor & Francis Group, London.
Yükselen, C. (2009). Pazarlama Araştırmaları. 4. Baskı, Detay Yayıncılık, Ankara.
http://www.beslenme.gov.tr
http://www.tocev.org.tr
http://www.unicef.org.tr
http://www.saglik.gov.tr
44 . Ceylan Bozpolat, Yavuz Cömert
 CHAPTER 3
THE EFFECTS OF INFORMATION
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF
INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT TYPES

Ramazan YILDIZ1

1  Öğr. Gör. Dr. Ramazan Yıldız, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Yenice
Vocational School, Department of Management and Organization, e-mail: ra-
[email protected], ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8437-8171
46 . Ramazan Yıldız

1. INTRODUCTION
Information and communication technologies have important
contributions to the development of countries. ICT has started to play a
more important role especially in production after 1980s. ICT is not only
used for personal needs, but also makes important contributions to the
economic development of countries. Thanks to ICT, information and
documents can be easily shared within and between countries. The fact
that information can be shared easily and instantaneously means that
information can be disseminated more quickly. Thanks to the information,
people can demand the products they need from anywhere they want.
On the other hand, when it is considered from the perspective of the
manufacturer, it can determine where in the world they can produce and
sell which products, how much and at what price. Thus, human needs can
be identified and met easily and quickly (Saidi, Toumi and Zaidi: 2017).
The digital and information age is changing the way people learn,
communicate, do business and treat diseases. ICT provides great
opportunities for the economic growth of countries, providing better quality
services, creating better health services, learning with distance education
methods, and progress in social and cultural areas. Although many
countries have data for ICT use; school, business, research, government,
etc. Little is known about how and by whom they are used in the fields.
More comparative statistical analyzes are needed to determine the growth
of the ICT sector and its benefits on production and development. Thanks
to ICT, countries can establish global partnerships, harmonize information
and data exchanges, and build their statistical capacity (Word data bank,
2023).
Logistics is the element that brings together the demands of the people
that emerged thanks to ICT and the supplies of the producers. Many types
of transportation such as road, air, rail, sea and pipeline transportation
are used in logistics activities. While one of these types of transportation
can be used to deliver the products to the places where they are needed,
two or more types of transportation can also be used together. There are
intermodal, multimodal and combined transportation types among the two
or more used transportation types. With the healthy operation of logistics
activities, the desired product can be delivered on time, to the desired
location, at the desired price and quality (Yıldız, 2022).
There are many prominent domestic and foreign studies on ICT and
logistics applications. Karlı and Tanyaş (2020) worked on the integration
of ICT supported activities and logistics centers. In the study, they mention
that ICT is needed in order to improve logistics centers, increase their
efficiency and make full integration. Çeviker, Mutlu, and Sesliokuyucu
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .47

(2013) have studied the place of Middle Eastern Countries using ICT in
world trade according to their e-commerce infrastructures. In the study, the
Middle East Countries are divided into three groups. It has been observed
that there are differences in the use of ICT and income levels between these
countries. Cengiz and Çetinceli (2020) investigated the situations between
logistics performance indices and ICT development indices. They found
that there were significant differences between the sub-dimensions of both
indices. Perego, Perotti, and Mangiaracina (2010) conducted a literature
study on ICT for logistics and freight transportation. In the research,
they stated that while there is ICT work for public transport, there is less
scientific work for the private sector. They also mentioned that most of the
studies were based on questionnaires. Cuong and Tien (2022) conducted
a study on the application of ICT in logistics and supply chain after
COVID-19. In the study, it is mentioned that ICT has a great contribution
to the improvement of services in the logistics and supply chain. They also
stated that ICT has a vital importance in the social-economic development
of the society. Korpysa, Halicki and Uphaus (2021) studied new financing
methods for logistics initiatives against ICT. In the study, it is mentioned
that the first coin supply can be used. They also stated that uncertainty has
arisen due to the fact that the tokens have not gained their legal status.
Literature research is mainly focused on the effects of ICT on economic
growth. In addition, studies on the effects of ICT on logistics performance
gains are gaining weight. However, no study has been found on the effects
of ICT on the development of international logistics activities. In this
respect, this study will investigate the effects of ICT on the development
of international logistics activities (road, rail, air and sea). In addition,
by revealing that ICT affects which type of international transport is
developed more, it is to make suggestions to support the development
of other inefficient transport modes. For the research, the export and
import values of highway, railway, airway, seaway and the gross domestic
product (GDP) ratio of ICTs between 2013-2022 were used. First of all, the
stationarity levels of the data were determined by ADF unit root tests. After
the stationarity levels were determined, models were established between
the series. Specification tests were performed to determine whether the
established models were suitable. After determining the suitability of the
established models for the EKK method, analyzes were carried out.
48 . Ramazan Yıldız

2. THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.1. Logistics and Economic Effects of Information and
Communication Technologies
In parallel with the developments in the world, ICT is developing
rapidly in Turkey. This rapid development creates a rapid social and
economic change within the country. After the establishment of the
internet infrastructure that started in 1990, the number of internet
subscribers, which was 50 thousand in 1995, has exceeded 11 million in 10
years (Kragöz, 2007). It is understood that while households have access
to the internet at the rate of 90.7% in 2020, it is 92% in 2021. It has been
determined that 82.6% of internet users are between the ages of 14-76.
While the rate of men using the internet in this age group is 87.7%, it is
understood that the rate of women is 77.5%. This shows that mostly young
population uses the internet (TÜİK, 2023).
Information communication systems consist of human, data,
procedure, hardware and software systems that enable the collection,
storage, processing and transmission of data in order to achieve a goal
(Adıgüzel, 2005). ICT consists of the production of products and services.
Products and services can be exported and imported. In terms of export
and import, it consists of computers, hardware parts, communication
equipment, user electronic equipment, sensors, software and other
equipment. ICT is developing with the production of these equipments and
offering them to the users. The more these tools are used, the faster the
economies of those countries develop (Word data bank, 2023).
Information on ICT activities on the economic growth of countries is
shown in Figure 1. This figure was developed by being inspired by Türedi’s
2013 study. ICT channels affecting economic growth; use of ICT systems
in logistics, production of ICT systems and investment in ICT systems.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .49

Use of ICT in Logistics Production of ICT ICT investment

Increasing per capita income

Lower costs Technological innovations
Increasing Labor Efficiency
short delivery time increase in demand
Increase in production efficiency
undamaged product Productivity increase
Increasing logistics service
Productivity increase Ease in production and
efficiency
Profitability increase planning
Personal use possibilities
Stock optimization Optimum supply and stock
Increasing supply and demand
on time delivery tracking
efficiencies

Economic Growth

Figure 1: ICT Channels Affecting Economic Growth

Source: Developed from the study of Türedi (2013).
The structure of the ICT channels that affect the economic development
of the countries is shown in Figure 1.
Contribution of ICT Use in Logistics to Economic Growth:
Information is of great importance for businesses and society. From the
perspective of society, it is possible to access comprehensive and accurate
information about the products and services needed. In addition, products
or services can be purchased from anywhere by tracking their costs. In
addition to these, economic, political, social, logistics, etc. occurring in the
domestic or international arena. events can be heard and necessary steps
can be taken accordingly. In terms of businesses, it can provide the best
way to market their products or services. ICT creates a great advantage
in transmitting information to relevant places in a correct and timely
manner. With the use of information and communication technologies in
logistics, logistics activities can function in a healthy way. Instant tracking
and sending of needed requests can be done more accurately with ICT.
Information exchange among all logistics activities can be done in a
healthy way thanks to ICT (Yoshimoto and Nemoto, 2005).
Thanks to ICT, instant and accurate information and documents can
be provided to businesses. Thanks to instant and accurate information,
businesses can manage their logistics operations well and deliver their
products in a short time. The operational efficiency of well-managed
businesses can increase, thus reducing operating costs. Businesses that
can reduce their costs can increase their profitability (Korpysa, Halicki
and Uphaus, 2021).
50 . Ramazan Yıldız

Thanks to ICT, logistics enterprises can better manage their stocks.

The products can be delivered to the customers on time, with the stocks
in the business at the right time and in the desired amount. In addition
to barcode and barcode readers, ICT systems such as RFID, warehouse
management systems and enterprise resource planning systems can
be used to track stocks well. ICT such as vehicle loading systems, load
planning systems and vehicle routing systems can be used to deliver the
products leaving the warehouse to the customer’s feet. Thanks to these
systems, the most suitable load can be distributed from the most suitable
route by searching for the most suitable vehicle. Thus, both operating costs
can be reduced and products can be delivered to those in need in a shorter
time (Ekene, 2014).
Contribution of ICT Production to Economic Growth: Developments
in the field of ICT have rapidly improved information and communication
among people. Therefore, needs can be determined instantly. In addition,
purchases are made quickly. In purchasing, logistics activities are of
great importance in delivering the requests and needs of the customers
to the desired place on time, without missing, error-free. In addition,
the development in the field of ICT accelerates production and service
production and increases the efficiency of enterprises. With the effect of
this, economic activities accelerate and contribute to the growth of national
economies (Türedi, 2013).
In addition to its impact on the development of companies, ICT also
affects the development of the country’s industries. ICT is directly effective
in the use and development of new technologies used in the industry, R&D
studies of products, production and logistics systems, and the development
of the marketing and retail sector. In addition to these, the development
of ICT systems can be easier and faster thanks to ICT (Özkan and Çelik,
2018).
The development of ICT systems affects the development of national
economies in a permanent and dynamic way. Thanks to globalization and
ICT systems, the world has switched to the “New Economy” approach.
Internet, computers, mobile phones, software and smart devices are
among the most important factors affecting the economy in ICT systems.
As these vehicles become cheaper, their usage rates are becoming more
common. Thanks to the widely used ICT, the country and inter-country
exchanges are faster and more efficient in the country’s economy (Çeviker
and Sarıdoğan, 2006).
If businesses use their existing resources more efficiently, they can
increase their productivity by 30%. In order to realize this increase, it
is necessary to benefit from ICT systems. It has been determined that
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .51

businesses that use ICT systems work at least 5% more efficiently than
those that do not. More efficient processes will have more economic gains
as they produce more products or services in a short time (Mouelhi, 2009).
Contribution of ICT Investments to Economic Growth: In order to
determine the impact of ICT system investments on economic growth, it is
necessary to look at per capita income. In order for the per capita income
to increase, the GDP ratios must increase gradually. This is possible by
investing in the processing of production processes to improve themselves
or by increasing their efficiency. Depending on technological and global
developments, it is very difficult to achieve economic development in the
absence of sufficient investment in the field of ICT. Embroidery works in
national and international arena under competitive conditions. Whichever
business invests more in technologies and ICT systems can increase their
efficiency and reduce their costs. Businesses that can reduce their costs can
compete more (Türedi, 2013).
Developed countries can make their investments in technologies and
ICT systems faster and easier. Developing countries find it difficult to
access these technologies immediately. In addition, it takes a long time for
these countries to access new technologies or they cannot reach them. This
means that developed countries grow more economically than developing
countries. This means that the already existing income imbalance between
countries will increase more and more (Guetat and Dine, 2007).
According to the research conducted in Egypt, they stated that the
contribution of the investment made in the telecom sector to the GDP
in a year is 4.35 billion USD. Therefore, the country has accelerated its
investments in new licenses for international submarine cables and more
fixed line operators. ICT is one of the most important tools for providing
not only economic but also health, education, logistics, production and
government services (Kamel, Rateb and El-Tawil 2009). It has been
determined that investment in ICT systems in Bangladesh has gradually
grown in domestic and export earnings (Shamim, 2022).
2.2. International Logistics
International logistics is one of the most important factors in the
realization of foreign trade. International logistics activities are needed
in order to transmit the products between the countries between the
sender and the receiver at the desired time, in the desired amount, at the
appropriate cost and without any problems. Apart from the shipment of
products between countries, the exchange of money and information is also
considered within the scope of international logistics. Accurate planning
and implementation in the field of international logistics; It will provide
advantages in reducing total costs, gaining reputation and creating new
52 . Ramazan Yıldız

customers. The development of international logistics and the development

of foreign trade support each other to a great extent.
In national logistics, the tracking and control of products or vehicles
is easier due to the fact that the product shipment and documents within
the country are a little simpler. However, in international logistics, it has
a more complex structure due to the intervention of many intermediary
institutions and the fact that there are more documents and documents. In
international logistics, many applications such as transportation, logistics
planning, load plan creation, storage, handling, packaging and customs
procedures need to be processed separately and in detail. There are costs
incurred by each activity. If these activities are managed in the best
way, the costs can be reduced and a competitive price can be obtained.
Competitive price, on the other hand, can be accepted in international
trade and increase purchasing (Dinler, 2022).
In international logistics, rail, road, sea, air and pipeline transportation
are one of the modes of transportation. These types of transport have
advantages and disadvantages among themselves. In terms of transporting
more products by rail transport than by road, the transportation cost per
unit product is low. In addition, it is safer and less affected by adverse
weather conditions compared to the highway. However, for less shipments,
highway is preferred instead of railway (Yıldız, 2022).
Road transport provides a great advantage in transporting customers to
their feet. It is an indispensable type of transportation for small shipments.
The initial investment costs are lower than other types of transportation.
It is called and is a faster type of transportation compared to seaway.
However, unit transportation costs are higher (Eşiyok, 2021).
In terms of product variety in maritime transportation, the amount
of cargo sent at one time is higher than other types of transportation. In
this respect, the transportation cost per unit product is lower. Maritime
transportation is a great advantage in international transportation. It
affects foreign trade and has important contributions to the economic
development of countries. In addition, it is a slow type of transportation
and does not have access to everywhere (Emre, 2019). ICT is developing
rapidly in the Industry 4.0 revolution. Thanks to these newly developed
systems, the concept of smart port is being adopted. In addition to the
smartening of the ports, the ships used are beginning to be equipped with
smart systems. In addition to automation ships, controllable sea freight
vehicles are being designed (Yıldız, 2022).
It is a suitable type of transportation for valuable, small-scale and
sensitive shipments in air transportation. Although it is the most expensive
type of transportation in terms of product variety, it is actively used in
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .53

passenger and freight transportation (Dinler, 2022). In addition to civil

aviation, ICT is also used in the military field. These technologies are rapidly
developing and becoming widespread, especially in the age of industry
4.0. Countries that can use these technologies (instant communication
systems, smart positioning systems, guided missile systems, unmanned
aerial vehicles, etc.) in a military sense can gain deterrent power (Alp,
2022).
In pipeline transportation, it is possible to transport loads such as
liquid and gas continuously. In this type of transport, solid cargoes and
liquid solid cargoes can also be transported, albeit rarely. Although the
initial investment costs of this type of transportation are high, it is an
efficient type of transportation. Transportation of natural gas, water and
petroleum products between countries is common. There are pumping
stations at specified intervals depending on the condition of the pipelines.
Depending on the size of the pipes, the density of the transported load and
the altitude, there are pumping stations with an average length of every
20 km. The pump motors in the pumping stations are mainly powered by
electricity. In pipeline transportation, warehouses are needed before and
after the cargo is transferred. Pipes are generally laid underground, and it
is more difficult to provide security as they pass between countries and in
uninhabited places (Kudu, 2021).
Transport types have advantages and disadvantages among themselves.
Carrying out transportation by taking advantage of the advantages of
transportation types in international product shipment creates a great
advantage for businesses. At the beginning of these advantages are cost,
speed and security. While a single type of transport mode can be used in
the international arena, more than one mode of transport can also be used.
These types of transport include multimodal, intermodal and combined
transport. If the loads are to be handled in parts from one type of transport
to another, this type of transport is multimodal. Separate documents
must be prepared between the types of transport. However, if the cargoes
will be handled in containers among the transportation types, this type
of transportation is intermodal transportation. Combined transport, on
the other hand, is a type of uninterrupted transport. There are different
types of transportation such as road-sea, road-railway, rail-sea, bimodal
transportation (Eşiyok, 2021).
3. METHOD OF THE RESEARCH
In this research, the effects of ICT systems on railway, road, sea,
airway, export and import developments are investigated. The data used in
the research between the years 2013-2022 were compiled from the Turkish
Statistical Institute. Microsoft Excel was used for the classification and
54 . Ramazan Yıldız

descriptive statistics of the data, and EViews 12 package programs were

used for the analysis of the models.
Descriptive statistics (maximum, minimum, mean, standard
deviation) of the research data are given in Table 1. The values of the data
are evaluated over monetary income. While the standard deviation of
export data occurs mostly in air transportation, the standard deviation in
import transportation occurs mostly in maritime transport.

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Research Data

Descriptive Maritime Rail Highway Airways
ICT
Values transport Freight transports transporting
Maximum 42897796 758816,6 24098999 6951310 24297459
Minimum 6730023 78161,68 4313112 1098240 7549413
Export
Data Average 25572446 279626,3 14319509 3994774 12658030
Standard
6806585 143537,8 3091284 1047733 3973340
deviation
Maximum 54 130 247 801 941 15 951 292 13 076 094 24297459
Minimum 25 864 213 280 860 7 989 683 4 666 835 7549413
Import
Data Average 35 306 955 461 206 10 737 989 7 440 040 12658030
Standard
6 833 640 163 013 2 018 912 2 100 068 3973340
deviation

Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test was proposed by

Dickey Fuller (1981) to evaluate the stationarity of temporal series. With
this analysis, it can be determined whether the temporal series are stationary
or at what level they become stationary (Demirel, 2022). Dickey Fuller
(ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) unit root tests were applied to determine
the analysis methods of the research data and to determine the suitability
of the data for analysis.
There are many types of time series analysis used in the analysis of
temporal data. One of these analyzes is the Least Squares (LCS) method. The
EKK method is a statistical method in which factor analysis and hypothesis
testing are performed simultaneously. However, the margin of error in a
small number of samples is lower than in covariance-based analyses. In
addition, it can be actively used in estimation studies, exploratory and theory
creation (Çalışkan & Öztürkoğlu, 2020). In this study, EKK method was
preferred depending on the data and the pre-test analysis of the data.
After determining the stationarity levels of the temporal series, models
for the EKK method were established between ICT and international
transportation types. In order to determine whether the established models
are significant, the normality distributions of the models, variable variance
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .55

and autocorrelation tests were performed.

The annual or seasonal differences between the error terms of the
series in the established models show the autocorrelation difference.
In annual time series, errors of period “t” only mean first-order
autocorrelation if a relationship is observed with errors of period t-1. First-
order autocorrelation is frequently encountered in practice. Second- and
third-degree autocorrelation, although rare, is seen. In EKK models, it is
desired that there is no autocorrelation between the errors of the series. In
case of autocorrelation problem in the models, the previous value (t-1) of
the dependent variable is included in the model independently (Albayrak,
2014). In autocorrelation tests, models with autocorrelation problems
(Railway export-ICT, Railway import-ICT, Seaway import-ICT, Highway
import-ICT) were tested by taking the 1st difference (t-1) and modeling
was done in this way.
 Hypothesis Tests of the Research
H1. The change in the amount of GDP in the ICT area over the years
affects railway exports.
H2. The change in the amount of GDP in the ICT area over the years
affects railway imports.
H3. The change in the amount of GDP in the ICT area over the years
affects road exports.
H4. The change in the amount of GDP in the ICT area over the years
affects road imports.
H5. The change in the amount of GDP in the ICT area over the years
affects maritime exports.
H6. The change in the amount of GDP in the ICT area over the years
affects maritime imports.
H7. The change in the amount of GDP in the ICT area over the years
affects airline exports.
H8. The change of GDP in the ICT area over the years affects airline
imports.
4. FINDINGS
In this part of the research, there are descriptive statistics values,
stationarity tests, specification tests that determine the suitability of the
established models, and EQC analysis results of the series that are the subject
of the research. In addition, the results of the hypothesis tests were evaluated.
Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test results are shown in
56 . Ramazan Yıldız

Table 2 to determine the stationarity levels of the temporal series that

are the subject of the research. In order for the variables to be stationary,
the “t” statistical values must be higher than the test critical values in
absolute value (Uzgören and Uzgören (2005). Since the data subject to the
research is not stationary at the I(0) level, they were tested by taking the
1st difference. According to the results, the probability value of all series
(Prob.* = 0.0000) is below 0.005 according to 5% margin of error. In my
ADF unit root test, it is seen that all series are below 1% test critical value.

Table 2: Stability Levels of Variables According to ADF Unit Root Test Statistics
Results

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test critical

test statistic values

t-
Prob.* Stability 1% level 5% level 10% level
Statistic
Railway Export -8.405759 0.0000 I(1) -3.615588 -2.941145 -2.609066
Railway Import -6.430462 0.0000 I(1) -3.621023 -2.943427 -2.610263
Highway Export -9.296982 0.0000 I(1) -3.615588 -2.941145 -2.609066
Highway Import -6.599729 0.0000 I(1) -3.621023 -2.943427 -2.610263
Seaway Export -10.24168 0.0000 I(1) -3.615588 -2.941145 -2.609066
Seaway Import -8.528568 0.0000 I(1) -3.615588 -2.941145 -2.609066
Airline Export -6.479261 0.0000 I(1) -3.626784 -2.945842 -2.611531
Airline Import -8.834387 0.0000 I(1) -3.615588 -2.941145 -2.609066
ICT -3.962620 0.0046 I(1) -3.653730 -2.957110 -2.617434

Normality distributions, autocorrelation tests and covariance tests

were performed to determine whether the models established between
international transport types and ICT are valid. In Figure 2, there is
the Jarque-Bera test result for the normality distributions of the model
established between railway exports and ICT. Since the probability values
of the Jarque-Bera test result (0.215138) are greater than 5% margin of
error (0.005), it means that the series are normally distributed. Jarque-
Bera test results of other models of research hypotheses are included in the
appendices of the study.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .57

8
Series: Residuals
7 Sample 2013Q1 2022Q4
Observations 40
6
5 Mean 7.93e-11
Median 8396.062
4 Maximum 260352.0
3 Minimum -166753.8
Std. Dev. 91622.55
2 Skewness 0.573574
Kurtosis 3.726513
1
0 Jarque-Bera 3.072951
-100000 0 100000 200000 Probability 0.215138

Figure 2: Normality Distribution of the Model Established between Railway

Exports and ICT
The result of the analysis on whether there is an autocorrelation
problem between the models established between international transport
types and ICT is given in Table 3. In the analysis, “f” statistical results,
chi-square autocorrelation probability values and lag length are included.
Since the chi-square probability values (Prob. Chi-Square) of all the
models established are greater than 5% error (0.05), it means that there
is no autocorrelation problem between the residuals of the series. This
indicates that the model is suitable and the analysis will continue.

Table 3: Autocorrelation Status in Established Models

Obs*R- Latency Prob. Chi-
Types of transport f-statistic Prob. F
squared Length Square
Railway Export 1.903855 3.927789 0.1645 2 0.1403
Railway Import 1.190820 2.553045 0.3163 2 0.2790
Highway Export 2.385724 8.766433 0.0705 4 0.0672
Highway Import 0.633825 1.401805 0.5367 2 0.4961
Seaway Export 0.855042 1.867632 0.4342 2 0.3931
Seaway Import 1.357411 2.883796 0.2709 2 0.2365
Airline Export 0.904419 1.913666 0.4138 2 0.3841
Airline Import 2.219196 4.390276 0.1234 2 0.1113
Table 4 shows whether there is variable variance among the residuals
of variables between international transport modes and ICT. According to
the variable variance test; “f” means that there is no problem of variable
variance among the residuals of the series, since the statistical, R2, and
scaled annotation results are greater than 5% (0.05) margin of error. This
situation shows that the model is suitable and LCC analysis can be done.
58 . Ramazan Yıldız

Table 4: Test of Variance of Variance in Established Models

Scaled
Dependent-Independent Variables F-statistic Obs*R-squared
explained SS
Railway Export 0.3308 0.3127 0.1853
Railway Import 0.1835 0.1732 0.0594
Highway Export 0.9811 0.9805 0.9748
Highway Import 0.6122 0.6122 0.2150
Seaway Export 0.2343 0.2208 0.0235
Seaway Import 0.1791 0.1692 0.0036
Airline Export 0.4116 0.3985 0.3357
Airline Import 0.2544 0.2432 0.3222

The test results of the analysis of the hypotheses established between

ICT systems and international transport types using the EKK method
are given in Table 5. Since the probability value (0.0103) of the model
established between ICT and railway exports is smaller than the 5% margin
of error (0.005), it can be said that the established model is appropriate.
This means that there is a positive and significant relationship between ICT
and rail exports and the H1 hypothesis will be accepted. In addition, since
the coefficient value in the model is 0.008506; It means that a 1% change
in the ICT argument will change international rail exports by 0.008506%.
Since the probability value (0.0038) of the model established between ICT
and railway imports is smaller than the 5% margin of error (0.005), it can
be said that the established model is appropriate. This means that there is a
positive and significant relationship between ICT and railroad imports and
the H2 hypothesis will be accepted. In addition, since the coefficient value
in the model is 0.014287; It means that a 1% change in the ICT argument
will change international rail exports by 0.014287%.
Since the probability value (0.0000) of the model established between
ICT and road exports is smaller than the 5% margin of error (0.005), it can
be said that the established model is appropriate. This means that there is a
positive and significant relationship between ICT and road exports and the
H3 hypothesis will be accepted. In addition, since the coefficient value in
the model is 0.535440; It means that a 1% change in the ICT independent
variable will change road exports by 0.53544%. Since the probability value
(0.0106) of the model established between ICT and road imports is smaller
than the 5% margin of error (0.005), it can be said that the established
model is appropriate. This means that there is a positive and significant
relationship between ICT and road imports and the H4 hypothesis will be
accepted. In addition, since the coefficient value in the model is 0.194931;
It means that a 1% change in the ICT argument will change road imports
by 0.194931%.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .59

Table 5: EQL Analysis of Dependent and Independent Variables of Countries

Inde- Proba- Hypo-
The dependent Coeffi- Standard t- Statis- Adjus-
pendent bility R2 thesis
variable cient error tics ted R2
variable value Result
Railway Export ICT 0.008506 0.003144 2.705714 0.0103 0.863276 0.855680 Accept
Railway Import ICT 0.014287 0.004611 3.098702 0.0038 0.713965 0.698075 Accept
Highway Export ICT 0.535440 0.091565 5.847641 0.0000 0.473647 0.459796 Accept
Highway Import ICT 0.194931 0.072261 2.697602 0.0106 0.413206 0.380606 Accept
Seaway Export ICT 0.894775 0.145687 6.141759 0.0000 0.842174 0.833406 Accept
Seaway Import ICT 0.210251 0.240457 0.874382 0.3877 0.383044 0.348769 Reject
Airline Export ICT 0.116984 0.038336 3.051510 0.0041 0.196816 0.175680 Accept
Airline Import ICT 0.151847 0.082126 1.848951 0.0723 0.082538 0.058394 Reject

Since the probability value (0.0000) of the model established between

ICT and maritime export is smaller than 5% margin of error (0.005), it
can be said that the established model is appropriate. This means that
there is a positive and significant relationship between ICT and maritime
exports and the H5 hypothesis will be accepted. In addition, since the
coefficient value in the model is 1.458717; It means that a 1% change in
the ICT independent variable will change maritime exports by 1.458717%.
Since the probability value (0.3877) of the model established between ICT
and maritime import is greater than 5% error margin (0.005), it can be
said that there is no relationship between them. This means that there is
no significant relationship between ICT and maritime imports and the H6
hypothesis will be rejected.
Since the probability value (0.0041) of the model established between
ICT and airline export is smaller than the 5% margin of error (0.005), it can
be said that the established model is appropriate. This means that there is
a positive and significant relationship between ICT and airline exports and
the H7 hypothesis will be accepted. In addition, since the coefficient value
in the model is 0.116984; It means that a 1% change in the ICT argument will
change airline exports by 0.116984%. Since the probability value (0,0723)
of the model established between ICT and airline imports is greater than
5% error margin (0,005), it can be said that there is no relationship between
them. This means that there is no significant relationship between ICT and
airline imports and the H8 hypothesis will be rejected.
5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
ICT affects countries economically, socially and culturally. More ICT
systems are needed in international logistics. ICT systems are used in
all processes after order arrival, production, packaging and preparation,
logistics shipment, delivery of products and post-delivery processes.
ICT can directly affect logistics activities. In this study, it is to reveal to
what extent information communication technologies affect international
60 . Ramazan Yıldız

transport types in Turkey.

In the research, ICT positively affects the international transportation
types (rail, road, sea and air). While the increase in the field of ICT
increases the amount of international transport, the decrease in the field of
ICT decreases the amount of international transport.
A 1% increase in the field of ICT increases railway exports by 0.0085%,
while railway imports increase by 0.014%. In this case, it is said that ICT
affects rail imports more (Table 5). While a 1% increase in the field of ICT
increases road exports by 0.53%, it increases road imports by 0.19%. In this
case, it is said that ICT affects road exports more than road imports. While
a 1% increase in the field of ICT increases maritime exports by 0.89%,
there is no interaction with maritime imports. While a 1% increase in the
field of ICT increases airline exports by 0.11%, there is no interaction with
airline imports (Table 5). Similar to this study; Yoshimoto and Nemoto
(2005) studied the effect of information communication technologies on
road freight transport. In the study, they determined that ICT has a huge
impact on road freight transport. Rabah and Mahmassan (2002) conducted
a similar study to determine the effects of ICT on logistics and freight
transportation. In the research, it has been understood that ICT has effects
on reducing logistics costs. Banister and Stead (2014) in their study on
the additives of ICT on transportation determined that ICT increases
transportation security and reduces transportation costs.
The fact that the data covers the years 2013-2022 constitutes the
limitation of the research. This date range has been preferred because it is
not possible to reach all the data or it takes time. In the future, studies can
be conducted on the effects of ICT on logistics loading or transportation
performances.
Among the international transportation types that are the subject of
research in Turkey, ICT affects the sea export the most, followed by the
road export. ICT affects rail exports the least, followed by rail imports.
This means that ICT systems have little impact on international rail
transport. It is seen that the increase in the amount of GDP in the field
of ICT will further improve international logistics. It also means that
more ICT systems are needed in the railway field. In this case, studies
should be carried out for ICT to have a greater impact on rail, air, road and
finally maritime transport, respectively. It is seen that it would be more
appropriate to make country investments in the field of ICT primarily in
international railways and airlines.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .61

REFERENCES

Adıgüzel, B. (2005). Bilişim Sistemlerinin Lojistik Yönetiminde Etkin Kullanımı

Ve Buna İlişkin Bir Uygulama, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, T.C. İstanbul Üniver-
sitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İşletme Anabilim Dalı Sayısal Yöntemler
Bilim Dalı, İstanbul.
Albayrak, A. S. (2014 Otokorelasyon Durumunda En Küçük Kareler Tekniğinin
Alternatifi Otoregresyon Teknikleri Ve Bir Uygulama, Süleyman Demirel
Üniversitesi İktisadi Ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 19(1), 1–20.
Alp, M. (2022). Sanayi Devrimleri İle Askerî Havacılık Sanayiinin Gelişimine
Genel Bir Bakış, Hava Kuvvetleri Dergisi, Şubat, Sayı: 391.
Ayed Mouelhi, R. Ben. (2009). Impact Of The Adoption Of İnformation And
Communication Technologies On Firm Efficiency İn The Tunisian Ma-
nufacturing Sector. Economic Modelling, 26(5), 961–967. Https://Doi.Or-
g/10.1016/J.Econmod. 2009.03.001
Banister, D., & Stead, D. (2004). Impact Of İnformation And Communications Te-
chnology On Transport. Transport Reviews, 24(5), 611–632. Https://Doi.
Org/10.1080/0144164042000 206060.
Başlangıç, S. Ö. (2015). Uluslararası Lojistik Uygulamalarında Teslim Şekille-
ri̇ Ve Teslim Şekli Seçimini̇ Etkileyen Unsurların Belirlenmesi̇ , Doktora
Tezi, Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi̇ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İşletme Ana-
bilim Dalı, Aydın
Ceng, H. (2020). A Comparison Of Turkey ’ S And Brics Countries ’ Information
And Communication Technology Development Indexes And Logistics. 38,
165–185.
Çalışkan, A., & Öztürkoğlu, Y. (2020). Konteyner Hatlarininfi̇ Nansal Performans-
larinin Operasyoneni̇ Teli̇ Klerüzeri̇ Nddeğerlendi̇ Ri̇ Lmesi̇ . Uluslararası İk-
tisadi Ve İdari İncelemeler Dergisi, 0–2. Https://Doi.Org/10.18092/Uliki-
dince.578213
Demirel, E., & Arica, F. (2022). The Interactions Between Covid-19 Cases İn
Turkey, The Vıx Index And Major Sector Indexes. Economic Insigh-
ts – Trends And Challenges, 2022(1), 23–31. Https://Doi.Org/10.51865/
Eitc.2022.01.03
Dickey, D. A. And Fuller, W. A. (1981). Likelihood Ratio Statistics For Auto-
regressive Time Series With A Unit Root. Econometrica: Journal Of The
Econometric Society, 49(4), 1057-1072.
Dinler, F. (2022). Uluslararası Lojistik Ve Nato Lojistiği: Afganistan Örneği, Yük-
sek Lisans Tezi, T.C. Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler
Enstitüsü Uluslararası İşletmecilik Ve Ticaret Dalı Uluslararası, Muğla.
Ekene, E. A. (2014). Ict Adoption İn Logistics Operations; An Emerging Trend
For Sustaiinable Development And Human Capacity Building İn South-E-
astern Nigeria. Journal Of Emerging Trends İn Engineering And Applied
62 . Ramazan Yıldız

Sciences, 5(7 Special Edition 1), 24–28.

Emre, A. (2019). Uluslararası Lojistik Faaliyetlerinde Gümrük İdarelerinin Rolü,
, Yüksek Lisans Tezi̇ , Gazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Uluslara-
rası Ticaret Anabilim Dalı Uluslararası Ticaret Bilim Dalı, Ankara
Eşiyok, S. (2021). Çok Modlu Taşımacılık Sistemlerinin Optimizasyonuna Yö-
nelik Bir Uygulama, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Çukurova
Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İşletme Ana Bilim Dalı, Adana.
Guetat, I., & Drine, I. (2007). The Information Communication Technologies Im-
pact On The Mena Countries Growth Performance. 14(May), 16. Http://
Gdri.Dreem.Free.Fr/Wp-Content/G1-4guetatictfinal.Pdf
Güriş, S., & Yılgör, M. (2008). Bilgi Ve İletişim Teknolojileri Ve Yenilik Üretimi:
Oecd Ülkeleri Üzerine Ekonometrik Bir Analiz. Marmara Üniversitesi İ.İ.
B.F. Dergisi, 25(2), 773–783. Http://İibf.Marmara.Edu.Tr/Dosya/Fakulte/
İibfdergi_2008_2/35-Oecd-Ulkelerınde-Butce-Acıkları.Pdf
Hoang Tien, N., Huy Cuong, T., & Author, C. (2022). Application Of Ict İn Logis-
tics And Supply Chain İn Post-Covid-19 Economy İn Vietnam Real-Estate
Business View Project Tourism View Project Application Of Ict İn Logistics
And Supply Chain İn Post-Covid-19 Economy İn Vietnam. August. Www.
Allmultidisciplinaryjournal.Com
Kamel, S., Rateb, D., & El-Tawil, M. (2009). The Impact Of Ict Investments
On Economic Development İn Egypt. The Electronic Journal Of Infor-
mation Systems İn Developing Countries, 36(1), 1–21. Https://Doi.Or-
g/10.1002/J.1681-4835.2009.Tb00248.X
Karagöz, K. (2017). Bilgi İletişim Teknolojilerindeki Gelişmenin İhracata Etkisi :
Türkiye İçin Ampirik Bir Analiz. Maliye Dergisi, 153, 214–223.
Karlı, H., & Tanyaş, M. (2020). Bilgi Ve İletişim Teknolojileri Destekli Yenilik-
çi Uygulamaların Lojistik Merkezlere Entegrasyonu. Mersin Üniversitesi
Denizcilik Ve Lojistik Araştırmaları Dergisi.
Korpysa, J., Halicki, M., & Uphaus, A. (2021). New Financing Methods And Ict
Versus Logistics Startups. Procedia Computer Science, 192, 4458–4466.
Https://Doi.Org/10.1016/J.Procs.2021.09.223
Kudu, E. (2021). Kocaeli Liman Tesisleri İle Köseköy Lojistik Köyü Ulaştırma
Modlarının Kombine Taşımacılık Açısından İncelenmesi, Doktora Tezi,
T.C. İstanbul Üniversitesi Deniz Bilimleri Ve İşletmeciliği Enstitüsü, İs-
tanbul.
Özkan, G. Ve Çelik, H. (2018). Bilgi İletişim Teknolojileri İle Ekonomik Büyüme
Arasındaki İlişki: Türkiye İçin Bir Uygulama, Uluslararası Ticaret Ve Eko-
nomi Araştırmaları Dergisi, Cilt 2, Sayı 1, 1 – 15.
Perego, A., Perotti, S., & Mangiaracina, R. (2011). Ict For Logistics And Freight
Transportation: A Literature Review And Research Agenda. International
Journal Of Physical Distribution And Logistics Management, 41(5), 457–
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .63

483. Https://Doi.Org/10.1108/09600031111138826
Rabah, M., & Mahmassani, H. S. (2002). Impact Of İnformation And Commu-
nication Technologies On Logistics And Freight Transportation: Example
Of Vendor-Managed İnventories. Transportation Research Record, 1790,
10–19. Https://Doi.Org/10.3141/1790-02
Saidi, K., Toumi, H., & Zaidi, S. (2017). Impact Of Information Communication
Technology And Economic Growth On The Electricity Consumption: Em-
pirical Evidence From 67 Countries. Journal Of The Knowledge Economy,
8(3), 789–803. Https://Doi.Org/10.1007/S13132-015-0276-1
Shamim M. I. (2022). It Skills Development Project And Economic Development
İn Bangladesh://Creativecommons.Org/Licenses/By/4.0. Academic Jour-
nal Of Digital Economics And Stability, 19(July). Https://Economics.Aca-
demicjournal.İo
Study, A. C., Public, O. N., Auditors, I., Performing, A., Importance, T. H. E.,
Internal, O. F., In, A., & Sector, P. (2010). Gümü Ş Hane Üniversitesi Sayı
1 Sosyal Bilimler Elektronik Dergisi Ocak 2010. 1–17.
Trade, GDP, and the Construction in Turkey, ODÜ Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları
Dergisi / ISSN: 1309-9302 / dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/odusobiad.
Tüik, (2023). Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu, Https://Www.Tuik.Gov.Tr/ (11.02.2023)
Uzgören, N., & Uzgören, E. (2005). Zaman Serilerinde Sahte Regresyon Sorunu
Ve Reel Kamu Harcamalarina Yönelik Bir Ekonometrik Model Uygulama-
sı. Akademik Bakış, 5, 1–14.
Word Data Bank, 2023 Https://Data.Worldbank.Org/İndicator/Tx.Val.Ictg.Zs.Un.
Yıldız, R. (2022). A Case Study of Examining the Relationships Between Mariti-
me Foreign
Yıldız, R. (2022). Uluslararası Demiryolu Taşımacılığı Ve Akıllı Demiryolu Sis-
temleri, Sosyal, Beşeri ve İdari Bilimler Alanında Yeni Trendler III, Duvar
Yayınları, Aralık 2022, ISBN: 978-625-8261-87-5.
Yıldız, R. (2022). Uluslararası Denizyolu Taşımacılığı ve Akıllı Limanlar, Sosyal,
Beşeri ve İdari Bilimlerde Güncel Tartışmalar 3, Duvar Yayınları, Ekim
2022, ISBN: 978-625-8261-10-3.
Yoshimoto, R., & Nemoto, T. (2005). The Impact Of Information And Communi-
cation Technology On Road Freight Transportation. Iatss Research, 29(1),
16–21. Https://Doi.Org/10.1016/S0386-1112(14)60114-X
64 . Ramazan Yıldız

APPENDİCES
9
Series: Residuals
8 Sample 2013Q1 2022Q4
7 Observations 40

6
Mean 3.17e-09
5 Median -519569.8
Maximum 5160326.
4
Minimum -2858715.
3 Std. Dev. 1882556.
2 Skewness 0.837584
Kurtosis 3.258436
1
0 Jarque-Bera 4.788290
-2000000 0 2000000 4000000 Probability 0.091251

Appendix 1. Normality Distribution of the Model Established between Seaway

Exports and ICT
9
Series: Residuals
8 Sample 2013Q2 2022Q4
7 Observations 39

6 Mean -2.87e-10
5 Median -549548.6
Maximum 6663736.
4
Minimum -3846297.
3 Std. Dev. 2609399.
Skewness 0.495010
2
Kurtosis 2.595858
1
0 Jarque-Bera 1.858142
-4000000 -2000000 0 2000000 4000000 6000000 Probability 0.394920

Appendix 2. Normality Distribution of the Model Established between Airline

Exports and ICT

10
Series: Residuals
Sample 2013Q2 2022Q4
8 Observations 39

Mean -6.18e-10
6
Median -237797.9
Maximum 6148700.
4 Minimum -3599027.
Std. Dev. 2313707.
Skewness 0.769519
2
Kurtosis 3.024796

0 Jarque-Bera 3.850033
-4000000 -2000000 0 2000000 4000000 6000000 Probability 0.145873

Appendix 3. Normality Distribution of the Model Established between Road

Export and ICT
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .65

12
Series: Residuals
Sample 2013Q2 2022Q4
10
Observations 39

8
Mean 1.55e-09
Median 153635.4
6 Maximum 5564175.
Minimum -4248582.
4 Std. Dev. 2357843.
Skewness 0.635847
2 Kurtosis 3.024755

0 Jarque-Bera 2.628952
-4000000 -2000000 0 2000000 4000000 6000000 Probability 0.268615

Appendix 4. Normality Distribution of the Model Established between Railway

Imports and ICT
7
Series: Residuals
6 Sample 2013Q2 2022Q4
Observations 39
5
Mean 2.39e-10
4 Median -184014.3
Maximum 6812660.
3 Minimum -3636523.
Std. Dev. 2602413.
2
Skewness 0.626882
Kurtosis 2.740582
1

0 Jarque-Bera 2.663732
-4000000 -2000000 0 2000000 4000000 6000000 Probability 0.263984

Appendix 5. Normality Distribution of the Model Established between Seaway

Import and ICT
10
Series: Residuals
Sample 2013Q3 2022Q4
8 Observations 38

Mean -2.14e-09
6
Median -429297.0
Maximum 5123500.
4 Minimum -3671661.
Std. Dev. 2244876.
Skewness 0.592578
2
Kurtosis 2.491842

0 Jarque-Bera 2.632794
-4000000 -2000000 0 2000000 4000000 6000000 Probability 0.268099

Appendix 6. Normality Distribution of the Model Established between Airline

Import and ICT
66 . Ramazan Yıldız

9
Series: Residuals
8 Sample 2013Q2 2022Q4
7 Observations 39

6 Mean 3.58e-10
5 Median -299836.5
Maximum 5376330.
4
Minimum -4363918.
3 Std. Dev. 2447999.
Skewness 0.512793
2
Kurtosis 2.601342
1
0 Jarque-Bera 1.967474
-4000000 -2000000 0 2000000 4000000 6000000 Probability 0.373911

Appendix 7. Normality Distribution of the Model Established Between Road

Import and ICT
 CHAPTER 4
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND
ASSESSMENTS ON TURKEY

Hazal Koray ALAY1

1  Assist. Prof. Dr., Batman University, Health Services Vocational School,

Department of Management and Organization, Manegement of Health Institutions
Program, Batman/Turkey, [email protected], ORCID: : 0000-0002-
6638-3089
68 . Hazal Koray Alay

INTRODUCTION
Industrial history examines developments in industrial production,
processing and distribution technologies that began with the industrial
revolution. The industrial revolution began in England at the end of the
18th century, and human and animal power gave way to innovations such
as steam engines, weaving machines, the railway and the telegraph. In this
period, production and trade increased rapidly and this situation laid the
foundations of modern industrial society.
The industrial revolution is a global-scale development and has af-
fected all the countries of the world. The industrial revolution in Turkey
started in the last years of the Ottoman Empire and gained momentum in
the Republican period. Turkey started to implement economic develop-
ment and industrialization strategies, especially after the 1950s, and the
industrial sector greatly expanded in this period. Turkey has an important
industrial capacity, especially in sectors such as textile, food, chemistry,
automotive and defense industries. In recent years, the technology sector
in Turkey has been growing rapidly and world-renowned technology com-
panies are investing in Turkey. However, the existence of some problems
related to Turkey’s economic stability affects the industrial development of
the country (Sarı et al., 2020).
As a result, industrial history laid the foundations of the modern world
and still plays an important role today. Although Turkey has faced many
difficulties in the industrialization process, it has an important industrial
capacity and this contributes to the economic development of the country.
In this section, the historical development of the industrial revolution will
be scrutinized, especially Industry 4.0 will be detailed and evaluations
will be made on Turkey.
1. Historical Development of the Industrial Revolution
In the classification of industrial revolutions, which energy source
was used in which period was decisive. When evaluated within this frame-
work, it is known that coal and wood were used in the first industrial revo-
lution, electricity and oil were used in the second industrial revolution, and
nuclear energy was used in the third industrial revolution. Figure 1 explain
informations about industrial revolutions.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .69

Figure 1: Industrial Revolution

Source: https://www.thedualarity.com/industrial-revolution-4-0-2/
1.1. Industry 1.0
The Industrial Revolution 1.0, i.e. Industry 1.0, takes place in the pe-
riod between 1760 and 1840. It started in England in the 8th century. The
fact that England had the largest colonies in the world brought along rich
coal and iron mines, and this situation, which allowed it to expand in terms
of both resources and markets, added richness to its wealth. When all of
these possibilities are combined, it is no wonder that England led the first
industrial revolution. The process of mechanization started with the use
of coal in industry by converting it to steam power. Again in this period,
capital accumulation increased, materials such as magazines, newspapers
and books printed on paper and communication channels developed. In
addition, the telephone, which was used to provide faster communication
at the end of this period, had a great impact in the world (Yavari and Pile-
vari, 2020). The current economies of different continents have been char-
acterized by major shifts that have changed. The industrial revolution was
a period of significant economic and technological changes that began in
the mid-18th century in Great Britain and then spread to other parts of the
world, including Europe and North America. This period saw the develop-
ment of new manufacturing processes and machines, such as the steam en-
gine, which helped to increase productivity and efficiency in factories and
mills (Bairoch, 1981). As a result of these changes, there was a shift from
manual labor to machine-based manufacturing, and this led to the growth
of large-scale industries and a corresponding increase in the production of
goods. The rise of modern power supplies and machinery also facilitated
70 . Hazal Koray Alay

the expansion of industries, such as textiles, iron and steel production, and
transportation. The industrial revolution had a profound impact on soci-
ety and the economy. It led to the growth of cities, the expansion of trade
and commerce, and the development of new forms of transportation and
communication. The changes brought about by the industrial revolution
also paved the way for the rise of capitalism and the growth of a global
economy (Loy et al., 2021).
Industry 1.0, was characterized by the invention and use of machines
powered by water and steam. The use of these machines dramatically
transformed the manufacturing industry and revolutionized the way goods
were produced. The invention of the steam engine by James Watt in the
late 18th century, for example, allowed for the mechanization of factories
and increased the production of textiles, iron, and other goods. The steam
engine also facilitated transportation by powering steamships and loco-
motives, making it easier and more efficient to transport goods and people
across long distances. The use of water power also played a significant role
in Industry 1.0, with the development of water wheels and water turbines
allowing for the mechanization of mills and factories. These machines
could generate large amounts of power and helped to increase production
capacity and efficiency. Overall, the breakthrough technologies of Indus-
try 1.0 transformed the manufacturing and transportation industries and
paved the way for further advancements in technology and industry. The
use of coal as an additional fuel source further fueled the growth of these
industries, allowing for even greater production capacity and efficiency
(Lau and Yeung, 2020).
The rapid development of technology and industry has brought with it
some problems. Reasons such as long working hours, oppression of child
and female workers, unhealthy workplace and working conditions have
come to the fore. The industrial revolution has led to more pressure, es-
pecially on workers who are seen as the lower class. These workers were
forced to work long hours and in unhealthy working conditions. This sit-
uation caused the working class to become stronger and act consciously.
Conflicts arose between the bourgeois class and the working class, which
we call the proletariat. These conflicts rang the bells of the transition to
socialist and communist societies. However, in 1833, the Factory Act was
enacted in England to ensure that high standards are observed in all work-
places and to guarantee the safety and protection of all workers (Aprili-
yanti, 2022).
1.2. Industry 2.0
The second industrial revolution, also known as Industry 2.0, started
in the 19th century, in the 1870s. The countries that pioneered my second
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .71

industrial revolution were America and Germany. With the rapid increase
in the population in Europe, the population engaged in agriculture in the
villages began to migrate to the cities. This situation has created a ready-
made workforce opportunity for developed industries. The living stan-
dards of people who migrated from villages to cities have also changed.
This situation has also increased the demand for consumer goods. In ad-
dition, many precious metals were brought to Europe with the discoveries
made in this period. When considered in this context, the second industrial
revolution refers to the social and economic changes between the years
1870-1914 (Ashton, 1997).
As mentioned before, the classification of industrial revolutions is
evaluated in relation to the energy resources used at that time. In the sec-
ond industrial period, there was a rapid increase in oil and electricity and
steel production, which allowed the development of railways. This devel-
opment affected the transportation and communication networks, and with
the ease of distribution and transportation of goods, great gains were made
in trade. The use of electricity and oil has also allowed the automotive in-
dustry to develop. In addition, thanks to the possibilities provided by the
use of telegraph and radio, stock market and stock market were formed.
While these developments were taking place, the acceptance of trade
unions and the increase in the employment rate of white-collar workers
were among the important developments of the period (De Vries, 1994;
Montagna, 1981).
The Second Industrial Revolution, which took place between the late
19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, there were significant ad-
vancements in technology, particularly in the fields of electricity, com-
munication, transportation, and manufacturing. One of the major break-
throughs during this period was the development of electric power and
the widespread adoption of electrical machinery in industry. This allowed
for the automation and mass production of goods on a scale that was not
possible before. The development of the electric motor, for example, al-
lowed factories to be more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective, leading
to increased productivity and lower prices for consumers. Other notable
technological advancements during this period include the invention of
the telephone, the expansion of telegraph networks, the development of the
internal combustion engine, and the creation of the assembly line, which
revolutionized manufacturing and made it possible to produce goods on
a much larger scale. Overall, the Second Industrial Revolution marked a
significant shift in the way goods were produced, and it paved the way for
many of the technological advancements that we still benefit from today
(Hudson, 2014).
72 . Hazal Koray Alay

Industry 2.0, which is also known as the Second Industrial Revolution,

was characterized by the widespread adoption of mass production tech-
niques in factories. The development of the assembly line, which was pio-
neered by Henry Ford in the early 20th century, was a major innovation that
allowed for the efficient and rapid production of goods. By breaking down
the manufacturing process into smaller, more manageable tasks and assign-
ing workers to each task, the assembly line enabled factories to produce
goods at a much faster rate than ever before. This also helped to improve the
quality of the products being produced, as each worker could focus on their
specific task and become highly skilled at it (McCloskey,1981).
The second industrial revolution brought about significant advance-
ments in industrial culture, including the development of new manage-
ment techniques and programs to improve productivity and product quali-
ty. One of the most notable management techniques introduced during this
time was lean manufacturing, which aimed to eliminate waste and stream-
line production processes. This involved analyzing every step of the pro-
duction process to identify and eliminate inefficiencies and reduce costs.
Another important development was the implementation of just-in-time
(JIT) strategies, which involved producing and delivering products only
when they were needed, rather than keeping large inventories on hand. JIT
helped to reduce waste and improve efficiency by ensuring that resources
were used only when necessary. The division of labor also became more
refined during Industry 2.0, with companies using specialized workers for
specific tasks to increase efficiency and productivity. This led to the de-
velopment of more complex production processes and products, as well
as the emergence of specialized industries and professions. Overall, the
improvements in industrial culture during the second industrial revolution
helped to transform the manufacturing industry and paved the way for
even greater advancements in the future (Berg and Hudson, 1992).
1.3. Industry 3.0
Industry 3.0 is often referred to as the “Digital Revolution” or the
“First computer age” because it marked a significant shift in the way man-
ufacturing and production processes were carried out with the introduc-
tion of computer technology. During this period, computers became more
accessible and powerful, allowing them to be used for a wider range of
applications in the manufacturing industry (Schwab, 2017).  This led to the
development of computer-controlled machines and automation, which in-
creased efficiency and productivity in manufacturing processes. Industry
3.0 also saw the introduction of new technologies such as programmable
logic controllers (PLCs) and computer-aided design (CAD) systems, which
further improved manufacturing processes and made them more efficient
(Bloem et al., 2014).
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .73

Industry 3.0, also known as the Third Industrial Revolution, began

in the late 1960s and continued through the 1970s and 1980s. This peri-
od was marked by the widespread adoption of computerization and auto-
mation in manufacturing processes. The Third Industrial Revolution was
characterized by the development of technologies such as Programmable
Logic Controllers (PLCs), which allowed for greater control and automa-
tion of industrial processes. This enabled factories to produce goods more
efficiently and with greater consistency. Additionally, the Third Industri-
al Revolution saw the introduction of computer-aided design (CAD) and
computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems, which further stream-
lined the manufacturing process. These technologies made it possible to
design and produce complex products with greater accuracy and speed
(Heaton, 2017).
However, they still relied heavily on human intervention and input.
Information technology (IT) in many production processes ) and elec-
tronics have started to be used and automation in production processes
has been advanced. In addition to the use of renewable energy in man-
ufacturing industries, automation processes have further developed with
the development of connectivity and internet access (Alaloul et al., 2020).
The prominent developments of this period are listed as follows; synthetic
goods, computer technology, micro-electronics technology, fiber optics,
telecommunications, bio-genetics, bio-agriculture and laser technology.In
addition, facilitating communication and transportation with any part of
the world with globalization is renewable and non-renewable in the world.
resulted in rapid depletion of resources. This situation has made it neces-
sary to take some measures to ensure the sustainability of the world. Some
of these are the protection of the environment, the replacement of polluting
industries with recycling production centers, the widespread use of renew-
able energy, and the green economy (More, 2002).
The electronics industry made significant strides in the second half
of the 20th century, and the invention of electronic devices like integrated
circuits and transistors played a crucial role in this progress. Integrated cir-
cuits allowed for the miniaturization of electronic components and made
it possible to pack more functionality into smaller spaces. This led to the
development of smaller and more powerful electronic devices such as per-
sonal computers, smartphones, and other portable devices. Transistors, on
the other hand, replaced bulky vacuum tubes and allowed for the creation
of smaller and more efficient electronic devices. This technology enabled
the development of automated machines used in production processes,
leading to greater accuracy, speed, and efficiency. These advancements
in electronics have revolutionized the manufacturing industry, allowing
for greater productivity and cost savings. However, they have also raised
74 . Hazal Koray Alay

concerns about the potential loss of jobs due to automation (McDonough

and Braungart, 2017).
1.4. Industry 4.0
The first developments of Industry 4.0 began in the 1990s, following
advances in the telecommunications and internet industry. This concept,
called Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the Fourth Indus-
trial Revolution, was used for the first time at the Hannover Fair held in
Germany in 2011. The report prepared by a working group formed by Rob-
ert Bosch Gmbh and Henning Kagermann companies in 2013 was also
presented at the Hannover Fair. This issue, which first came to the agenda
in Germany and thus attracted the attention of the whole world, announces
that there will be revolutionary changes in the production sector. In addi-
tion, adapting to Industry 4.0 is the most important strategy that compa-
nies will develop in order to keep up with global changes and to excel in
fierce competition wars (Xu et al., 2018).

Figure 2: Industrial Evolution with Key Development

Source: https://www.dosupply.com/tech/2018/10/22/industry-4-0-and-the-future-
of-jobs/
The Industrial Revolution 4.0, also known as Industry 4.0, is a new era
of industrial manufacturing that emphasizes the integration of advanced
technologies, such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud com-
puting, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. IIoT is a key
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .75

component of Industry 4.0, which enables smart machines to communi-

cate with each other and with humans, providing real-time data analysis,
predictive maintenance, and decision-making capabilities (Sherwani et al.,
2020).
The IIoT has four core elements as you mentioned (Rymarczyk,
2020).:
• Cloud computing and big data: Cloud computing allows business-
es to store and access data and applications over the internet instead of
local servers or computers. Big data refers to the large amounts of data
generated by various sources, such as machines, sensors, and humans, that
can be analyzed to extract insights and drive decision-making.
• Cyber-physical systems: Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are phys-
ical systems that are integrated with computing and communication tech-
nologies, such as sensors, actuators, and controllers. CPS enables real-time
monitoring and control of industrial processes, allowing for increased effi-
ciency and productivity.
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence: Machine learning
and artificial intelligence (AI) are technologies that enable machines to
learn from data and make decisions based on that learning. These tech-
nologies can be applied to industrial processes to optimize production,
improve quality, and reduce costs.
• Internet of Things (IoT): The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the
network of physical devices, such as sensors, actuators, and other connect-
ed devices, that are embedded with software, sensors, and connectivity to
exchange data with other devices over the internet. The IIoT refers specif-
ically to the use of IoT in industrial applications, such as manufacturing,
logistics, and supply chain management.
76 . Hazal Koray Alay

Figure 2: Technological Pillars of Industry 4.0

1.4.1. Industry 4.0: Key Features and Related Concepts

There are many different technologies that Industry 4.0 is associated
with. Table 1 presents the key features of Industry 4.0 (Stăncioiu, 2017).
Table 1: Industry 4.0: Key Features

Industry 4.0 is related to big data, cloud computing and artificial intel-
ligence technologies, are explained in detail below (Popkova et al., 2019):
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .77

• Big data analytics plays an important role in many sectors today

and has great potential in Industry 4.0, especially in production process-
es. Analysis of sensor data from production machines can help prevent
machine breakdowns, which can keep production processes running
smoothly, increasing production efficiency. In addition, thanks to big data
analytics, manufacturers can identify critical points in their production
processes and make improvements in their production processes. In addi-
tion, real-time data analysis and innovative solutions such as self-service
systems, maintenance optimization and production management automa-
tion make it possible to manage production processes more effectively and
take faster decisions. Big data analytics is also used in many sectors such
as marketing, finance and health. Thanks to big data analytics in these
sectors, valuable information can be obtained in many areas such as con-
sumer behavior, market trends, disease diagnoses, and better decisions can
be made by using this information correctly (Kenett et al., 2019).
• Cloud computing is defined as the use of hardware and software
to provide services over the internet. These services are usually hosted on
servers and made accessible to users via the internet. Smartphones are a
common example of cloud computing. Phones can be connected to cloud
computing services with an internet connection as well as processing pow-
er, storage and other resources. For example, users can access email ser-
vice providers such as Gmail or Outlook over an internet connection and
store messages on cloud servers. Photos and videos are another example
of cloud computing. Some smartphones may not provide enough room to
store high-quality photos and videos. Therefore, users can store these files
in cloud computing services. Cloud computing forms the basis of Indus-
try 4.0 technologies. These technologies include automation of produc-
tion processes, data analysis and the use of other innovative technologies.
Cloud computing provides a secure and scalable platform that can be used
for storage and analysis of production data. Cloud computing forms the
basis of Industry 4.0 technologies (Ooi et al., 2018). Industry 4.0 highlights
the importance of cloud computing for collaborative supply chains. Cloud
computing can provide benefits in a company’s supply chain management
in a number of ways. For example, cloud computing can help companies
gain more control over their supply chains by providing a platform for the
collection, analysis and sharing of supply chain data. Cloud computing is
also a vital infrastructure for other technologies in Industry 4.0 (Khan et
al., 2021). The use of technologies such as advanced robotics and machine
learning is increasing, especially in sectors such as the manufacturing and
automotive sectors. These technologies are used for automated production
and logistics systems such as assembly lines and autonomous vehicles,
increasing the efficiency of these systems. Cloud computing provides an
78 . Hazal Koray Alay

opportunity to unlock the potential of disruptive technologies for supply

chain management, as it enables the rapid processing and analysis of sup-
ply chain data. In addition, cloud computing provides a secure environ-
ment for storing and sharing data (Kim, 2017).
• Artificial intelligence (AI) technology provides the capabilities
of software and machines to sense, comprehend, act on, and learn from
human operations. These technologies can be used to provide more effi-
cient and smarter production in industrial production systems. AI can be
used in many areas in industrial production systems. For example, robots
used to increase productivity can be equipped with artificial intelligence
technologies. In this way, robots become smarter and have learning abil-
ities. This enables them to work more quickly, accurately and efficiently
in the production process. In addition, artificial intelligence technology
can be used to detect and fix errors in the production process earlier. In
this way, the error rate in the production process can be reduced and
production costs can be reduced (Lee et al., 2018). AI technologies can
also collect and analyze data from the industrial production process and
extract useful insights from this data.This data can be used for improve-
ments in the manufacturing process. In addition, technologies such as
artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to detect and
prevent defects in production lines and quality control. Thanks to these
technologies, production errors and quality problems are detected and
corrected in advance and production costs are reduced. For example, us-
ing image processing techniques, the quality of products can be checked
and faulty products can be rejected automatically. In addition to these,
big data analysis, another important component of Industry 4.0, can be
combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies
to increase and accelerate the efficiency of the production process. Big
data analytics can also be used to optimize stock levels and lead times
used in supply chain management. As a result, AI and machine learning
technologies are an essential tool for manufacturers looking to capitalize
on the opportunities of Industry 4.0. These technologies can be used
at every stage of the production process, increasing efficiency, reducing
costs and improving quality. However, it is necessary to establish the
appropriate infrastructure and train the employees for the use of these
technologies (Dopico et al., 2016).
1.5. Industry 4.0 Advantages and Disadvantages
Industry 4.0 offers both many benefits and some potential harms com-
pared to previous industrial revolutions (Gokalp et al., 2016; Zheng et al,
2018). The benefits of Industry 4.0 are (Vinodh et al., 2021):
• More efficient production processes: Thanks to Industry 4.0 tech-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .79

nologies, production processes can be made more efficient. This reduces

production costs and increases production speed.
• Increased automation: Industry 4.0 technologies allow the use of
more automation and robotics. This reduces labor costs and helps workers
get rid of demanding, dangerous and repetitive work.
• Better quality control: Thanks to Industry 4.0 technologies, prod-
uct quality can be better controlled and errors can be detected in advance.
This improves product quality and reduces recall costs.
• Supply chain efficiency: Thanks to Industry 4.0 technologies, the
supply chain can be made more efficient. This can reduce inventory man-
agement, lead time and logistics costs.
However, Industry 4.0 technologies also have potential disadvantages
(Zaidin et al., 2018):
• Unemployment: Industry 4.0 technologies can reduce labor de-
mand as the use of automation and robotics increases. This can cause some
jobs to be lost and increase unemployment rates.
• Privacy: Industry 4.0 technologies may raise privacy concerns as
they have the ability to collect and analyze more data.
• Cybersecurity: Industry 4.0 technologies may become more vul-
nerable to cyber attacks as networked devices increase. This requires busi-
nesses to take cybersecurity measures.
• Technological dependency: Industry 4.0 technologies can increase
the technological dependency of businesses. This can become challenging
for small businesses that do not have the resources to adopt new technolo-
gies.
1.6. Turkey’s Position in the Industry 4.0 Process
The development of the concept of Industry 4.0 reveals that the in-
creased production speed and quality with globalization are not enough to
provide competition alone. Those who offer products and services in line
with the wishes of their customers will emerge victorious from this tech-
nological war. Apple’s removal of the old world technology giant Nokia
is a good example of this situation. Determining what customers want is
possible with detailed data analysis. Although the Internet’s penetration
into human life makes it difficult to filter the accumulated information,
those who analyze this process in the best way will be among the winners
in the future.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is an important issue that fuels com-
petition between countries. The leading countries in the production and
80 . Hazal Koray Alay

use of robots, such as China, where the number of people is high and the
labor force is cheap, and which has started the transition to the smart facto-
ry system, will be victorious in this competition. The rapid rise of Huawei,
a Chinese company with a short history of 35 years and ahead of world
giants, in the technology market forces deep-rooted companies such as
Ericson and Cisco to review their strategies.
Turkey has been increasing its efforts to keep up with the digitaliza-
tion and automation trends brought by Industry 4.0 in recent years. These
efforts aim to help Turkey achieve greater efficiency, quality, speed and
flexibility in its production processes (Özlü, 2017). The following topics
can give information about Turkey’s Industry 4.0 development (Arucu,
2020; Tecim and Tarhan, 2020; Salğar and Dereli, 2018; Atak, 2018):
• Digital Transformation Strategy: Turkey adopted the Digital Trans-
formation Strategy in 2017. This strategy aims to accelerate Turkey’s tran-
sition to the digital economy, develop its digital competencies and facili-
tate the transition to Industry 4.0.
• New Generation Industrial Move Program: Turkey launched the
New Generation Industrial Move Program in 2018. This program aims to
make Turkey more competitive in the industrial sector by using Industry
4.0 technologies.
• Test and Application Centers: Turkey has established a number of
centers for testing and implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies. These
centers include Bursa Technology Coordination and Innovation Center
(BTM), Gebze Technology Institute (GTE) and Istanbul Chamber of In-
dustry Industry 4.0 Center.
• Smart Factories: Turkey works for the development and dissemina-
tion of smart factories. These factories aim to optimize production pro-
cesses using sensors, robots, artificial intelligence and other Industry 4.0
technologies.
• Workforce Competencies: Turkey focuses on the development of
workforce competencies required for the use of Industry 4.0 technologies.
For this purpose, various training and competence development programs
are implemented.
• Public-Private Cooperation: Turkey attaches importance to coop-
eration between the public and private sectors for the dissemination of
Industry 4.0 technologies. This cooperation aims to provide the necessary
resources to promote the use of Industry 4.0 technologies and accelerate
the dissemination of these technologies.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .81

CONCLUSION
Industry 4.0 is an industrial revolution characterized by the intensive
use of digitalization and automation technologies in production processes.
This revolution is creating significant changes in the manufacturing indus-
try and is expected to have a major impact on how production processes
will be shaped in the future. Key features of Industry 4.0 include the in-
ternet of things (IoT), big data analytics, artificial intelligence, automated
manufacturing and smart factories. These technologies provide higher ef-
ficiency, lower costs, fewer errors and higher quality in production pro-
cesses. Also, the use of these technologies can automate repetitive work to
enable people to do more creative and challenging work. The advantages
of Industry 4.0 include making production processes more flexible, faster
production, better management of the supply chain and more environmen-
tally friendly production. These technologies also enable manufacturers to
build closer relationships with customers, personalize products and better
meet consumer needs. However, the implementation of Industry 4.0 also
faces some challenges. These challenges include high costs, complexity of
technology, security risks, workforce training and regulations. Also, the
use of these technologies can cause some jobs to become too automated
to be done by humans, causing people to lose their jobs. Industry 4.0 is an
industrial revolution characterized by the intensive use of digitalization
and automation technologies in production processes. This revolution is
creating significant changes in the manufacturing industry and is expect-
ed to have a major impact on how production processes will be shaped
in the future. Key features of Industry 4.0 include the internet of things
(IoT), big data analytics, artificial intelligence, automated manufacturing
and smart factories. These technologies provide higher efficiency, lower
costs, fewer errors and higher quality in production processes. Also, the
use of these technologies can automate repetitive work to enable people
to do more creative and challenging work. The advantages of Industry
4.0 include making production processes more flexible, faster production,
better management of the supply chain and more environmentally friendly
production. These technologies also enable manufacturers to build closer
relationships with customers, personalize products and better meet con-
sumer needs. However, the implementation of Industry 4.0 also faces some
challenges. These challenges include high costs, complexity of technology,
security risks, workforce training and regulations. Also, the use of these
technologies faces some challenges as some jobs become too automated
to be done by humans. These challenges include high costs, complexity of
technology, security risks, workforce training and regulations. Also, the
use of these technologies can cause people to lose their jobs.
82 . Hazal Koray Alay

In conclusion, Industry 4.0 is a major revolution in the manufacturing

industry and will shape production processes in the future. The use of
these technologies will bring many advantages to manufacturers, but will
also create some difficulties. Therefore, the implementation of Industry 4.0
must be carefully planned and implemented.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .83

REFERENCES

Alaloul, W. S., Liew, M. S., Zawawi, N. A. W. A., & Kennedy, I. B. (2020). In-
dustrial Revolution 4.0 in the construction industry: Challenges and oppor-
tunities for stakeholders. Ain shams engineering journal, 11(1), 225-230.
Apriliyanti, M. (2022). Challenges of The Industrial Revolution Era 1.0 to 5.0:
University Digital Library In Indoensia. Library Philosophy and Practice,
1-17.
Arucu, M. (2020). Scanning the Industry 4.0 Ecosystem in Turkey: Digitization
and Innovation Studies. Avrupa Bilim ve Teknoloji Dergisi, (20), 50-55.
Ashton, T. S. (1997). The industrial revolution 1760-1830. OUP Catalogue.
Atak, G. (2018).  Impact factors and current issues on technology development
for industry 4.0 transformation in technopark companies: the case of Tur-
key (Doctoral dissertation, Institute of Social Sciences).
Bairoch, P. (1981). The main trends in national economic disparities since the
industrial revolution.  Disparities in economic development since the In-
dustrial Revolution, 3-17.
Berg, M., & Hudson, P. (1992). Rehabilitating the industrial revolution 1.  The
Economic History Review, 45(1), 24-50.
Bloem, J., Van Doorn, M., Duivestein, S., Excoffier, D., Maas, R., & Van Om-
meren, E. (2014). The fourth industrial revolution.  Things Tighten,  8(1),
11-15.
De Vries, J. (1994). The industrial revolution and the industrious revolution. The
Journal of Economic History, 54(2), 249-270.
Dopico, M., Gómez, A., De la Fuente, D., García, N., Rosillo, R., & Puche, J.
(2016). A vision of industry 4.0 from an artificial intelligence point of
view. In Proceedings on the international conference on artificial intelli-
gence (ICAI) (p. 407). The Steering Committee of The World Congress in
Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Applied Computing (Wor-
ldComp).
Gokalp, M. O., Kayabay, K., Akyol, M. A., Eren, P. E., & Koçyiğit, A. (2016,
December). Big data for industry 4.0: A conceptual framework. In  2016
international conference on computational science and computational in-
telligence (CSCI) (pp. 431-434). IEEE.
Heaton, H. (2017). Industrial revolution. In The causes of the industrial revolution
in England (pp. 31-52). Routledge.
Hudson, P. (2014). The industrial revolution. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Kenett, R. S., Swarz, R. S., & Zonnenshain, A. (Eds.). (2019). Systems enginee-
ring in the fourth industrial revolution: Big data, novel technologies, and
modern systems engineering. John Wiley & Sons.
84 . Hazal Koray Alay

Khan, A. A., Laghari, A. A., Awan, S., & Jumani, A. K. (2021). Fourth industrial
revolution application: network forensics cloud security issues. Security Is-
sues and Privacy Concerns in Industry 4.0 Applications, 15-33.
Kim, J. H. (2017). A review of cyber-physical system research relevant to the
emerging IT trends: industry 4.0, IoT, big data, and cloud computing. Jour-
nal of industrial integration and management, 2(03), 1750011.
LAU, Y. W., & YEUNG, K. C. (2020). From industrial revolution (Industry 1.0) to
Surgery 4.0. Chinese Journal of Digestive Surgery, 919-924.
Lee, J., Davari, H., Singh, J., & Pandhare, V. (2018). Industrial Artificial Intelli-
gence for industry 4.0-based manufacturing systems.  Manufacturing let-
ters, 18, 20-23.
Loy, A. C. M., Chin, B. L. F., & Sankaran, R. (2021). 1.1 Industrial Revolution
1.0. The Prospect of Industry 5.0 in Biomanufacturing, 1.
Loy, A. C. M., Chin, B. L. F., & Sankaran, R. (2021). Industrial Revolution 1.0
and 2.0. In The Prospect of Industry 5.0 in Biomanufacturing (pp. 1-14).
CRC Press.
McCloskey, D. N. (1981). The industrial revolution. The economic history of Bri-
tain since, 1700, 103-27.
McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2017). The next industrial revolution. In Sus-
tainable solutions (pp. 139-150). Routledge.
Montagna, J. A. (1981). The industrial revolution. Yale-New Haven Teachers Ins-
titute.
More, C. (2002). Understanding the industrial revolution. Routledge.
Ooi, K. B., Lee, V. H., Tan, G. W. H., Hew, T. S., & Hew, J. J. (2018). Cloud com-
puting in manufacturing: The next industrial revolution in Malaysia?. Ex-
pert Systems with Applications, 93, 376-394.
Özlü, F. (2017). The advent of Turkey’s industry 4.0.  Turkish policy quarter-
ly, 16(2), 29-38.
Popkova, E. G., Ragulina, Y. V., & Bogoviz, A. V. (Eds.). (2019). Industry 4.0:
Industrial revolution of the 21st century (Vol. 169, p. 249). Berlin/Heidel-
berg, Germany: Springer.
Rymarczyk, J. (2020). Technologies, opportunities and challenges of the industri-
al revolution 4.0: theoretical considerations. Entrepreneurial business and
economics review, 8(1), 185-198.
Sarı, T., Güleş, H. K., & Yiğitol, B. (2020). Awareness and readiness of Industry
4.0: The case of Turkish manufacturing industry. Advances in Production
Engineering & Management, 15(1), 57-68.
Salğar, U., & Dereli, D. D. (2018). An Evaluatıon Of Turkey’s Status In Industry
4.0 Türkiye Ve Sanayi 4.0: Yapısal Bir Değerlendirme.  Current Debates
In, 113.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .85

Schwab, K. (2017). The fourth industrial revolution. Currency.

Sherwani, F., Asad, M. M., & Ibrahim, B. S. K. K. (2020, March). Collaborative
robots and industrial revolution 4.0 (ir 4.0). In  2020 International Con-
ference on Emerging Trends in Smart Technologies (ICETST)  (pp. 1-5).
IEEE.
Stăncioiu, A. (2017). The fourth industrial revolution ‘Industry 4.0’. Fiabilitate Şi
Durabilitate, 1(19), 74-78.
Tecim, V., & Tarhan, C. (2020). Turkey’s Industry 4.0 Adventure: Dream or Rea-
lization. KnE Social Sciences, 426-437.
Vinodh, S., Antony, J., Agrawal, R., & Douglas, J. A. (2021). Integration of con-
tinuous improvement strategies with Industry 4.0: a systematic review and
agenda for further research. The TQM Journal, 33(2), 441-472.
Xu, M., David, J. M., & Kim, S. H. (2018). The fourth industrial revolution:
Opportunities and challenges.  International journal of financial resear-
ch, 9(2), 90-95.
Yavari, F., & Pilevari, N. (2020). Industry revolutions development from Industry
1.0 to Industry 5.0 in manufacturing. Journal of Industrial Strategic Ma-
nagement, 5(2), 44-63.
Zaidin, N. H. M., Diah, M. N. M., Yee, P. H., & Sorooshian, S. (2018). Quality ma-
nagement in industry 4.0 era. Journal of Management and Science, 8(2),
82-91.
Zheng, P., Wang, H., Sang, Z., Zhong, R. Y., Liu, Y., Liu, C., ... & Xu, X. (2018).
Smart manufacturing systems for Industry 4.0: Conceptual framework, sce-
narios, and future perspectives. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 13,
137-150.
86 . Hazal Koray Alay
 CHAPTER 5
IS A COMMON EUROPEAN IDENTITY
POSSIBLE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION?

Akif ÇARKÇI1
Recep ŞEHITOĞLU2
Nazmul İSLAM3

1  Dr. Düzce Üniversitesi, Akçakoca Bey Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi, Dr. Öğretim
Üyesi, e-mail: [email protected], ORCID: 0000-0001-6522-7140
2  Dr. Gaziantep Üniversitesi, El-Bab İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, Dr. Öğretim
Üyesi, e-mail: [email protected], ORCID: 0000-0001-6855-4841
3  Dr. Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi, Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi, Dr.
Öğretim Üyesi, e-mail: [email protected], ORCID: 0000-0002-8660-0415
88 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

1. Introduction
Europeanness identity, the idea of “identity”, which forms the foun-
dation for the concept of citizenship, has also been subjected to many de-
bates. The same debate has been made on the Europeanness identity and
EU citizenship. Considering the treaties and agreements, youth, and edu-
cation programs, even the production of common symbols and the effort to
establish a media, it is understood that an attempt is being made to create a
“Europeanness identity” within the EU. Nowadays, it is seen that there are
multiple identities, such as multiple citizenships. In other words, multiple
identities can be owned and used simultaneously under the circumstanc-
es. However, another polemic is focused on which of the national identi-
ties and the upper identity of Europeanness is the priority (Çilingir, 2007,
pp.44-52). According to Diez, although there is a “Europe”, many are Eu-
ropean. Emphasizing Benedict Enderson’s Imaginary Communities, Diez
forms the basis of today’s debates on Europeanness and identity, the ques-
tion of a nation, that is, nation or Europe (Diez, 2004, p.494).
Contrary to the geopolitical conditions in the 1950s. On the one hand,
the EU identity is based on the Union’s ideas. On the other hand, the na-
tional identity understanding, which highlights the national identities of
the nation, greatly impacted the conditions that led to the emergence of
concepts such as Europe and Europeanness, as Smith speaks of (Smith,
1992, p.60).
The EU’s effort to create a unique identity for political integration is
mainly due to the problem of legitimacy. In this sense, it can be said that
the Europeanness identity is a framework to be established for the Union
to take a more democratic and legitimate base. In addition, it would be a
good point and appropriate to add the decisions regarding the Union and
citizenship included in the founding treaties since the Maastricht Treaty
(1992) was concluded. The efforts to support the democratization of the
developing candidate countries since the 1980s (Kaya, 2017, p.27). Conti-
nental Europe had been defined for many years by its history, geography,
and various cultural characteristics. The identity of Europeanness had rep-
resented modernization before the EU was established. After the 1950s, it
was reshaped and further strengthened by the integration process within
the EU II. However, after the second World war, the idea of the EU, a civ-
ilization and culture project based on the rule of law and humanism, was
seen by many as a myth. However, with the treaties concluded between
various European states, this project turned into an international and inter-
cultural integration study in which shared values were formed and shaped
(Mayer and Palmovski, 2004, p.575).
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .89

Being on course for Europeanness as activism can be expressed as

Europeanization. It is seen that this concept was also used for meanings
such as democratization and Westernization (Buhari, 2009, p.120). It is
observed that the concept of Europeanization, in addition to moderniza-
tion, also refers to the change in the political and economic structures of
the member and candidate countries (Yazgan, 2012, p.134). In its narrow
sense, Europeanization means embracing and implementing the EU con-
stitution and policies. In this context, the Union pressures political issues,
party systems, local authorities, refugee policies and citizenship issues.
Since the definition of Europeanization in a broad sense also affects
identities, the process shapes the political arrangements and the cultural
and social structure. Within this scope, the changes experienced with em-
bracing common symbols and values are called Europeanization in action.
The political and cultural partnership also leads to the discussion of cul-
tural and natural boundaries from time to time. Based on these definitions,
it can be said that the identity of Europeanness states both a partnership
in the field of history, geography, and culture, as well as a constitutional,
institutional and legal union. It is seen that there is a relationship based
on mutual interests between “the EU and the candidate countries”. It is
observed that the candidate countries and societies in the Europeanization
effort look at this process from the point of view of their interests.
“Europeanization” can be defined as the internalization of European
understanding, values, norms and policies of the state and citizens through
socialization and shared learning to have new identities. For this reason,
candidate countries and societies redefine their interests and, accordingly,
their identities. It can be said that Europeanization is a situation preferred
by member/candidate states in parallel with the benefits of the integra-
tion movement. Because the integration movement, which began with the
customs union and extended to the economic monetary Union, requires
new regulations introduced by standard policies. Thus, member states of-
fer practical cooperation and cost advantages on issues they cannot cope
with independently.
For this reason, it is observed that the EU and the candidate countries
want Europeanization (Yazgan, 2013, p.135). It can be said that member
states are also experiencing a process of Europeanization due to democ-
ratization and adaptation to the free market economy (Locksmith, 1974,
p.45). It is observed that the issues of Europe and Europeanness that make
up the content of Europeanization are a dynamic process that is still being
experienced. In other words, it can be said that the citizens of the member
states are still in the process of Europeanization.
90 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

2. What is Identity?
The fact that it is a multidimensional concept and that this multidi-
mensionality requires interdisciplinary work has made the concept of
identity one of the most complex and controversial concepts of social sci-
ences (Türkbağ, 2003, p.205). More comprehensively, identity can also be
defined as a social phenomenon and a system of relationships that take
shape through interaction between one (İnanç, 2005, p.15). The concept of
identity plays an essential role in individual lives and the life of societies.
The concept of identity plays a vital role in connecting the individuals
that build the society (Tekin, 2009, p.146). As it can be understood from
the definition, the most basic function of identity is to distinguish an in-
dividual or a group from other individuals or groups. For this purpose, it
determines the elements of the individual or group that are unique to it.
On the other hand, it also reveals the points where it is separated from
others. In this regard, identity includes two concepts: a) me/us and b) the
other(s). These two concepts are complementary concepts from the point
of identity and are the two main constituent elements of the concept of
identity. While the individual or group members reveal their common
characteristics, on the other hand, they list the issues that distinguish them
from the “other(s)”. Therefore, identity consists of the sum of the simi-
larities between those who have this identity and the points (differences)
where they differ from ‘others’ (Douven and Decock, 2010, p.60). At this
point, the third element that comes into play is that there is a consciousness
that identity exists. This element, also called subjective consciousness, is
seen not only as a complement to objective elements such as similarities
and differences that make up identity but also as a natural result of these
objective elements (Yurdusev, 1997, p.27). In other words, the emergence
of the element of consciousness is due to the existence of objective ele-
ments. The fact that people have a shared sense of identity indicates that
they share something in common, according to another opinion that em-
phasizes the importance of the element of consciousness, a belief that ob-
jective elements’ existence will be sufficient to form an identity, although
they do not exist. (Wintle, 1996, pp.5-6). In other words, the non-formation
of identity consciousness will prevent identity formation. This psycholog-
ical element appears as an ideology in politically organized communities
such as ethnicity and nation (Douven and Decock, 2010, p.61). The three
elements discussed above (us, the other, and the elements of identity con-
sciousness) are present in all types of identity.
The identity concept’s popularity and centrality are due to its multi-
plicity of meanings, codes, and naming mechanisms. The multiplicity of
identity codes, the multidimensionality of the mechanisms of naming in-
dividuals through identity, the different meanings imposed on identity, and
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .91

the different political discourses generated via this way make it difficult to
reach a theoretical compromise on the concept of identity. On the contrary,
the concept of identity plays the role of perhaps the most important strate-
gic weapon in the battles for theoretical and political positions in the world
we live in (Keyman, 2005, p.25). When examined at the epistemic level,
identity is a central phenomenon that forms the cultural basis of the meth-
od and style of explanation used to understand the world. In modern times,
this phenomenon manifests itself in contradictions such as East-West,
modern-traditional, and scientific-traditional. Nowadays, it performs as
the epistemic constituent element of discourses such as war among civ-
ilizations, enemies, terrorists, Islam as the other, and cultural globaliza-
tion. At the ontological level, identity serves as a concept that helps us
understand the problems that arise in the analysis of the understanding of
history, time, and space, especially in non-Western and different cultures
and societies. Once again, while approaching non-Western cultures and
societies, the cultural characteristic, which includes several concepts such
as the new world order, orientalism, third world, underdevelopment, and
poverty, shows us the importance of identity in the historical development
of modern international relations. Academic and public debates on the
management of a democratic world, in both today and modern times, do
not seem to be succeeded without addressing the phenomenon of identity
while searching for a democratic and just world and attempting to establish
world peace. It also cannot succeed without solving the problems of identi-
ty that we experience and without criticizing the acts of otherizing the dif-
ferent and establishing a democratic negotiation and mutual understanding
between different identities. In this regard, the phenomenon of identity is
also of central importance at the normative level (Delanty, 2004, p.56).
3. Is Europeanness Possible? Europeanness with Its Different Di-
mensions
Although discussions on Europeanness identity and the borders of
Europe began in the 1980s and intensified in the 1990s, this problem was
referenced in the context of a partnership in history, geography, and cul-
ture since the Middle Ages. For instance, the concept of “Europeanness”,
which was limited to the Mediterranean and Don rivers in the 2nd century
AD, gained the meaning of “Christian country” in the Middle Ages (Yur-
dusev, 1997, p.19). The Charlemagne era and Latin Christianity, which de-
veloped during this period, shifted the boundaries of the geographical area
expressed by the concept to the West. Charlemagne,” the King of Europe”,
Pope Jean VIII was referred to as the” European Leader” (Locksmith,
1974, p.46). Contradictions between the Ottoman Empire, which had been
economically superior in Central Asia and the Mediterranean region, es-
pecially since the beginning of the 15. century, and Europe, which dom-
92 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

inated Africa and the East by different routes following the path enabled
by geographical discoveries, left its mark on the idea of a newly formed
Europeanness. These developments led to the definition of “other” being
commercial-centred, that is, economically oriented and abandoning reli-
gious centre (Poyraz and Arıkan, 2003, p.64). Just at this time, a closed
common market, which was created by the newly enriched bourgeoisie
class and the mercantilist accumulation process in Europe, also formed the
core for nationalism within the framework of rising nation-states (Oran,
1997, pp.29-30).
In other words, as an extension of the mental map of nationalism since
the 15th century, the concepts of a foreigner or other found a response in
the mentality of communities. Of course, the other in question receives
different names depending on the dose and direction of the implicit threat.
For example, Muslim and Turkish, Islam and Turkish religion, or ‘religio
Turcia’ were synonymous in Central Europe until the Age of Enlighten-
ment” (Aydın, 1998, p.35). Of course, the intellectual foundations on which
the European identity was nurtured were important reference point in the
shaping of the other mentioned above. For instance, in Hegel’s notion, Eu-
rope, which he called the Christian-Germanic world, is where history will
end, and Europeans are the main subject of history. According to Hegel,
universal history moves from the East to the West. Europe is the endpoint
of universal history; on the other hand, Asia is the beginning point. Almost
every philosopher interested in cultures other than Europe during the En-
lightenment could compare European civilization and other “backward”
cultures, resulting in Western superiority. Of course, this superiority of
Western notions was reflected in the institutions and practices of the West.
One of the theorists who made this distinction the most acute is undoubt-
edly Montesquieu. According to Montesquieu, using climatic conditions
as a base, tropical climates cannot provide a suitable environment for de-
mocracy and the growth of individual rights and freedoms (Mukherjee
and Ramaswamy, 2011, p.468).
Similarly, John Stuart Mill, especially in his articles titled On Liberty
and Considerations on Representative Government, saw the despotic co-
lonialism of the West as the essential tool to civilize the people of the East
(Mill, 1998, pp.240-247). About 100 years later, which falls in the 1930s,
Edmund Husserl argued that the crisis Europe had at that time was purely
philosophical and reminded us of the universality of Western philosophy
and rationality (Husserl, 1970, pp.1-5). In his speech at the Vienna Cultural
Society in 1935, the limits of this universality and Europe were apparent:
“At the moment, we are asking ourselves: what are the features of the Euro-
pean soul? In other words, we do not distinguish Europe geographically but
by the characteristics of the people living in these lands. In a spiritual sense,
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .93

while lands such as the British colonies and the USA belong to Europe, the
Eskimos, Indians, or Gypsies who attract attention at fairs and constantly
travel across Europe are not European. The concept of ‘Europe’ corresponds
to the integrity of spiritual life, activities, creativity, interests, and the mea-
ningful institutions and organizations created by this integrity” (Locksmith,
1974, p.273).
This Europecenteric narrative, which was the main subject of the de-
bates about the Europeanness identity until the 1980s, has been strictly
criticized by many philosophers/thinkers inspired by post-colonial theory
since the 1990s. In this context, it can be argued that Turkey, faced with
the normative power of the EU and the economic and military superiority
of the West in general, also finds itself in a semi-postcolonial situation.
Nevertheless, this dual contradiction between the superior West and the
irrational and undeveloped East created by the Eurocentric perspective has
deciphered the identity of Europeanness since the Middle Ages (Morozov
and Rumelili, 2012, p.30).
By the 1950s, the debris left by the Second World War changed “Eu-
ropeanness”, which had been used to separate West and East culturally and
geographically for centuries, into a project that had its raison d’être from
reviving a continent that was just out of a war and from preventing coun-
tries in the continent from wringing each other’s neck forever. The concept
of “Europeanness” was reformed in the 1920s and 1930s under the roof of
a united ideal Europe (pan-Europeanism) under the leadership of anti-war
political figures such as Paul-Henri Spaak and Jean Luchaire. The concept
preserved its anti-war spirit after the Second World War and added an
essential component to its raison d’être: It aimed to keep Germany’s unbri-
dled economic rise under control and turn the “German problem”, which
primarily France suffered from, into a “European problem”. The Schuman
Declaration, May 9th 1950, the European Coal-Steel Union (ECSC) estab-
lished in 1952, and the Treaty of Rome in 1957, considered the founding
treaty of the European Union, constitute important milestones in achiev-
ing these basic goals through an elitist European organization.
Looking over the issue from an economic perspective, after the 1960s,
when constituent policies of the EU, such as the Common Agricultural
Policy (1962) and the Customs Union (1968), participated in the Union,
“Europeanness” was introduced as a remedy for the political and econom-
ic crisis of the 1970s. The economic crisis that began with the collapse of
the Bretton Woods System in 1971, the Vietnam War, and the 1973 Oil
Crisis all had the potential to snowball into an identity crisis for Europe if
it hadn’t been for the fundamental idea of “European Identity”, which was
presented for the initial time at The Copenhagen Summit Conference in
Copenhagen, Denmark in December 1973. The fall of the Bretton Woods
94 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

System was the impetus for the building of this wall. Instead of technical
concepts such as a Customs Union or parity, it emerged as a more robust
project to connect Europeans and consolidate the continent’s place in the
international arena with more “exciting” concepts such as belongingness
and identity. What 1977 Mc. Dougall Report, submitted to the European
Commission, proposed to overcome the crisis and Keynesian Econom-
ic Model to be implemented throughout Europe. This model’s need for a
group that is connected and in constant solidarity with each other also led
up to this project (Stråth, 2002, p.5). The 1980s and especially the first half
of the 1980s are remembered as a period when the European Union stum-
bled economically and therefore the ideal of a Single Market under the
leadership of the Delors commission and, of course, Jacques Delors began
to be practised. In this period, as Gill had mentioned before, the ideal mar-
ket that could stand up to the neo-liberal competition led by the USA and
that could enable the free movement of goods, services, capitals, and peo-
ple radically changed the economic understanding of the European Union
(Gill, 2003, p.3). The idea of transition to the single market envisaged in
the Single European Act (1986). The concept of “regional development”,
which was very popular in the 1980s, put the issue of European identity in
an economic context. The constituent elements uniting European regional
and local politicians, employers, trade unions and other organizations be-
came “lobbying in Brussels together” (Stråth, 2002, p.390).
When we look at the issue of Europeanness as a means of rapproche-
ment and modernization, we could speak of a different Europeanness fan-
tasy. The structure, which evolved from the Europe Community to the Eu-
ropean Union and gained a three-pillar structure with the Maastricht Treaty
signed in 1992, started questioning the concepts such as European citizen-
ship and democracy. It had the purpose of changing the state of being “eco-
nomically a giant but politically a dwarf”, from which it suffered until that
day. The “closer Union” discourse mentioned in the Constituent Treaty of
Rome (ever closer Union) although it reflected the aspiration of a federative
structure that would one day almost evolve into the United States for Jean
Monnet and other Union founders in the 1950s, by the 1990s it reflected the
Union’s goal to become a more political nature and closer to its citizens. In
other words, Europe is no longer just an institution that interferes with many
areas, from the size of vegetables sold in the market to the issuance of iden-
tity cards, but also appears as a whole of values and an area of belonging. It
can be argued that another distinctive feature of the fantasy of Europeanness
in the 1990s was that these values and the perception of identity ensured
effectiveness in the field of foreign policy as well as within the continent.
In particular, during the process where Eastern Enlargement was on the
axis of normative concepts such as democracy and modernization instead
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .95

of objectively determined interests, and Europe acted as a “modernization

anchor” for candidate countries (Inotai, 1997, p.15), the most used concepts
by Central and Eastern European Countries came off “return to Europe”
and “the continents back together”. The statement of François Mitterrand,
who was the leader of the French Socialist Party in 1980, “What we call
Europe today may be the second-best option that does not reflect all Euro-
pean history, geography and culture”, should be perused in the light of this
identity emphasis in the Eastern Enlargement (Haywood, 1993, pp.269-275).
Another fundamental reason the Europeanness identity was a more import-
ant agenda topic in the 1990s than in the past is the democratic legitimacy
problem. Which was not very important for a structure like the European
Community (EC), was a significant problem for a system that claimed to
be Peoples’ Europe like the EU (Kaina and Karolewski, 2013, p.6). During
this period, the close relationship between European integration and public
opinion emerged as a more important variable than ever (Diez, 2005, p.496).
The question of how democratic the EU institutions are and how they can
represent the Europeans is at the centre of this debate. The emotional and
cognitive indifference of the people to the EC was not a problem as there was
a “permissive compromise” shown to the Community, and the elites were
able to organize European unification. However, after the establishment of
the EU, the people of Europe began to question whether there were dem-
os to discuss democracy in Europe and what decisions were made behind
closed doors in Brussels. Since the beginning of the 1990s, public support
for the European project decreased, and the compromise became a “restric-
tive dispute” over time, leading to the conclusion that more was needed to
keep those people together. According to Shore, the more people in Europe
identify themselves with the Community and its institutions, the more the
lack of authority and dignity that the Community complains about could
be cleared up (Shore, 1993, pp.779-785). This can be possible with only the
construction of collective identity and a supranational political myth above
national identities and has its symbols. Those developments in Europe in
those years also coincided with the “identity” debates and agenda that occu-
pied the global agenda of the 1990s, which was mentioned earlier. As it was
mentioned earlier, the most notable aspect of identity debates and conflicts
that occurred in the 1990s was the fact that the notion of sense of community
started to be characterized not just in aspects of ubiquitous membership, as
it is in a liberal state, but also in terms of factors such as gender, color, and
ethnicity. This was the most significant change that occurred during this
time period. The debates and conflicts surrounding people’s identities in the
1990s were marked by a number of distinctive characteristics, but this one
stands out above the rest. Politics that are based on the idea of identification
exhibit empathetic behavior toward other people and gain their power from
the local, national, and international levels. We’ve replaced the fundamental
96 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

and established identity formations with an entirely new conceptual frame-

work as a struggle and practice within the context of a broader knowledge
of politics. This paradigm is based on the idea that politics is a practice and
a battle. It also became an “open-ended process” that shaped what was so-
ciable and society rather than a given and ethnic concept in the 1990s in
Europe (Delanty and Rumford, 2005, p.92). That is, the Europe of the 1990s
and the globalizing world is a construction process produced as a result of
different actors, projects, discourses, different models of society and norma-
tive ideas, and in times of disputes and disobedience (Locksmith, 1974, p.6).
In this regard, the greatest role in building a supranational European identi-
ty through symbols undoubtedly fell upon the European Commission. The
Commission, which acts as the engine of European integration, has been
producing active policies since the early 1980s to transform the totality of
the values on which the Community is based and the common cultural heri-
tage into a concrete cultural policy. In this context, political symbols, which
Hobsbawn likens to sacred icons in religious ceremonies, play an important
role (Hobsbawm, 2012, p.71). For instance, the well-known twelve-star flag,
borrowed from the Council of Europe in 1984 as part of a proposal made by
the Adonnino Committee, began to be used in 1986. The declaration of May
9thth as Europe Day, which was assumed when the Schuman Declaration
was held at the 1985 Milan Summit (1950) and Europe began to be built, can
also be seen as part of the image that the Community aims to build through
symbolism. Similarly, according to Sonntag, the Euro banknotes used by
more than half of the member states, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy work, which is
now considered a European Anthem, and even the office of the President of
the Council of Europe that was created after the Lisbon Treaty are bearers
of the ideological struggle that the European Union began through symbols
(Sonntag, 2010, p.1). This indeed becomes an ideological struggle with a
winner, a loser, a concession, and a victory–against the Eurosceptics, or the
political tendency that is concerned about the erosion of national identities.
Within the framework of this struggle, the emotional aspects of Europe are
questioned at almost every opportunity, as in the context of the event that
the twelve-star flag covering headings of all European newspapers on the
50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in March 2007, was quietly removed
from the Treaty of Lisbon just three months later, just like other European
symbols (Locksmith, 1974, p.15).
4. Formation of Europeanness Identity
In the EU, it is not enough to constantly make new treaties or re-
vise existing treaties in line with the need for greater integration that is,
deepening, in direct proportion to the increase in the number of members.
The EU, which collectively carries out the processes of enlargement and
deepening, has accepted the existing theories that the economic integra-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .97

tion process has had success and will also contribute to political integra-
tion. According to Haas, one of the theorists of Neo-functionalism that is
among the theories mentioned above, economic integration was expressed
by Mitrany’s branching theory of “spill over”. According to the branching
theory, the advantage obtained in an area will lead to similar advantages
in other areas, and integration will be reflected in the next stage. For exam-
ple, an economically integrated Europe will show the same development
politically (Ari, 2008, p.444). However, because the member states did
not compromise on nationalism, that is, on their own identity, political
integration could not occur. The most important indicator of this is that
citizens of EU member states do not feel European because they are in the
EU (Gürkaynak, 2012, pp.450-451).
It is not enough for the EU that only the heads of state and govern-
ments of member states want political integration; it is essential for po-
litical integration that citizens also feel European under the roof of the
EU. For this reason, the need for a “Constitution” was felt in line with
the identity that wanted to be created on the way to political integration.
The intergovernmental policies of the nation-states formed the EU among
themselves in the process it went through until it put forward the concept
of “Constitution”. According to Yanıkdağ (2010, 117), the creation of the
Union was carried out in a way that mirrored the wishes of each of the dif-
ferent republics. In contrast to the creation of treaties or accords that gov-
erned the relationship between different levels of government, the process
at hand when the idea of a constitution was first discussed was not simply
equivalent to that of a treaty or accord. Rather, the creation of a constitu-
tion was a distinct and unique process from that of a treaty or accord. The
people of this nation came together to create this constitution so that their
shared sense of identity may be mirrored in their interactions with one
another (Selcuk, 2004, pp.59-61). In 2004, the leaders of state and gov-
ernment of the countries that make up the European Union signed a trea-
ty that established a constitution for Europe (TCE). It was mandated that
referendums be held so that individuals of member countries could have
their voice heard on the issue. The “no” votes cast in France and the Neth-
erlands caused the postponement of the scheduled referendums in those
countries; as a result, both France and the Netherlands have now canceled
their own referendums (Yanıkdağ, 2010, 130). Consequently, the “TCE”
did not reach any fruition, and the “EU Constitution” was not approved.
The rejection of the TCE showed that the people of Europe disagreed with
the member states. Among the most constituent elements of political in-
tegration is to enable the citizens of EU member states to call themselves
“European” rather than any other country identity by reducing the influ-
ence of nation-states. In addition, there is a sense of otherizing people who
98 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

are not citizens of EU member states. Because when you look at the defini-
tion of the concept of identity, it is essential to have distinctive features that
differ from other people or groups. As seen from this definition, it is also
a fact that it creates a perception of the “other” consisting of differences.
The most dominant elements that form the cornerstones of the “European”
identity that the EU wants to create can be listed as geographical location,
religion and culture. First, if we are to talk about the geographical loca-
tion from this point of view, the place mentioned as European territory is
currently associated with the EU. Along with the number of countries that
want to become members, the definition of Europe is also given within the
EU’s enlargement strategy (Özdemir, 2007, pp.94-105).
As stated in the EU Treaty, every country that feels to be Europe-
an will also be prevented from trying to become a member of the EU
(Gürkaynak, 2012, p.451). However, the fact that the EU has accepted the
membership of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries also
shows the importance of being geographically located on the European
continent. However, although the geographical location positively affects
the countries that have adopted the concept of “Europe” in front of their
name, there is also a perception of a European that was put forward in
terms of culture and religion. The most significant example of this situa-
tion in Turkey. Although Turkey’s territory in Europe has been accepted,
Turkey is not European from the viewpoint of the EU. The reason for this
situation is that the religious element is to be the dominant identity de-
terminant in Europe for centuries (Özdemir, 2007, 133). In this respect,
the perception of “we” formed by the European identity, in this case,
makes the CEE countries for the EU as “one of us” and otherizes Turkey
as “them”. In this case, the result is that the identity the EU is trying to
create is inclusive for some countries while being exclusionary for some
countries in terms of protecting its essence. While it is inclusive that the
EU will accept membership after the fulfilment of the conditions such as
the recognition of the rule of law, human rights, and democracy presented
in the process of identity construction, the fact that geographically Euro-
peanness has become a condition is an otherizing term (Rumelili, 2007-
2008, p.53). In the process of building an EU identity, the September 11th
syndrome is another problem that comes up as an othering situation. As a
result of this terrorist attack on the United States on September 11thth, an
“identity” perceived as an “enemy” by the United States was created. This
identity is the religious and national identity of the terrorists believed to
have carried out the attacks.
On the other hand, religious and national identities are the strongest
determinants of identity (Kinvall, 2004, p.745). In the period after Sep-
tember 11thth, an attempt was made to form perception, especially against
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .99

countries with an “Islamic identity”. In this case, countries with an “Is-

lamic identity” are “otherized” for the United States. President Bush built
an anti-Islamic identity by saying, either you are with us, or you are on the
other side.” This perception that was built on the international system af-
fects the entire system. As the European Monitoring Center for Racism and
Xenophobia (EUMC) stated in its report entitled “Muslims in the Europe-
an Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia”, Muslims living in Europe
are exposed to discrimination as a minority and are excluded from rights
such as housing, work, education just because of their religious or ethnic
identity. Incidents of Islamophobia are observed with verbal or physical
threats. The report states that exclusionary and xenophobic attitudes and
behaviors towards Muslims should be seriously addressed. It is also stated
in the same report that this situation has seriously put EU integration in
trouble (European Monitoring Center for Racism and Xenophobia, 2006).
5. Conclusion
Unity and integrity cannot be fully internalized due to the exclusion
or discrimination of other people or groups that do not have common
characteristics. As a result, an identity of Europeanness is desired to be
created and to create this identity. It is necessary to prioritize the domi-
nant standard features. Another determinant of the perception of identity
that the EU is building is that the countries in the Union are Christian.
Considering that the concept of identity reveals “distinctive” features, it
is known that an EU citizen who describes himself as a European person
or people of different religions will naturally be otherized. However, Mus-
lims have often been otherized (Michaels and Stevick, 2009, p.227). In this
case, it seems that the exclusionary and otherizing aspect of the identity
of Europeanness is more dominant than the inclusive aspect. Because the
perception created for citizens to describe themselves as European means
that people defined as “other” are excluded, discriminated against in the
EU and otherized because of the group they belong to. Although it is con-
structed based on different ethnic and religious groups, “the other” brings
the practices of discrimination and exclusion with itself, which in essence
stems from hatred (İnanç and Çetin, 2011, p.5). This situation contradicts
both the distinctive meaning of the concept of identity hidden within itself
and the aspect of the EU that protects fundamental rights and prohibits dis-
crimination as its results are exclusionary, discriminatory, and otherizing.
100 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

REFERENCES

Auer, S. (2010). The European Union’s Politics of Identity and the Legacy of
1989. Humanities Research, 16(3), 135-149.
Aydın, S. (1998). Kimlik Sorunu, Ulusallık ve “Türk Kimliği”, İstanbul: Öteki
Yayınevi.
Buhari, D. (2009). Turkey-EU relations: The limitations of europeanisation stu-
dies. The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations, (40), 91-121.
Çilingir, S. (2007). Avrupa Kimliği ve Ulus-Devlet Modeli. Yönetim ve Ekonomi
Araştırmaları Dergisi, 5(7), 44-52.
Delanty, G. (2004). The Invention of Europe: Idea, Identity, Reality. (Çev. Hüsa-
mettin İnanç). İstanbul: Adres Yayınları.
Delanty, G., and Rumford, C. (2005). Rethinking Europe: Social theory and the
implications of Europeanization. Newyork: Routledge.
Diez, M. (2005). Framing Europe: Attitudes to European Integration in Germany,
Spain, and the United Kingdom, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Diez, T. (2004). Europe’s Others and the Return of Geopolitics. Cambridge review
of international affairs, 17(2), 319-335.
European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. (2006). https://www.
osce.org/files/f/documents/9/0/19431.pdf [22.11.2021].
Gill, S. (2003). A Neo-Gramscian Approach, (Der. A. Carfuny and M. Ryner) Ne-
oliberal Hegemony and Transformation in Europe, (Lanham: Rowman ve
Littlefield), 17-47.
Gürkaynak, M. (2012). Avrupa Birliği: İnanc Temelli Bir Butunleşme mi? Tira-
na-Albania: First International Conference on Humanities “The Spiritual
Quest in Humanities” Proceedings Book, Tiran, 446-454.
Haywood, E. (1993). The European Policy of François Mitterrand.  J. Common
Mkt. Stud., 31, 269-282.
Hobsbawm, E. J. (2012). Nations and nationalism since 1780: Programme, myth,
reality. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Husserl, E. (1970).  The crisis of European sciences and transcendental pheno-
menology: An introduction to phenomenological philosophy. Northwestern
University Press.
Inotai, A. (1997). What is Novel about Eastern Enlargement of the European Uni-
on? – The Costs and Benefits of Eastern Enlargement of the European Uni-
on, Institute for World Economics Working Papers, 87, Institute for World
Economics, Budapest.
İnanç, H. (2005). AB ye Entegrasyon Sürecinde Türkiye ‘nin Kimlik Problemleri,
Ankara: Adres Yayınları.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .101

İnanç, Z. S., and Çetin, S. (2011). Avrupa’nın kendine dönen silahı: dışlayıcılık ve
ayrımcılık. SDE Analiz, 1-36.
Kaina, V., and Karolewski, I. P. (2013). EU governance and European identity.
http://www.europeangovernance-livingreviews.org/Articles/lreg-2013-1/
download/lreg-2013-1Color.pdf, (22.11.2021).
Kaya, E. (2017). Avrupalılık Kimliği ve Avrupa Birliği Vatandaşlığı Eğitimi. Tur-
kish Journal of Social Research/Türkiye Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergi-
si, 21(2), 407-433.
Keyman, F. (2005). Kimlik ve Demokrasi: Devlet ve Ötesi Uluslararası İlişkilerde
Temel Kavramlar, İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları.
Kinnvall, C. (2004). Globalization and religious nationalism: Self, identity, and
the search for ontological security. Political psychology, 25(5), 741-767.
Mayer, F. C. and Palmowski, J. (2004). European identities and the EU–the ties
that bind the peoples of Europe. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Stu-
dies, 42(3), 573-598.
Michaels, D. L., and Stevick, E. D. (2009). Europeanization in the ‘other’Europe:
writing the nation into ‘Europe’education in Slovakia and Estonia. Journal
of Curriculum Studies, 41(2), 225-245.
Mill, J. S. (1998). On liberty and other essays. Newyork: Oxford University Press,
USA.
Morozov, V., and Rumelili, B. (2012). The external constitution of European
identity: Russia and Turkey as Europe-makers.  Cooperation and Confli-
ct, 47(1), 28-48.
Mukherjee, S., and Ramaswamy, S. (2011). A history of political thought: Plato to
Marx. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Oran, B. (1977). Azgelişmiş Ülke Milliyetçiliği: Kara Afrika Modeli, Ankara: Bilgi
Yayınevi.
Özdemir, H. (2007). Ulusal Dış Politikalar ve Jeostrateji Bağlamında “Avrupa”
nın Anlamı. Ankara Avrupa Çalışmaları Dergisi, 7(1), 91-112.
Poyraz, T., and Arıkan, G. (2003). Avrupa-Türkiye ilişkileri ve dönemsel olarak
değişen” öteki” tanımları. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Der-
gisi, 20(2).
Rumelili, B. (2007). Avrupa Birliği ve Bölgesel İhtilafların Çözümü. Uluslararası
İlişkiler Dergisi, 4(16), 51-78.
Selçuk, E. (2004). Anayasasını arayan Avrupa: Avrupa Anayasal Antlaşma Tasarı-
sı Üzerine. Hukuk ve Adalet, 3, 59-97.
Şen, S. (2004). Avrupa Birliğinde Kimlik Sorunu, (Yayınlanmamış Y.L. Tezi),
Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
Shore, C. (1993). Inventing the’people’s Europe’: critical approaches to European
102 . Akif Çarkçı, Recep Şehitoğlu, MD Nazmul İslam

community’cultural policy’. London: Man, 779-800.

Smith, Antonhy D. (1992). National Identity and the idea of European Unity, In-
ternational Affairs, Vol 68, No 1, 55-76.
Sonntag, A. (2010). Political Symbols, Citizenship and Communication, Confe-
rence Proceedings, “Communicating European Citizenship”, Lancaster
House, London, March 22nd.
Stråth, B. (2002). A European identity: To the historical limits of a concept. Euro-
pean Journal of Social Theory, 5(4), 387-401.
Tekin, Y. O. (2009). Avrupa Birliği’nin Kimlik Yaratma Çabaları. Marmara
Üniversitesi Avrupa Topluluğu Enstitüsü Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi,
17(1&2), 145-173.
Türkbağ, A. Ulvi, (2003). Kimlik, Hukuk ve Adalet Sorunu, Doğu-Batı Dergisi
3, 203-218.
Wintle, M. (1996). Introduction: Cultural diversity and identity in Europe. Culture
and Identity in Europe. Perceptions of Divergence and Unity in Past and
Present. H. Wintle. Avebury, Aldershot, 1-7.
Yanıkdağ, T. (2010). Anayasallaşma Sürecinde Avrupa: Temel Haklar Şartı’ndan
Lizbon Antlaşması’na. Bilge Strateji, 2(3), 115-143.
Yazgan, H. (2013). Bir Kavramsal Çerçeve Olarak “Avrupalılaşma”: Kapsam, Ge-
reklilik ve Sınırlar. Anadolu University Journal of Social Sciences, 12(4)
123-140.
Yurdusev, N. (1997). Avrupa Kimliğinin Oluşumu ve Türk Kimliği”, (Der. A.
Eralp), Türkiye ve Avrupa: Batılılaşma, Kalkınma, Demokrasi, Ankara:
İmge Kitabevi, 17-85.
 CHAPTER 6
DIGITAL ACTIVISM AND HASHTAG
FEMINISM

Berna GÖRGÜLÜ1
Naim ÇINAR2

1  PhD Fellow, Pittsburgh University, Department of Communication and

Rhetoric, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0988-9999
2  Assistant Prof. Dr., Anadolu University Faculty of Communication
Sciences, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, naimcinar@
anadolu.edu.tr, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1824-4076
104 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

Pointing out a solid and tangible acquisition of ‘one’ online movement

in offline life, “Most say that, compared with five years ago, those who
commit sexual harassment or assault at work are more likely to be held
responsible and those who report it are more likely to be believed,” says
Anna Brown (2022) from Pew Research Center, referring the recently
conducted research about Americans’ thoughts regarding the #MeToo
movement, which is almost a symbol of all feminist hashtag movements.
With the rise of digital technologies and social media platforms, feminists
have increasingly utilized these tools to connect, communicate, and
mobilize against prevalent issues such as sexism, misogyny, and rape
culture. Consequently, scholars have taken notice of the emergence and
impact of digital feminist movements. In fact, it has taken a decisive and/
or worthy to discuss the position in the midst of scholarly debates such
as whether we have come to fourth-wave feminism or not and how we
should name this shift in feminism. The movements such as #MeToo,
#BeenRapedNeverReported, and The Everyday Sexism Project have
become symbols and indicators of digital feminist activism for scholars
in terms of their massiveness, widespread reach, transnational appeal,
and their controversial features within feminism. With the effect of these
features, the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy and the Women’s Studies
in Communication had their special issues on #MeToo in 2019, and the
Review of Communication published a Themed Issue: Transnational
Dimensions in Digital Activism and Protest dominantly composed of
#MeToo studies.
In this chapter, we aim to portray the conversation around the #MeToo
movement, in the scope of the Communication field. We can learn a lot about
the possibilities for researching digital feminisms by taking up #MeToo as
a case study because #MeToo exhibits a fair range of current approaches
to exploring digital feminism. While researching this conversation allows
us to make observations specific to both feminist discourse and context,
and the characteristics of the #MeToo movement itself, recognizing that
#MeToo is one of the many movements in feminism, which again we can
count as one of the many democratic struggles that have found new life
and new tactics through digital and social media, it has some common
traits with other movements carried out in the digital environment. Hence,
in this chapter, we argue that the impact of digital technologies on feminist
activism should not be considered in isolation from both digital activism
and the wider digital media ecology. Therefore, this chapter touches on
some features that digital feminist activism and digital activism more
broadly share due to the use of the same medium, however, the scope of
the conversation examined here is limited to the #MeToo movement, rather
than focusing specifically on any other online activism cases.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .105

Since feminist hashtag activism is a part of the broad democracy

struggles carried out in the digital environment and benefits from the
same medium, it is useful to keep our perspective wide and negotiate what
digital media offers to activism first. This perspective is also reflected in
scholarly conversation about #MeToo.
 IGITAL MEDIA AND ACTIVISM: AFFORDANCES AND
D
CONSTRAINTS
The entry of digital media into our lives has opened a new page for
activists as well as affected all kinds of collective and individual actions
in society. This new era, namely digital activism allowed activists and
counter-publics to use digital media (mostly in addition to the traditional
media) as key platforms for raising their voice in the public sphere,
influencing the political and meaning-making process, mass mobilization,
and political action. Rather than a sharp closure of mainstream media,
as Treré states (2018), contemporary activists and counter-publics make
use of a hybrid ecology. Castells suggests that social media is a powerful
tool that enables anyone or any self-created network to have their voices
heard and disseminate their views (Castells, 2015). This stands in contrast
to Chomsky and Herman’s conception of traditional mass media as a
system of filters controlled by the powerful that restrict the ideas and
perspectives available to the public (1988). The main difference that the
digital environment offers activists is the possibility of creating user-
generated content. In this way, individuals take control of digital platforms
and distribute power and production among users, including activists
themselves (Castells, 2012).
The undeniable fact that the emergence of cyberspace has created an
arena for activism that encompasses important new elements has brought
with it a host of affordances and constraints. Since these affordances and
constraints are neither independent from each other nor their boundaries
perfectly clear, it is a hard task to peruse them under separate headings.
As a consequence of every single affordance opens up a constraint from
a different perspective, this chapter will deal with both negative and
positive aspects in the same or consecutive paragraphs together with their
oppositions.
Reflecting the ongoing discourse in political communication,
movement scholarship, and media studies regarding the impact of the
internet on democracy struggles, there exist two predominant instrumental
perspectives: digital/techno-optimists and pessimists. Those who hold a
positive view of digital technologies see them as a means for revolutionary
democratization, whereas pessimists view the restructuring of power
dynamics in a new arena. These perspectives center around the question of
106 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

whether digital movements can truly bring about social change, a question
that has been fiercely debated in relation to various movements such as
#OccupyWallStreet, #ArabSpring, #BlackLivesMatter, and #MeToo. Clark-
Parsons (2019) offers a counterpoint to the optimism of scholars such as
Yocha Benkler, Manuel Castell, and Clay Shirky, whom she dubs “techno-
optimists,” and their faith in social media’s ability to democratize access to
information and tools for building movements and staging protests. On the
other hand, techno-pessimists argue that networked activism is ineffective,
often dismissed as “slacktivism,” which provides individuals with a false
sense of achievement or moral superiority without actually requiring any
meaningful commitment or effort, and thus, detracts from real activism.
These critics also contend that networked activism is prone to surveillance
and lacks the capacity to establish enduring movements. Some critics argue
that slacktivism represents a form of “clicktivism,” where people engage
with political or social issues by merely clicking on a website, liking a post,
or sharing a hashtag, without any real commitment or sacrifice (Morozov,
2010). Others argue that it represents a form of “feel-good” activism that
provides individuals with a sense of moral superiority without actually
doing anything to address the underlying issues (Shirky, 2011). Some
activists and scholars argue that the emphasis on social media and online
activism has led to a decline in more traditional forms of activism, such as
protests, marches, and grassroots organizing, which may be more effective
at achieving real change (Bennett & Segerberg, 2012). Some go even
further, stating that digital media are not a driver of revolution (Lim, 2018,
p. 103) or social change (Papacharissi, 2015). Alongside these instrumental
perspectives, a third approach challenges the instrumentalist approach
itself by arguing that it oversimplifies the complex nature of networked
activism and fails to appreciate both its affordances and limitations. This
approach recognizes and negotiates the various dimensions of digital
movements with their affordances and constraints.
The nature of digital media, aka social media, offers many “new
dynamics for amplifying, recording, and spreading information and social
acts” (Khazraee & Novak, 2018, p. 3) as well as both structural and tactical
propositions for use in activist practices. Technological affordances that the
internet has, enable digital activism to be persistent, replicable, scalable,
and searchable (Papacharissi, 2015). Unlike traditional activism where the
presence of human bodies is crucial, the internet provides partial anonymity
(Treem & Leonardi, 2013) when it is necessary. Besides, its ability to
enable direct participation, cross geographic boundaries, and reach large
numbers of people, is also very effective in ensuring the visibility of social
movements (Kavada, 2016). The Arab Spring serves as a reminder of the
powerful role that social media can play in mobilizing large-scale protests.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .107

By utilizing hashtags in both English and Arabic, participants were able to

connect with each other and spread their message across multiple countries
in North Africa and the Middle East. Unlike traditional media outlets,
the internet offers ordinary individuals the opportunity to communicate
in real time (Cammaerts,2015), sharing raw images, emotions, and ideas
without censorship. With low barriers to entry, the internet enables anyone
to engage in public speech and action, disseminating information with the
goal of inspiring change. Its fast nature also provides activists with an
advantage, allowing them to access and produce uncensored information
before those in power can create spin or traditional media can moderate
issues according to mainstream logic. In addition, unlike the opaque
language of politicians, ordinary people can use concise rhetoric in social
networks.
Social media platforms empower individuals to generate and share
their own content, express their opinions on diverse topics and connect
with others who share similar interests or characteristics (Xiong et al.,
2019). These platforms enable users to share information with their
personal networks and build communities based on shared values,
beliefs, and experiences. By providing a space for open communication
and diverse perspectives, social media has become a powerful tool for
facilitating social change, promoting awareness of important issues, and
empowering marginalized groups to have their voices heard. With the
ability to reach a global audience in real-time, social media has transformed
the way individuals interact with one another and engage with the world
around them. As a result, these platforms facilitate the construction of
collective identity (Khazraee & Novak, 2018) and inclusiveness (Kavada,
2016). These affordances benefit not only individual participants in social
movements but also organizations that engage in hybrid activism. They
foster interactivity between organizations and the public, encourage socio-
political discussion and participation (Xiong et al., 2019), and promote
democratic participation that prioritizes a horizontal, identity-based
movement-building approach.
One of the arguments considered as an affordance is networked
activism being easy. Because digital activism is pictured in minds with the
image of a person sitting in front of the computer, or tapping on the phone,
posting their thoughts, and calling it activism. To comprehend the debate
surrounding the perceived ease of networked activism, it is necessary
to consider the multiple factors that are used to determine whether
digital activism, especially digital feminist activism, can be considered
effortless. One of these factors is digital labor, which plays a significant
role in discussions about the ease or difficulty of digital movements.
At first glance, it might appear that the labor required to run a digital
108 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

feminist campaign is minimal since one simply needs to create a hashtag,

post some content, and rely on the public to take over. However, this
assumption oversimplifies the reality of the situation. However, Mendes,
Ringrose, and Keller (2018) sweep us into the reality behind the scenes.
Contrary to widespread belief, there is much more behind digital feminist
campaigns than simply tweeting or posting on any social media platform.
Invisible labor behind is shared between both the individuals who initiated
the campaign and the feminist organizers who ensured the systematic
continuation of it. When a digital feminist campaign gains momentum
and visibility, a range of responsibilities awaits its initiators, such as
preserving the continuity of digital content creation, participating in media
interviews and debates, engaging in public talks and events, and writing/
blogging. Feminist organizers, on the other hand, bear the responsibility of
organizing offline pieces of training and street protests, managing official
proceedings for legal sanctions (Gleeson, 2016: 5), creating engaging
content, and developing new tactics by dedicating “several hours each
day or week to these initiatives with little to no financial compensation
or regularly scheduled breaks” (Mendes et al, 2018). Similar to other
forms of user-generated content in digital media, the work of feminist
activism is considered free labor, which is described as both voluntarily
given and unwanted, enjoyed and exploited (Terranova, 2004: 74). This
labor, again, is similar to other forms of “women’s work,” characterized
by its effectiveness, precariousness, and exploitation (Mendes et al, 2018).
Considering all of these factors, it is clear that digital feminist activism is
not easy, as it entails the risk of rampant labor exploitation.
One of the roots of the arguments for the easiness of digital feminist
movements is related to the safe feeling that the participants have in the
climate of shared understanding created by these movements. Research
by Mendes, Ringrose, and Keller (2018) suggests that online spaces with
shared understandings provide a more accessible platform for engaging
in feminist discussions than offline contexts. Unlike face-to-face
interactions in real-life experiences, where individuals may feel isolated
or unsupported in their feminist views due to institutionalized cultures of
sexism in their social, academic, or professional circles, digital feminist
activism creates a sense of solidarity and safety. Through online forums,
social media groups, and other digital spaces, individuals can connect with
like-minded individuals from around the world, sharing experiences and
perspectives without fear of judgment or exclusion. At this very point, we
should remember how arduous task it is for one to experience feminist
perspectives, practices, and feelings. This not only means that it is difficult
to live under patriarchy and power relations, but also that when you call
yourself a feminist, you are assigned to be perceived as a difficult, unhappy
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .109

or at least hard to deal with by those around you, including family, friends,
and colloquies. “This means that we can, at the very least, be found ‘hard’
or unpleasant to work with, enough to cost one’s living.” (Frye, 1983).
While drawing her figure of feminist “killjoys” (the myth that feminists
kill joy because they are joy-less), as Sara Ahmed (2016) very well put
it, “You have to show that you are not difficult through displaying signs
of goodwill and happiness.” Opposed to the sexist attitudes and biases
that exist within established cultural institutions, digital spaces offer a
secure environment where feminists can share their ideas, and opinions,
and receive support, in contrast to the dismissive treatment they may face
from others in their daily lives. The discussion around the internet being
safe also reminds us of countries where women are restricted in civic
space, and physical and legal coercion on offline activism, especially street
protests, explicitly target freedom of expression, bodily integrity, and even
the lives of activists, digital spaces offer an illusion of safer environment
with the partial anonymity they provide.
These affordances such as the climate of shared understanding and
partial anonymity -and physical distance- that we can gather under the
umbrella of being ‘safe,’ encourage us to rethink the meaning of being
‘safe,’ where we encountered the terms digital repression and mediated
misogyny. Digital media provide activists with nominal anonymity as well
as important ways to expand state surveillance and a crackdown on activists.
Morozov (2012) points out that with technological advancements such as
face recognition software, user content analysis, and social media analysis,
governments have gained new tools to repress dissidents and suppress
political dissent. It is crucial to pay attention to the ways in which these
technologies are being used to monitor and control citizens, particularly
in authoritarian regimes where freedom of speech and assembly are often
curtailed. With the ability to track individuals’ movements, monitor
their online activity, and identify potential threats to the regime, these
technologies have become a powerful tool for silencing opposition and
maintaining the status quo. As such, it is important to critically examine the
ethical implications of these technologies and advocate for transparency,
accountability, and respect for human rights in their use. This repression,
which includes actions or policies aimed at increasing the cost of offline
activism, continues to exist online, even by adding new tactics and methods
to the old ones. While governments apply traditional repression methods
aiming to prevent, reduce, and/or control noninstitutional challenges such
as protests, social movements, and activism, Feldstein (2021) cautions
us that the advent of digital technology has introduced novel tactics to
the authoritarian playbook, facilitating governmental manipulation of
information that citizens consume surveillance of dissent and monitoring
110 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

of political opponents and censorship of communications. With the

possibilities of these technologies, governments are able to pinpoint and
apply the targeted persecution of online users. Digital repression practices
have various dimensions, such as the use of traditional repression methods
on digital activists, the use of digital tools to implement traditional
repression methods or the development of information strategies designed
to reduce protests. These practices appear in daily life as the arrest of
Twitter users, and political bloggers (and sometimes accompanying
torture and sexual violence); digital surveillance; harassment, violence,
and discrediting campaigns against activists.
Similar to repression, the internet is covered under systems of
power bringing more constraints for digital activism, and digital
feminist movements. Margolis and Resnick (2000) remind us that “as the
population of cyberspace has expanded, the politics of cyberspace has
evolved from a self-regulating system dominated by internal concerns to
a system in which politics that affect the Net and political uses of the Net
predominate.” Therefore, inequalities between classes, genders, sexual
orientations, nations, religious beliefs, generations, and as such; oppression
mechanisms, bureaucracy, and elite groups in offline life remain the same
in online spaces. While we mentioned that the low cost of the internet
makes it accessible, it is still a crystal-clear fact that income groups, the
region of residence (rural/urban), the rate of conservatism and pressure
varying by gender, the level of adaptation to technology among age groups,
the restriction of the countries and governments determine the level of
internet access. On top of these social structural constraints, social media
algorithms also play a significant role in shaping users’ experiences by
determining which content to deliver based on their past behaviors, such
as what they have watched, searched, and liked. By mining vast amounts
of user data, these algorithms are able to create highly personalized and
tailored feeds, which can both reflect and reinforce users’ existing interests
and biases. However, algorithms are as simple as they are complicated.
Those in power use the ability to steer and change algorithms on social
media to manipulate and bias the information users see (Tufekci, 2015).
Governments hold significant market power and regulatory control over
algorithms, playing a dual role as both consumers and regulators. With the
ability to shape algorithmic use cases across a range of domains, from social
welfare programs to law enforcement and national security, governments
wield considerable influence over the development and deployment of
algorithmic systems. Therefore, they can set standards, provide guidance,
and use power over users. Moreover, the data mining practices used in these
algorithms by corporate platform owners are far from being transparent. In
addition to governmental control of the algorithms, politics in power may
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .111

also shut down the internet as it happened during the unrest and protests in
India, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan.
Contrary to the safe climate of shared understanding in digital
feminist campaigns, still, we are with Banet-Weiser who proofs us the
double-edged sword of digital affordances and argues that the internet also
makes room for popular misogyny, “as a structural force, is networked,
expressed, and practiced on multiple platforms, attracting other like-
minded groups and individuals” (Sener, 2021: Banet-Weiser, 2018).
Misogyny, the hatred of women, is a pervasive problem that has gained
traction across various media platforms. It involves the objectification and
dehumanization of women, where women are treated as means to an end,
rather than as individuals deserving of respect. This popular misogyny
is expressed and practiced in a terrain of struggle, with various groups
and individuals vying for power. Social media has enabled misogynistic
groups to infiltrate feminist conversations, derailing them through online
harassment and intimidation.
Unsurprisingly, studies have shown that a significant percentage
of women activists have experienced abuse online, with sex and gender
discrimination being the primary motivator (Barker & Jurasz, 2019). One
form of this “mediated misogyny” (Vickery & Everbach, 2018) occurs is
feminist activists being targeted as individuals. Trolling and online abuse
with a wide range of practices – from seemingly mundane, ubiquitous, or
‘low-level’ comments such as “you are fat” or “ugly” to vitriolic, violent,
and graphic rape and death threats (Mendes et al., 2018), are common
experiences for those who participated in digital feminist movements.
This mediated misogyny often takes the form of counter-narratives and
counter-hashtags that seek to silence women’s voices. For instance, the
#yesallwomen hashtag campaign was met with the #notallmen campaign,
which attempted to undermine women’s experiences by claiming that not all
men are responsible for misogyny. Similarly, when the #mencallmethings
campaign exposed the harassment that women face online, some men
deemed it offensive and attempted to shift the conversation away from
gendered violence. However, such actions depoliticize the issue and
ignore the systemic nature of misogyny (Megarry, 2017). Despite the toxic
environment created by digital violence, women continue to engage in
feminist activities on digital platforms like Twitter, as they report feeling
safer and more comfortable expressing their views. Mendes, Ringrose,
and Keller’s (2018) contributions to the conversation shed light on the
perspectives of women who participate in digital feminist movements and
their determination to resist misogyny and fight for gender equality.
Digital platforms have fundamentally transformed the nature of
collective action, prompting scholars to approach digital social movements
112 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

in two distinct ways: as a connective action, an aggregation of individual

behaviors, and as a form of collective action in its own right. The former
perspective sees contextual factors as less important than individual
actions, whereas the latter views digital social movements as part of a
broader struggle that necessarily involves processes of expanded collective
interaction and mutual participation across interconnected groups of
people in networks or fields of action. As messaging and communication
have become more personalized on digital platforms, the meaning of
collective action has shifted, prompting researchers to rethink traditional
conceptions of social movements and activism (Bennett and Segerberg,
2013). This has led to a growing body of literature that explores the
unique characteristics of digital social movements, including their reliance
on networked forms of organization, their use of digital technologies
to facilitate collective action and coordination, and their potential to
mobilize diverse groups of individuals around shared causes and issues.
One powerful tool for initiating connective actions in social movements is
the use of hashtags, such as #MeToo. Xiong, Cho, and Boatwright (2019)
note that Wang, Liu, and Gao have identified two mechanisms for the viral
dissemination of hashtags: bottom-up mechanisms, driven by autonomous
individuals and organizations, and top-down mechanisms, driven by
content makers in media or politics seeking to promote information and set
agendas. By leveraging the power of hashtags and bottom-up mechanisms,
digital movements like #MeToo have the potential to empower individuals
and organizations to coordinate and effect change without relying on
traditional hierarchical structures, creating new possibilities for collective
action in the digital age.
The next stage of the discussion on the mode of action (the shift from
collective to connective action) held on the internet is questioning the
effectiveness of digital movements and online feminist activism. Although
the field of communication has been hosting an ongoing debate on the
long-term effects of digital activism, so digital feminism, we seem to have
reached a consensus on the promises of hashtag feminism to create feminist
consciousness and built networks of solidarity. One of the most prominent
examples of this is the #MeToo movement, which started with a tweet
encouraging women to share their experiences of sexual harassment or
assault by tweeting the words “me too.” The movement quickly went viral,
reaching 85 countries in just 24 hours, and has been called “Solidarity
through social media” (Bussa, 2020). Through the use of the hashtag,
individuals were given a platform to speak out about a previously taboo
topic, shedding light on the extent of the problem. Mendes, Ringrose,
and Keller (2018) argue that the solidarity experienced by participants in
the #MeToo movement often transformed into a feminist consciousness,
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .113

allowing them to see sexual violence as a structural rather than a personal

issue. This led to participants reporting their own experiences of sexual
assault to the police, challenging the stigma surrounding reporting and
making sexual assault more visible and knowable. While digital feminist
activism may not always lead to tangible policy or legal changes, Mendes
et al. (2019) remind us to value the affective benefits of the practice, as it
can directly change and shape the experiences and views of individuals in
profound ways.
One of the lasting impacts of the #MeToo movement on everyday life
is related to its emphasis on visibility. This focus on visibility has been
discussed in the field as part of a larger political struggle to expose and
transform power structures, as described by Banet-Weiser (2015a) in her
work on the politics of visibility. Thinking through the example of #MeToo,
women have publicized their personal sexual violence experiences, which
is the collective articulation of oppressive systems. De-privatization
of personal experience here does not merely mean disclosure of sexual
violence. If this process of opening it to the public sphere is successful, in
the long run, the power relations and infrastructures behind sexual violence
will also be exposed and undermined. This transformative potential in
revealing women’s personal experiences coincides with the “personal is
political” discourse of second-wave feminism. The phrase ‘The personal
is political’, coined by Carol Hanish in her 1969 essay which was published
in the book ‘Notes from the Second Year: Women’s Liberation’, is a central
concept in feminist theory. It argues that issues that are traditionally
thought of as personal or private, such as domestic violence, reproductive
rights, and unequal pay, are actually rooted in larger societal structures and
power dynamics. This means that individual experiences are not isolated
incidents but reflect wider political and cultural systems. In the context of
feminism, this concept suggests that women’s personal problems are not
unique to them as individuals but are shared by many women and therefore
require collective action to be addressed. Similarly, these seemingly
personal problems are the collective product of holistic mechanisms of
oppression, and precisely for this reason, they must be brought into the
social sphere.
Contemporary feminists have transformed the second-wave feminist
principle of “personal is political” into a powerful tool in the public sphere,
using hashtag feminism to bring attention to social injustices such as the
#MeToo movement. Hashtag feminism is viewed as a form of activism
that seeks to reshape the way we perceive and respond to these issues
by altering public discourse and creating alliances among people at the
intersection of various forms of oppression, which is called the politics of
visibility (Brown et al., 2017).
114 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

However, while the politics of visibility have been effective in

mobilizing public attention, the economics of visibility is a less desirable
outcome. Without strong social movements advocating for social justice,
individualistic systems of exchange prevail, where consumer culture’s
representation is perceived as the ultimate source of empowerment (Banet-
Weiser, 2015, p.55). While the politics of visibility involves a collective
effort to achieve political goals through representation, the economy of
visibility confines political action to the realm of representation alone.
The #MeToo movement highlights the shortcomings of the economics of
visibility, where the media’s focus on the experiences of white celebrities
overshadows the systemic oppression of sexual violence. The movement’s
emphasis on celebrity stories limits political action to representation,
ignoring the experiences of women of color and low-wage workers who
suffer from disproportionate rates of assault (Hess, 2018). Critics also
question whose visibility and voice are being represented, as the hashtag
was initially championed by wealthy, white, heterosexual women with
prominent public profiles and access to capital, leaving out many women
around the world who lack political, social, and economic freedoms
(Fileborn & Loney-Howes, 2019). This aspect of #MeToo embodies
popular feminism, where different feminisms circulate in popular culture,
with some becoming more visible than others (Deller, 2019). Thus, while
the politics of visibility has some advantages, the economics of visibility
is not a desirable outcome.
To summarize the earlier discussion in this chapter, digital platforms
owned by corporations aim to maximize profits, and the visibility of
hashtags used in online feminist movements can serve as a means of self-
promotion. However, hypervisible feminist hashtags may be co-opted for
non-feminist purposes, such as self-branding, as noted by Pruchniewska
(2018). This raises questions about who has access to social media and who
does not, as marginalized communities may lack the necessary technology
to participate in networked visibility campaigns. The neoliberal nature of
social media platforms can exclude underrepresented groups, compounding
intersecting oppressions and reinforcing existing inequalities, as
exemplified by the dominance of white women in the #MeToo movement.
Overall, the economics of politics and the marketplace shape access to
representation and visibility, perpetuating systemic inequalities.
DISCUSSION / TRANSNATIONAL FEMINISM
The concern which started with the discussion of politics of visibility
and economies of visibility and then evolved into intersectionality in
many ways encouraged us to think further and expand the meaning of
intersectionality, where we encountered transnational dimensions of both
feminism and digital feminist movements. While the absence of geographic
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .115

boundaries on the Internet is considered a very important affordance, and

one of the reasons #MeToo has become almost the symbol of the digital
feminist movements is that it has crossed the ocean and reached the support
of women from other continents, so become a global movement, we flag that
we should pay more attention to transnationality. Because what we faced
while researching the literature around the #MeToo movement was the
scarcity of studies focusing on the reflections of #MeToo in other countries,
although it has received the support of women from many different
countries and has been adapted to the women’s movement in different
parts of the world. Whenas, the #MeToo hashtag has trended in at least 85
countries (Strum, 2017), and encouraged people around the world to spread
their stories of sexual assault. Crossing multiple boundaries, women from
different parts of the world even used their languages to transcribe the
movement. It became #BalanceTonPorc in France, #YoTambien in Mexico,
Spain, and South America, #QuellaVoltaChe in Italy, #‫ ונחנאםג‬in Israel, ‫_انأ‬
‫نامك‬# (Ana Kaman) in Egypt, and #SusmaBitsin in Turkey (Lekach, 2017).
We assert that two reasons may lie under the problematic of the wimpy
emphasis on transnational/ cross-border aspects of #MeToo in the field, the
US-centric nature of the field of Communication, and the fact that we do not
include a transnational perspective in the knowledge production processes
of academia (perhaps as the structural organization that makes room for
the former reason). According to a study by Chakravartty, Kuo, Grubbs,
and McIlwain (2018), which analyzed the racial composition of primary
authors and citations in journals from 1990 to 2016, non-White scholars are
still underrepresented in communication studies in terms of publication
rates, citation rates, and editorial positions. Their research encourages
us to think of transnational feminism as an embracive approach. For this
chapter, we use transnationality for both the application of transnational
feminist theory to knowledge production in academia and the examination
of the transnational/cross-border dimensions of the #MeToo movement.
Transnational feminism, as defined by Desai (2007), encompasses
both the practices of women’s movements globally and a theoretical
perspective in which women collaborate to strategize and theorize for
gender justice beyond national borders. Transnational feminism as a
branch of feminist theory and activism seeks to understand and address
the global and interconnected nature of women’s experiences of oppression
and inequality. It recognizes that women’s experiences are shaped by
multiple factors, including race, class, nationality, and sexuality. It seeks to
understand and address the diverse experiences of women across the world.
Transnational feminism emphasizes the importance of building alliances
among women’s movements across national boundaries. This solidarity
can help to challenge global systems of oppression and work towards a
116 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

more just and equitable world for all women. Centering the experiences of
marginalized women: Transnational feminism Since it seeks to center the
experiences and voices of women from the Global South, who have been
historically marginalized within mainstream feminist discourse, it has the
potential to help to amplify their voices and work towards greater social
and political change.
Taking into account both transnational feminism’s promises and the
contradictions themselves, we do believe in the potential of its roots for
shedding light on our discussion. During the 1980s, in contrast to the
universal sisterhood approach of Robin Morgan, Grewal and Kaplan (1994)
worked on conceptualizing the theory of transnational feminism. Grewal
and Kaplan (1994) critique Morgan’s perspective in their book Scattered
Hegemonies: Postmodernity and Transnational Feminist Practices, arguing
that it romanticizes and idealizes women’s experiences globally while
presenting a singular, homogeneous understanding of gender issues and
oppression. Similar to some of our critics on #MeToo not embracing diversity
and lacking intersectionality, they argued that Morgan’s work addressed the
power differences, economic realities, ethnicity, sexuality, and oppressions
among women across different regions in only limited ways.
Grewal and Kaplan (1994) also criticized Robin Morgan’s view of
women’s liberation as a universalized, Western perspective that idealizes
individuality and modernity. According to Grewal and Kaplan, gender
oppression, power structures, and inequality are complex and diverse
phenomena that cannot be understood through a single, homogenous lens.
They argue that a one-size-fits-all approach to social change may have
limited impact, as the needs and circumstances of women around the world
are diverse and multifaceted. Judith Butler (2013) builds on this critique,
highlighting how neoliberal feminism has historically privileged white,
Western women and overlooked the problems faced by other marginalized
communities. Transnational feminism, on the other hand, has the potential
to address this limitation by embracing the diversity of experiences
and perspectives among women around the world. By recognizing and
valuing the distinct struggles and aspirations of different communities,
transnational feminism can offer a more inclusive and intersectional
approach to feminist activism and advocacy.
While the term “transnational” implies a critique of the nation-state
and the violence perpetrated in its name, the concept has also sparked
debates around contradictions in the practices that have been applied
over time. Despite its original intention to critique globalizing forces,
transnational feminism has been appropriated as a positive label to
celebrate globalization. As a result, it may inadvertently be complicit
in the very systems it sought to challenge. Moreover, as transnational
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .117

feminism has primarily emerged from the US academic sphere, it also

perpetuates the unequal power dynamics in the global production of
knowledge (Nadkarni & Gooptu, 2021). Others are also concerned
about the link between transnational feminism and the tensions between
universalism and cultural relativism. So, we should note that transnational
feminism must navigate tensions between the universalist impulse to seek
common ground across cultures and the cultural relativist impulse to
respect and preserve cultural differences. These tensions can be difficult
to reconcile. Moreover, transnational feminist movements can reproduce
power dynamics that exist within broader social and political systems. For
example, women from the Global North may have more access to resources
and political power than women from the Global South. Transnational
feminism must be aware of these power dynamics and work to build more
equitable relationships within feminist movements.
With the awareness of both its promises and constraints, we prefer
paying attention to what transnational feminism may offer us in the
knowledge production process. Taking transnational feminism as being
less about a definition than it is about a methodology (Nadkarni & Gooptu,
2021), we rely on the opportunities that transnational feminism may make
room for more diverse methods in knowledge production. Combining
with the issue of the Communication field being U.S.-centric and “So
White” (Chakravartty, et al., 2018), the weak focus on both digital feminist
movements from different countries and the implications of #MeToo
on different parts of the world did not seem to be independent of these
structural problems in our field.
CONCLUSION
Our concrete suggestions for not being lumped together with the lack
of intersectionality in the field of Communication, which is also what we
constantly criticize #MeToo, are, making more room for studies from
different countries and cultures; instead of focusing primarily on #MeToo,
paying more attention to the voices of women movements from different
parts of the world, so applying the transnational feminism to our field. One
and first indispensable step to eliminate the criticisms regarding inequalities
during the knowledge production process is to employ a wide range of
international/ diverse studies and research in influential scholarly journals
and conferences, instead of keeping them in only international-themed
events/publications. While we should note that the academic meetings that
have already come together with the efforts to experience and establish
transnational knowledge production processes are worthwhile, valuable,
and promising, we do have a strong belief that as these experiences and
shares increase, the depth of our discussions and both new themes and
challenges we will encounter will diversify.
118 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

REFERENCES

Ahmed, S. (2016). CONCLUSION 2. A Killjoy Manifesto. In Living a Feminist

Life, 251-268. Duke University Press.
Banet-Weiser, S. (2015). Keynote address: Media, markets, gender: Economies
of visibility in a neoliberal moment.  The Communication Review,  18(1),
53-70.
Banet-Weiser, S. (2018). Empowered: Popular feminism and popular misogyny.
Duke University Press.
Barker, K., & Jurasz, O. (2019). Online misogyny. Journal of International Affa-
irs, 72(2), 95-114.
Bennett, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2012) The Logic of Connective Acti-
on. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 739-768. DOI:
10.1080/1369118X.2012.670661
Bennett, W. L., & Segerberg, A. (2013). The logic of connective action: Digital
media and the personalization of contentious politics. Cambridge Univer-
sity Press.
Bussa, H. M. (2020, October 27). #MeToo: Solidarity through social media. The
Gateway. https://www.unothegateway.com/metoo-solidarity-through-soci-
al-media/
Butler, J. (2013). For white girls only? Postfeminism and the politics of inclusi-
on. Feminist Formations, 35-58.
Brown, A. (2022, October 6). More than twice as many Americans support
than oppose the #MeToo movement. Pew Research Center’s Social &
Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-tren-
ds/2022/09/29/more-than-twice-as-many-americans-support-than-oppo-
se-the-metoo-movement/
Brown, M., Ray, R., Summers, E., & Fraistat, N. (2017). # SayHerName: A case
study of intersectional social media activism.  Ethnic and Racial Stu-
dies, 40(11), 1831-1846.
Cammaerts, B. (2015). Technologies of self-mediation: Affordances and constra-
ints of social media for protest movements. In Civic engagement and social
media, 87-110. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Castells, M. (2012) Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the inter-
net age. Polity.
Castells, M. (2015). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the Inter-
net age. John Wiley & Sons.
Chakravartty, P., Kuo, R., Grubbs, V., & McIlwain, C. (2018). # Communication-
SoWhite. Journal of Communication, 68(2), 254-266.
Christensen, H. S., & Jansson, A. (2018). Exploring slacktivism: Time spent, mo-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .119

tivations, and consequences. New Media & Society, 20(11), 4241-4258.

Clark-Parsons, R. (2019). “I see you, I believe you, I stand with you”: #MeToo
and the performance of networked feminist visibility. Feminist Media Stu-
dies, 21(3), 362-380.
Deller, R. (2019, March 8). Author Interview: Q&A with Sarah Banet-Weiser on
Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny. LSE. https://blogs.
lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2019/03/08/author-interview-qa-with-sa-
rah-banet-weiser-on-empowered-popular-feminism-and-popular-misogy-
ny/
Desai, M. (2007). Transnational and global feminisms. The Blackwell Encyclope-
dia of Sociology.
Feldstein, S. (2021). Issues on the Frontlines of Technology and Politics.
Fileborn, B., & Loney-Howes, R. (Eds.). (2019). # MeToo and the politics of soci-
al change. Springer Nature.
Frye, M. (1983). The politics of reality: Essays in feminist theory. Crossing Press.
Gleeson, J. (2016). ‘(Not) working 9–5’: the consequences of contemporary Aust-
ralian-based online feminist campaigns as digital labour. Media Internatio-
nal Australia, 161(1), 77-85.
Grewal, I., & Kaplan, C. (Eds.). (1994). Scattered hegemonies: Postmodernity and
transnational feminist practices. U of Minnesota Press.
Hanisch, C. (1969). The personal is political.
Hess, A. (2018, January 24). Hollywood Uses the Very Women It Exploited
to Change the Subject. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.
com/2018/01/24/arts/can-hollywood-fix-its-harassment-problem-whi-
le-celebrating-itself.html
Herman, Edward S., & Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing consent: The political
economy of the mass media. Pantheon.
Kavada, A. (2016). Social movements and political agency in the digital age: A
communication approach. Media and Communication, 4(4), 8-12.
Khazraee, E., & Novak, A. N. (2018). Digitally mediated protest: Social media af-
fordances for collective identity construction. Social Media+ Society, 4(1),
2056305118765740.
Lekach, S. (2017, October 19). #MeToo hashtag has spread to #YoTambien, ‫_انأ‬
‫ نامك‬#, #QuellaVoltaChe. Mashable. https://mashable.com/article/me-
too-global-spread
Lim, M. (2018). Roots, routes, and routers: Communications and media of con-
temporary social movements.  Journalism & Communication Monograp-
hs, 20(2), 92-136.
Margolis, M., & Resnick, D. (2000). Politics as usual, (6). Sage.
120 . Berna Görgülü, Naim Çınar

Megarry, J. (2017). Why# metoo is an impoverished form of feminist activism,

unlikely to spark social change. The Conversation. https://theconversati-
on.com/why-metoo-is-an-impoverished-form-offeminist-activism-unli-
kely-to-spark-social-change-86455
Mendes, K., Ringrose, J., & Keller, J. (2018). # MeToo and the promise and pitfal-
ls of challenging rape culture through digital feminist activism. European
Journal of Women’s Studies, 25(2), 236–246.
Mendes, K., Ringrose, J., & Keller, J. (2019). Digital feminist activism: Girls and
women fight back against rape culture. Oxford University Press.
Morozov, E. (2012). The net delusion: The dark side of Internet freedom. Publi-
cAffairs.
Nadkarni, A. (2017). Transnational feminism.  Oxford bibliographies in literary
and critical theory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Papacharissi, Z. (2015). Affective publics: Sentiment, technology, and politics. Ox-
ford University Press.
Pruchniewska, U. M. (2018). Branding the self as an “authentic feminist”: Negoti-
ating feminist values in post-feminist digital cultural production. Feminist
Media Studies, 18(5), 810-824.
Shirky, C. (2011). The political power of social media: The political power of
social media. Foreign Affairs, 90(1), 28-41.
Şener, G. (2021). Digital feminist activism in Turkey. B. Cammaerts & N. Anste-
ad. Media@ LSE Working Paper, 67.
Strum, L. (2017, October 25). Twitter chat: What #MeToo says about sexual abu-
se in society. PBS News Hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/twit-
ter-chat-what-metoo-says-about-sexual-abuse-in-society
Terranova, T. (2004). Network culture: Politics for the information age, 23, 25.
London: Pluto Press.
Tufekci, Z. (2015). Algorithmic harms beyond Facebook and Google: Emergent
challenges of computational agency. Colo. Tech. LJ, 13, 203.
Treem, J. W., & Leonardi, P. M. (2013). Social media use in organizations: Explo-
ring the affordances of visibility, editability, persistence, and association. An-
nals of the International Communication Association, 36(1), 143-189.
Treré, E. (2018). Hybrid media activism: Ecologies, imaginaries, algorithms.
Routledge.
Vickery, J. R., & Everbach, T. (2018). Mediating misogyny. Gender, Technology,
and.
Xiong, Y., Cho, M., & Boatwright, B. (2019). Hashtag activism and message fra-
mes among social movement organizations: Semantic network analysis
and thematic analysis of Twitter during the# MeToo movement. Public re-
lations review, 45(1), 10-23.
 CHAPTER 7
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL
PERFORMANCE OF THE BALKANS:
INTEGRATED BWM-BASED CoCoSo
METHOD

Naci YILMAZ1

1  Assoc. Prof., Doğuş Üniversitesi, İİBF, Department of Economics,

[email protected] , ORCID No: 0000-0003-0107-6448
122 . Naci Yılmaz

Introduction
The  Balkans  or  Balkan  Peninsula  is    a  geographical  and  cultural 
region located  in the southeastern part of the European continent, east of 
the Italian Peninsula, west and northwest of Anatolia. Another term used 
for it is the Southeast Europe. The Balkans is a peninsula surrounded by 
the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea in the southwest; the Mediterranean 
Sea in the south; the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara in the southeast;  
and  the Black Sea in the east.  Despite the current consensus on the eastern, 
southern and western borders of the Balkans, or the Balkan Peninsula by 
geographical name, the northern borders are disputed. Some geographers 
consider  the  northern  border  to  be  the  Danube  and  Drava  rivers,  others 
consider the border to the east of the Carpathian Mountains. The borders 
of the region from the northwest (the Gulf of Trieste) to the south and east 
are surrounded by seas:  the Adriatic, the Ionian Sea, the Mediterranean 
Sea,  the  Aegean  Sea,  the  Dardanelles,  the  Marmara,  the  Bosphorus,  the 
Black Sea. The northwestern border, which continues from the Krka River  
in the village of Čatež ob Savi, runs west of the river's mouth, Gradiček,
over the Vipava River, and crosses into Italy.  The border, which joins the 
River Soča near Gorizia, connects to the Adriatic near Monfalcone on the
shores of the Gulf of Trieste. The total area of the Balkans is 504,884 km²
(tr.wikipedia.org, 2023).

Most  of  the  countries  in  the  region  were  not  yet  national  and 
independent,  as  they  were  ruled  under  the  Ottoman  Empire  for  about  4 
centuries  until  World  War  I.      Later,  with  the  exception  of  Greece  and 
Turkey,  a  significant  part  of  the  region  was  included  in  the  group  of 
"Second World" countries, also called the "socialist bloc" after World War 
II. Today, there are 13 independent countries in this region. These countries 
are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, 
Montenegro, North Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and 
Turkey.  While the entire territory of seven of these countries is located 
within the region, only a certain part of the territory of the others is located 
in  the  region.  The  countries  whose  complete  territory  is  located  in  the 
Balkans  are  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Montenegro,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina, 
Kosovo,  Albania and North  Macedonia.  The  countries  whose  small 
territory is a part of the Balkans are Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and 
Turkey.  Of these countries, the exception of Greece and Turkey, were the 
countries that had not yet switched to a market economy before 1989 and 
had  a  socialist  economic  system  based  on  central  planning.  With  the 
dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late eighties and the acceleration of 
economic  globalization,  these countries  that  abandoned  the  socialist 
economic  system  were  called  "transition  economies".  The  aim  of  these 
countries  was  to  be  able  to  move  from  central  planning  and  a  socialist 
economic  system  to  a  capitalist  economic  system  and  a  free  market 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .123

economy as soon as possible. In line with this goal, countries in the region 
have taken important steps to transform into a market economy since the 
1990s.  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Croatia,  Kosovo,  North  Macedonia, 
Montenegro and Serbia are independent countries that emerged with the 
dissolution of the former Yugoslav state. As of 2016, the most populous 
country in the region is Turkey with a population of 79.8 million, followed 
by Romania with a population of 19.7 million, Greece with a population of 
10.8 million, Bulgaria with a population of 7.1 million and Croatia with a 
population of 4.1 million. 

In  the  study,  economic  and  financial  (financial  economics) 

performance of the Balkan countries was examined.  In this context, annual 
change  in  GDP  and  annual  change  in consumer  price,  the  ratios  of 
“Government Balance to GDP”, “Net FDI to GDP”, “Gross Reserves to
GDP”, “Current Account Balance to GDP”, “External  Debt  to  GDP”, 
“Credit to Private Sector to GDP” were analyzed.  In this analysis, which 
compares  the  financial  economic  performances  of  the  countries  in  the 
Balkans region,  after the introduction section, previous  studies in which 
the  BWM  (Best  Worst  Model)  and  CoCoSo  (COmbined  COmpromise 
Solution)  methods employed are  included  in  the  section  of  literature
review. Then  the  data  and  analysis  method  are  explained theoretically.
Later,  the  data  set  and  findings  are  included  in  the  following  section.
Finally, a summary of the findings is provided in the conclusion section.

1. Literature Review
There  is  no  study  in  which  the  analysis  of  economic  and  financial 
performance of the Balkan countries is carried out by the integrated BWM 
and CoCoSo method. Both of these methods are regarded as multi criteria 
decision making (MCDM) techniques. Below is a summary of some of the 
studies in the literature on the financial economic situation of the Balkan 
countries conducted by different methods other than the integrated BWM 
and CoCoSo method.

In  the  literature,  it  is  seen  that  the  comparative  analyses  on  the 
macroeconomic  structure  and  characteristics  of  the Balkan  countries  are 
quite  limited.  A  summary  of  the  comparative  analyses  of  the 
macroeconomic  structure  and  characteristics  of  the  Balkan  countries  is 
given below.

Akyol (2014) investigated the extent to which the Balkan countries, 
which  are  members  of  the  European  Union  (EU),  are  affected  by  the 
financial crisis. Since 2009, the effects of the crisis have started to be felt 
in the Balkan countries of the EU. With the exception of Bulgaria, Greece, 
Romania and Croatia have been the countries most influenced by the crisis. 
124 . Naci Yılmaz

In  particular,  the  Greek  economy  shrank  throughout  2008-2013  and  the 
Croatian  economy  in  2009-2013,  entering  a  long  recession  phase.  The 
Romanian economy contracted in 2009-2010 and the Bulgarian economy 
in 2009, but there was no strong recovery after 2010. It has been observed 
that Bulgaria follows a more moderate policy. In contrast, Romania and 
Greece have implemented much harsher austerity policies, which have led 
to a short-term improvement in fiscal balances, but this improvement has 
been temporary.

In order to test the Lucas Paradox, Demiral et al. (2015) investigated 
the factors affecting foreign direct investment in 9 Balkan countries for the 
years  2000-2012. The  shooting  model  was  estimated  through  balanced 
panel data set. The outcome of the research supported the Lucas Paradox. 
Regulations, country risk and China's growing attraction for foreign direct 
investment have hampered the performance of Balkan countries. However, 
the  developments  achieved  by  these  countries  in  human  capital, 
infrastructure  and  logistics  have  increased  their  share  in  foreign  direct 
investment. 

Biçici (2015) For the money supply of 11 countries in Central Asia

and the Balkans, consumer price index changes and industrial production 
index data were examined with AR model. For this, the supply equation 
M2 was estimated, then the error terms were separated from this equation 
as positive and negative. Fixed effect regression analysis was performed 
by  including  positive  and  negative  shocks  obtained  from  error  terms 
(shocks) into the inflation rate equation we use for industrial production 
and  price  level.  It  is  understood  that  supply-side  asymmetry  exists  in 
Central Asia and Balkan countries. Negative monetary policy shocks have 
a strong impact on output and a weak effect on prices. Positive monetary 
policy shocks have had a weak impact on output and a strong impact on 
prices.

Tüzemen and Tüzemen (2015) investigated whether twelve Balkan

countries converged between 2000 and 2013 by panel data method. it was 
found  that 12  Balkan  countries  did  not  converge  to  each  other.  It  has 
become clear that these countries do not converge to Greece, which has 
been determined as the leading country.

Eken et al. (2015) compared the extent to which banks operating in 
twelve Balkan countries were affected by the global financial crisis. In the 
study,  213  banks  were  examined.  The  research  covered  the  years  2006-
2012. Credit, liquidity, interest, operation risks were analyzed. Banks were 
examined on the basis of EU and non-EU countries, as well as on the basis 
of  asset  size,  operating  region  and  countries.  Montenegro,  Bosnia  and 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .125

Herzegovina and Macedonia have recovered better after the crisis. Kosovo, 
Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Albania and 
Macedonia saw deterioration in bank ratios in the post-crisis period.

In Akın (2017), in which the  author  compared  the  macroeconomic 

vulnerabilities  of  Balkan  countries  such  as  Bulgaria,  Romania,  Croatia, 
Greece and Turkey, he first investigated the places of these countries in the 
ranking of competition and ease of doing business. According to the 2016-
2017 Global Competitiveness Index, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Croatia 
and Greece are ranked from high to low in the competition ranking among 
138 countries, while Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Turkey are 
ranked from the most to the lowest in the Ease of Doing Business report 
among  190  countries.  Between  2007  and  2016,  Bulgaria  was  the  least 
vulnerable in foreign exchange reserves, budget balance and public debt, 
Croatia in current account balance and loan/deposit ratio, and Romania in 
domestic  credit  growth.  Greece  has  been  the  most  vulnerable  country 
according  to  five  of  the  six  indicators  (current  account  balance-foreign 
exchange reserve-budget balance public debt-domestic credit growth).

Balıkçıoğlu (2020) analyzed the macroeconomic fragility of Turkey

and the Balkan countries comparatively for the period 2007-2017. In the 
study, 6 different indicators within the scope of financial fragility, financial 
fragility and external fragility were examined to measure macroeconomic 
vulnerability. The factors that cause fragility in the Turkish economy are 
the  current  account  balance/GDP,  the  annual  credit  growth  rate  and  the 
foreign exchange reserve/GDP. Bulgaria is the least vulnerable in foreign 
exchange  reserves/GDP,  budget  balance/GDP  and  public  debt/GDP, 
Kosovo budget balance/GDP, domestic credit growth. Greece is the most 
vulnerable  country  with  vulnerabilities  in  current  account  balance/GDP, 
foreign  exchange  reserves/GDP,  budget  balance/GDP,  public  debt/GDP 
and domestic credit growth.

Ulusoy and Özçelik (2020) examined the financial and economic

problems of the twelve Balkan countries after 1990.  The macroeconomic 
performance of the countries were measured by employing some indicators 
such  as  financial  development  level,  gross  domestic  product  per  capita, 
unemployment, growth  rate,  inflation,  gross  value  added  distribution, 
foreign trade statistics. The majority of Balkan countries struggled with the 
hyperinflation  inherited  from  Yugoslavia  in  the  first  years  of 
independence. As a result, they were successful in this struggle and were 
able to reduce inflation rates to single digits. Within the scope of the fight 
against inflation, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Slovenia fixed 
their  currencies  to  the  Euro,  established  the  Bulgarian  Monetary  Board, 
and Macedonia followed a tight monetary policy. 
126 . Naci Yılmaz

Konat (2021) examined if the Balkan countries faced with the trap of 
middle income in 2000-2019 by panel data analysis. The stationary test of 
the  national  income  per  capita  series  was  applied by  structural  fracture 
panel unit root test. As a result of the research, it was determined that the 
Balkan countries were in this type of trap. Thus, it has been seen that there 
has been a horizontality in income per capita and a decline in the economic 
competitiveness of these countries.

Öncü (2021) investigated the factors affecting bank profitability

between  2008  and  2017  in  nine  Balkan  countries.  The  Balkan  countries 
included  in  the  study  are  Albania,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Bulgaria, 
Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and Greece.  As a result of 
the  study, cost  income  ratio, inflation  and  non-performing  loans  have  a 
negative influence on the rate of return on equity and the rate of return on 
assets. In contrast, the size of economy has a positive influence on these 
ratios.

Some of the studies carried out with the BWM or CoCoSo method in 
the literature are shown below. 

Özdağoğlu et al. (2020) applied the integrated CoCoSo and MARCOS 

technique  to  compare  the  performances  of  the  universities  in  Turkey  in 
2019,  and  5  different  criteria  consisting  of  articles,  citations,  scientific 
documents,  doctoral  students  and  teachers  per  student  were  used  as 
performance criteria. 166 universities in Turkey were analyzed. As a result 
of the study, it was concluded that the URAP ranking and the method used 
in the study gave the same ranking.  

Çilek (2022) used the CoCoSo method when analyzing deposit bank
groups  (public,  private  and  foreign  banks)  in  Turkey.  In  the  study,  the 
period of 2019-2021 was examined. The criterion weights were made by 
SV method and the performance ranking was made by CoCoSo method. 
As result, it was seen that the best performance was exhibited by domestic 
private banks. The lowest performance was exhibited by foreign banks in 
2019 and 2020 and by public banks in 2021.

This  study  contributes  to  science  as  the  first  study  in  which  the 
economic and financial performances of the Balkan countries is analyzed
by employing the integrated BWM and CoCoSo method.

2. Methodology
Below, the steps of BWM, CoCoSo techniques are explained.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .127

a. BWM Method
According  to  the  Best  Worst  Method (BWM),  first the  best  (most 
important, most desired) and worst (least important, least desired) criteria 
are  determined  by  decision  makers.  Binary  comparisons  are  then  made 
between each of these two  criteria (best and worst)  to the other criteria. 
Here, it is aimed to find the consistency of optimal weights and matrices 
with  a  simple  optimization  model  created  using  the  comparison  system. 
The  application  steps  of  the  Best  Worst  Method  are  as  follows  (Rezaei, 
2015; Rezaei, 2016; Akyüz et al., 2020; Koca & Akçakaya, 2021; Şimşek
et al, 2023): 

Step 1: Determination of evaluation criteria. The set of criteria (C1, 

C2,...  Cn)  expected  to  be  evaluated  by  decision  makers  in  solving  the 
decision problem is defined. Because the performance of alternatives (A1, 
A2,... Am) will depend on the criteria set. 

Step 2: Determining the best and worst criterion to be used in solving 

the  decision  problem. Here,  the  best  criterion  is  considered  as  the  most 
important  criterion in  the  evaluation  of  alternatives  in  the  decision 
problem; the worst criterion is considered to be the least important criterion 
in the evaluation of alternatives in the decision problem.

Step 3: Determining the preference of the best criterion according to
all other criteria. 
An odd number between 1 and 9 (1: equally important, 3: moderately 
important, 5: strongly important, 7: very strongly important, 9: absolutely 
very important) is used in the preference of the best over others (which can 
also be even numbers such as 2-4-6-8). Here, the AB vector is obtained as 
a result of the preference of the best over the others (Equation 1): 

AB= (aB1, aB2,...,aBn)  (Equation 1) 

Here, aBj is the preference value of the best criterion (B) relative to 
criterion j, and aBB=1.

Step 4: Determination of the preference of all other criteria according 
to the worst criterion. Here an integer value between 1 and 9 (1: equally 
important, 3: moderately important, 5: strongly important, 7: very strongly 
important, 9: absolutely very important) is used in favor of all other criteria 
over the worst criterion. (which can also be intermediate values such as 2-
4-6-8). Here, the AW vector is obtained as a result of the preference of the 
others according to the worst criterion (Equation 2): 
128 . Naci Yılmaz

AW= (a1W, a2W,...,anW)T   (Equation 2) 

Here, ajW is the preference value of criterion j relative to the worst 
criterion (W), and aWW=1. 

Step 5:  Determination  of  the  optimal  weights  of  the  criteria. The 
optimal weights of each criterion (w1∗ , w2∗ ,...,wn∗ ) are determined. To 
determine  the  optimal  weights  of  the  criteria,  the  maximum  absolute 
differences {|wB−aBjwj|, |wj−ajWwW|} for all j. criteria should be
minimized. 
It is formulated as follows in Model 1:
minmaxj= {|wB−aBjwj|,|wj−ajWwW|} s. t. Σwj=1 j (Model 1) 
wj≥0, for all j's

This is transferred to the following linear programming model (Model 
2): 
minξL s. t. (Model 2) 
|wB−aBjwj|≤ξL for all j's
|wj−ajWwW|≤ξL for all j's
Σwj=1j, wj≥0 , for all j's

The  Model  2  is  linear  and  has  only  one  solution.  By  decoding  the 
model,  the  optimal  weights  (w1∗ ,w2∗ ,...,wn∗ )  and  ξ𝐿𝐿∗,  which  is  the 
optimal value of ξL and is considered as the consistency ratio (CR), are 
obtained. 

Table 1a. Consistency Index Table

𝑎𝑎 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
max 𝜉𝜉 0.00 0.44 1.00 1.63 2.30 3.00 3.73 4.47 5.23

After finding out the solution, the overall consistency is checked by 
the  Consistency  Index  Table.  Consistency  ratio  (CR)  is  calculated  by 
Equation (3). A small CR value near to zero shows a high consistency, a
high value closing to 1 means there is a low consistency (Ren et al., 2017).

ξL∗
𝐶𝐶𝑅𝑅 = Equation (3)
consistency index.

b. CoCoSo Method
CoCoSo  (COmbined  COmpromise  Solution)  performance  ranking
method,  which  is  one  of  the  MADM techniques,  was  first  designed  by 
Yazdani, Zerate, Zavadskas and Turksis in 2019.  The method is based on 
the consensus of alternatives and the determination of the best alternative.  
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .129

The five implementation steps of the method are described below (Yazdani 
et al., 2019; Ulutaş, Karakuş and Topal, 2020; Özdağoğlu, Ulutaş and
Keleş, 2020; Ecer and Pacamur, 2020; Ulutaş and Topal, 2020; Akbulut 
and Hepşen, 2021; Akgül, 2021; Deveci, Pamucar and Gokasar, 2021).

Step 1: The initial decision matrix is created.  This matrix is created 

with the help of Equation (4). In the equation, m indicates the number of 
options  (alternatives), the  symbol  “n” indicates  numbers of decision 
criteria “i”, the term “xij” indicates the value of alternative “i” according 
to criterion “j”.

x11 ⋯ x1n
𝐾𝐾 = [xij ] =[ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ] Equation (4)
mxn
xm1 ⋯ xmn

Step 2: A  normalized  (standard)  decision  matrix  is  created.  This 

matrix is formed by Equation (5) or Equation (6), depending on the target 
direction  of  the  criterion. Equation  (5) is  applied  for  maximum  (max) 
target  direction  criteria,  and  Equation  (6) is  applied  for  minimum (min) 
directional criteria. The term rij  in the aforementioned equations refers to 
the normalized value.

xij − min xij

rij = Equation (5)
mak xij − min xij.
mak xij − xij
rij = Equation (6)
mak xij − min xij.

Step 3: The  weighted  comparison  sequence  of  each  alternative  is 

calculated with the help of Equation (7).

𝑛𝑛

Si = ∑(rij 𝑥𝑥 𝑤𝑤j) Equation (7)

𝑗𝑗=1

Si, which is included in the equation, shows the weighted comparison 
sequence of the  alternative i, and wj denotes the  weight of the criterion j.

Step 4: The sum of the weight strength of the weighted comparison 
sequence of each alternative (Pi) is calculated using Equation (8).
𝑛𝑛

Pi = ∑(𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟) 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 Equation (8)

𝑗𝑗=1
130 . Naci Yılmaz

The values can be combined with three different addition ways. The 
addition ways are shown by Equation (9), Equation (10) and Equation (11), 
respectively.

kia: An addition way is for the alternative.
Pi+Si
𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎ൌ∑𝑚𝑚     Equation (9)
𝑗𝑗=1(Pi+Si)

kib: The alternative is the b addition way for i.

Sj Pj
𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖𝑏𝑏ൌ +   Equation (10)
min 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 min 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃

kic: The alternative is the c addition way for i.

λSi+(1−λ)Pi
𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖𝑐𝑐ൌ    Equation (11)
𝜆𝜆 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖 +(1−𝜆𝜆)𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖
λ: is the equilibrium value. This value ranges from 0 to 1; 0≤ λ ≤1. In the
literature, the equilibrium value is usually calculated as 0.5. 

Step 5: The final enumeration of alternatives is done with Equation 

(12).
𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖ൌ͵√𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖𝑏𝑏𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖𝑐𝑐൅
kia+kib+kic
  Equation (12)
3
k i: The final value for the alternativeis i.

According  to  the  CoCoSo  method,  the  alternative  with  the  biggest 
final value is considered the best performing one in the selection problem. 

3. APPLICATION

3.1. Data Set and Analysis

The  statistics  used  in  the  study  were  compiled  from  the  EBRD 
Transition  Report  Archive  (web  address: 
https://www.ebrd.com/publications/transition-report-archive).  The  aim  is 
to compare economic and financial performances of the Balkan countries 
with each other and to find the most successful country. The number of 
Balkan  countries  is  13  by  the  end  of  2022.  Since  Kosovo  is  the  last 
independent country of these countries, analysis was made on the basis of 
11 years of data instead of 14 years for this country.  The countries included 
in the performance ranking are shown in the table below (Table 1). 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .131

Table 1. Alternatives: Countries in Balkans

Alternative Code
Albania a1
Bosnia and Herzegovina a2
Bulgaria a3
Croatia a4
Greece a5
Hungary a6
Kosovo a7
Montenegro a8
North Macedonia a9
Romania a10
Serbia a11
Slovenia a12
Türkiye a13
Source: EBRD Transition Reports (2008-2022).

In  the  study,  the  criteria  that  determine  economic  and  financial 
economic performance were chosen as annual change in GDP and annual 
change  in  consumer  price,  the  ratios  of  “government  balance  to  GDP”, 
“current account balance to GDP”, “Net FDI to GDP”, “external debt to 
GDP”, “gross reserves to GDP”, “credit to private sector to GDP”. In the 
table below (Table 2), the performance criteria and whether these criteria 
are benefit or cost oriented and their weight can be seen. Criterion weights 
were calculated according to the BWM method. How they are calculated 
is explained in the following section.

Table 2. Performance Criteria and Weights

Criterion Code Max/Min Weight
GDP Change (%) c1 max 33.2%
Consumer Price Change (%) c2 min 6.6%
Government Balance/ GDP c3 max 10.0%
Current account balance/GDP c4 max 8.0%
Net FDI /GDP  c5 max 19.9%
External debt/GDP c6 min 5.7%
Gross reserves/GDP c7 max 3.3%
Credit to private sector/GDP c8 max 13.3%
Source: EBRD Transition Reports (2008-2022).
132 . Naci Yılmaz

According  to  the  table above,  among  the  8  selected  criteria,  the 
Consumer Price Change (%) and External debt/GDP criteria coded c2 and 
c6 are cost oriented. In other words, the fact that these criteria are small 
shows that the country's performance is high. In other criteria, it is aimed 
that the criterion is as high as possible.

3.2. Analysis of Determination of Criterion Weights

In the first stage of BWM method, the decision matrix was created by 
taking the averages of 8 criteria values related to economic and financial 
performances of the Balkan countries between 2008-2021. This matrix is 
shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Decision Matrix for Balkan Countries (2008-2021)

Criterion
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8
Alternatives max min max max max min max max
a1 3.03% 2.17% -4.00% -10.13% -7.74% 51.04% 23.91% 36.64%
a2 1.95% 1.22% -1.38% -5.93% -2.21% 48.58% 30.06% 57.74%
a3 1.91% 1.84% -1.02% -1.40% -3.95% 80.26% 41.37% 59.68%
a4 0.64% 1.58% -3.39% 0.36% -2.86% 92.61% 29.57% 62.35%
a5 -1.77% 0.81% -8.26% -5.22% -0.69% 204.56% 1.18% 101.68%
a6 1.76% 3.04% -9.48% 0.51% -1.40% 108.39% 27.47% 52.07%
a7 3.48% 2.11% -2.46% -7.79% -4.00% 32.44% 12.32% 40.57%
a8 1.96% 1.94% -5.01% -19.94% -13.73% 146.19% 23.03% 58.82%
a9 1.41% 1.63% -3.34% -3.09% -3.06% 67.29% 26.07% 48.47%
a10 2.35% 3.39% -4.39% -4.65% -2.51% 60.19% 21.19% 33.69%
a11 1.79% 4.85% -3.34% -7.08% -5.48% 74.20% 30.85% 44.31%
a12 1.29% 1.32% -4.35% -1.23% -1.24% 109.85% 1.97% 59.79%
a13 4.36% 10.52% -2.33% -4.61% -1.26% 48.61% 12.64% 58.66%
Source: EBRD Transition Reports (2008-2022).

In  this  matrix,  the  rows  represent  alternatives  (countries)  and  the 
columns show the criteria. This matrix includes 13 countries and 8 criteria. 
The  values  in  the  matrix  refer  to  the  14-year  arithmetic  averages  of  the 
countries in the relevant criteria. All values are percentages.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .133

Table 3a. Calculation of Criterion Weights by BWM Method

Criteria 
Number =  Criterion  Criterio Criterion  Criterion  Criterio Criterio Criterion  Criterio
8 1 n 2 3 4 n 5 n 6 7 n 8

Consumer Price 

Balance/ GDP)

Net FDI/GDP 
GDP Change 

reserves/GDP
Balance/GDP
Names of 

Government 
Change (%)
Criteria

sector/GDP
debt/GDP

Credit to 
Account 

External 
Current 

private 
Gross 
(%)

GDP 
Select the  Change 
Best (%)
Gross 
Select the  reserves/
Worst GDP
Consu Govern Credit 
mer  ment  Current  Externa to
GDP  Price  Balance  account  Net  l Gross  private 
Best to  Change  Change  (of  balance/ FDI/G debt/G reserves/ sector/G
Others (%) (%) GDP) GDP DP DP GDP DP
GDP 
Change 
(%) 1 6 4 5 2 7 8 3
Gross 
Others to  reserves/
the Worst GDP
GDP 
Change 
(%) 8
Consumer 
Price 
C.(%) 3
Governm
ent 
Balance 
(of GDP) 5
Current 
account 
balance/G
DP 4
Net 
FDI/GDP  7
External 
debt/GDP 2
Gross 
reserves/
GDP 1
Credit to 
private 
sector/GD
P 6
Consu Govern Credit 
mer  ment  Current  Externa to
GDP  Price  Balance  account  Net  l Gross  private 
Weights Change  Change  (of  balance/ FDI/G debt/G reserves/ sector/G
(%) (%) GDP) GDP DP DP GDP DP
0.33 0.07 0.10 0.08 0.20 0.06 0.03 0.13

0.066
Ksi*

In  Table  3a,  the  criterion  weights  are  determined  according  to  the 
BWM method. For this, excel program was employed (BWM-solver.xls.
Excel Solver  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfy8fxnZEWk) 
134 . Naci Yılmaz

According  to  the  table,  the  most  important  criterion  among  the  criteria 
selected  in  measuring  the  financial  and  economic  performances of  the 
Balkan countries is the GDP Change (%) criterion, which has a weight of 
33 percent. It is followed by the External Debt/GDP criterion, which has a 
weight of 20 percent. The third most important criterion is the Credit to 
Private Sector/GDP criterion, which has a weight of 13 percent. According 
to  the  table,  the  least  important  criterion  is  the  Gross  reserves/GDP 
criterion,  which  has  a  weight  of  3  percent. According  to  the  table, 
Consistency ratio (Ksi*) is calculated by Equation (3) as 0.066. This value 
closes to zero that indicates there is high consistency.

3.3. Analysis of Performance Ranking

The  CoCoSo  method  was  used  to  rank  economic  and  financial 
performance of the Balkan countries. This method is one of the relatively 
new MADM methods. In the first stage of this method, the matrix in Table 
3 was arranged by taking the arithmetic average of the values of the Balkan 
countries between 2008-2021 to 8 criteria.

In the second stage, depending on whether the criterion is benefit or 
cost  oriented,  the  decision  matrix  is  standardized  (normalized) by  using 
Equation-5 or Equation-6. Thanks  to  the  normalization  process,  all  the 
values in the matrix are converted to any number between 0 and 1, making 
them  comparable  to  each  other. Equation-6 was  used  for  the  minimum 
directional (c2, c6 coded) criterion and Equation-5 was used for the other 
6 criteria with maximum direction. The normalized decision matrix is set 
up in Table 4.

Table 4. Normalized Decision Matrix

Criterion C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8
Weights 0.33 0.07 0.10 0.08 0.20 0.06 0.03 0.13
Alternatives max min max max max min max max
a1 0.78 0.86 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.89 0.57 0.04
a2 0.61 0.96 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.91 0.72 0.35
a3 0.60 0.89 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.72 1.00 0.38
a4 0.39 0.92 0.00 0.99 0.00 0.65 0.71 0.42
a5 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00
a6 0.58 0.77 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.56 0.65 0.27
a7 0.86 0.87 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.28 0.10
a8 0.61 0.88 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.34 0.54 0.37
a9 0.52 0.92 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.80 0.62 0.22
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .135

a10 0.67 0.73 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.84 0.50 0.00

a11 0.58 0.58 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.76 0.74 0.16
a12 0.50 0.95 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.55 0.02 0.38
a13 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.91 0.29 0.37
Source: Author.

At  the  third  stage,  the  weighted  Comparability  Sequence  and  Si 
Matrix is arranged. The importance of the 8 criteria used in the analysis 
was  determined  by  BWM  method.  This matrix  was  obtained  by 
multiplying the criterion weights by the normalized values. It is presented 
in Table 5. 

Table 5. Weighted Comparability Sequence and Si Matrix

Criterion C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8
Weights 0.33 0.07 0.10 0.08 0.20 0.06 0.03 0.13
Alternatives max min max max max min max max Si
a1 0.26 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.02 0.01 0.3925
a2 0.20 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.02 0.05 0.3877
a3 0.20 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.03 0.05 0.3842
a4 0.13 0.06 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.06 0.3871
a5 0.00 0.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.13 0.1992
a6 0.19 0.05 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.04 0.4115
a7 0.28 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.01 0.01 0.4217
a8 0.20 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.3471
a9 0.17 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.02 0.03 0.3282
a10 0.22 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.02 0.00 0.3363
a11 0.19 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.3199
a12 0.17 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.05 0.3119
a13 0.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.01 0.05 0.4419
Source: Author.

In  the  fourth  stage,  the  Exponentially  Weighted  Comparability 

Sequence and Pi Matrix matrix is organized in Table 6.
136 . Naci Yılmaz

Table 6. Exponentially Weighted Comparability Sequence and Pi Matrix

Criterion C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8
Weights 0.33 0.07 0.10 0.08 0.20 0.06 0.03 0.13
Alternatives max min max max max min max max Pi
a1 0.92 0.99 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.99 0.98 0.66 4.5458
a2 0.85 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.99 0.99 0.87 4.6990
a3 0.84 0.99 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.98 1.00 0.88 4.6989
a4 0.73 0.99 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.98 0.99 0.89 5.5830
a5 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 2.0000
a6 0.83 0.98 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.97 0.99 0.84 5.6093
a7 0.95 0.99 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.96 0.74 4.6366
a8 0.85 0.99 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.94 0.98 0.88 4.6361
a9 0.80 0.99 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.99 0.98 0.82 4.5868
a10 0.88 0.98 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.99 0.98 0.00 3.8234
a11 0.83 0.96 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.98 0.99 0.78 4.5554
a12 0.79 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.97 0.88 0.88 4.5155
a13 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.99 0.96 0.88 3.8290
Source: Author.

In  the  fifth  stage,  after  the  performance  scores  were  calculated,  the 
financial economic performance sequence of the mentioned countries was 
carried  out.  At  this  stage,  first  of  all,  the  sum  of  the  elements  in  the 
Weighted  Comparability  Sequence  and  Si  Matrix is  used  by  employing
Equation-7 for  each  country.  Then,  Exponentially  Weighted 
Comparability Sequence and Pi Matrix was calculated using Equation-8.
The values can be integrated with three different addition strategies. Then 
3 different sums (kia, kib, kic) were calculated using Equation-9, Equation-
10 and  Equation-11 respectively.  These  3  different  totals  were  then 
converted into final performance points (K) with Equation-12. According 
to  the  performance  score,  the  financial  economic performance  of  the 
countries  is  ranked.  All  of  these  processes  are  summarized  in  Final 
Aggregation and Ranking in Table 7. 

Table 7. Final Aggregation and Ranking

Final
Alternatives Ka Ranking Kb Ranking Kc Ranking K Ranking
a1 0.079 7 4.24 6 0.82 7 2.36 6
a2 0.082 3 4.30 4 0.84 3 2.40 4
a3 0.081 4 4.28 5 0.84 4 2.40 5
a4 0.096 2 4.73 2 0.99 2 2.70 2
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .137

a5 0.035 13 2.00 13 0.36 13 1.09 13

a6 0.097 1 4.87 1 0.99 1 2.76 1
a7 0.081 5 4.43 3 0.84 5 2.45 3
a8 0.080 6 4.06 8 0.82 6 2.30 7
a9 0.079 8 3.94 9 0.81 8 2.24 8
a10 0.067 12 3.60 12 0.69 12 2.00 12
a11 0.078 9 3.88 10 0.81 9 2.21 10
a12 0.077 10 3.82 11 0.80 10 2.18 11
a13 0.068 11 4.13 7 0.71 11 2.22 9
Source: Author.

The  above  order,  which  is  arranged  by  country  code,  is  shown 
more clearly by converting the country code to the country name in Table 
8 below. 

Table 8. Performance Ranking

Code Country (alternative) Final Ranking
a6 Hungary 1
a4 Croatia 2
a7 Kosovo 3
a2 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4
a3 Bulgaria 5
a1 Albania 6
a8 Montenegro 7
a9 North Macedonia 8
a13 Türkiye 9
a11 Serbia 10
a12 Slovenia 11
a10 Romania 12
a5 Greece 13
Source: Author.

According to Table 8, based on the values between 2008  -2021, 

the  top  three  highest  performing  countries  in  financial  and  economic 
aspects  among  the  13  Balkan  countries  were  Hungary,  Croatia  and 
Kosovo,  respectively.  Greece  took      the  last  place  in  the  performance 
ranking.  Hungary, the best performing country, has been influenced by the 
fact that it has achieved very good results in the majority of the criteria.  
Croatia's  success  has  been  significant  in  that  it  has  higher  values  in  the 
Government Balance/GDP, Current Account Balance/GDP, Net FDI/GDP 
ratios than other countries.
138 . Naci Yılmaz

Conclusion

The  Balkans  or Southeast  Europe  is    a  geographical  and  cultural 

region located  in the southeastern part of the European continent. In this 
study,  economic  and  financial  performances  of  13  economies  in  the 
Balkans  region  between  2008-2021  were  compared.  Of  multi-criteria
decision making techniques, BWM and CoCoSo methods were employed 
as research methods. Criterion weights were determined by BWM method. 
The CoCoSo method was applied for performance ranking.

In the study, GDP change, Net FDI to GDP, Consumer Price change, 
Government Balance to GDP, Current Account Balance to GDP, External 
Debt to GDP, Gross Reserves to GDP, Credit to Private Sector/GDP ratios 
were  selected  as  the  criteria  determining  financial  and  economic 
performance. According to the BWM method, the most important criterion 
among  the  criteria  selected  in  measuring  the  financial  and  economic 
performances of  the  Balkan  countries  is  the  GDP  Change  (%)  criterion, 
which has a weight of 33 percent. It is followed by the External Debt/GDP 
criterion,  which  has  a  weight  of  20  percent.  The  third  most  important 
criterion is the Credit to Private Sector/GDP criterion, which has a weight 
of  13  percent.  The  least  important  criterion  is  the  Gross  reserves/GDP 
criterion,  which  has  a  weight  of  3  percent. According  to  the  CoCoSo 
method, the best performing countries among the 13 Balkan countries in 
terms  of  economic  and  financial  aspects between  2008-2021  were 
Hungary, Croatia and Kosovo, respectively. Greece has the worst place in 
the performance ranking.  Hungary, the best country, has been influenced 
by the fact that it has achieved to have the best results in the majority of 
the criteria.  Croatia's success has resulted in that it has higher values in the 
Government Balance/GDP, Current Account Balance/GDP, Net FDI/GDP 
ratios than other countries.

Since the preferred evaluation criteria for the study and their degree 
of importance directly affect the result, it is useful to compare this study 
results with other multi-criteria decision-making techniques and different 
criterion weights. 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .139

REFERENCES
Akın, F. (2017). Türkiye ve seçilmiş balkan ülkelerinde makroekonomik
kırılganlık: karşılaştırmalı bir analiz. Balkan ve Yakın Doğu Sosyal Bilimler
Dergisi, 03 (04), 88-96. 
Akyol, S. (2014). Finansal kriz ve maliye politikası: Avrupa Birliği’ne üye Balkan
ülkeleri üzerine bir değerlendirme. Finans Politik & Ekonomik Yorumlar, 
51 (597), 45-60. 
Akbulut, O. Y. ve Hepşen, A. (2021). Finansal performans ve pay senedi getirileri 
arasındaki ilişkinin Entropi ve CoCoSo ÇKKV teknikleriyle analiz
edilmesi. Ekonomi Politika ve Finans Araştırmaları Dergisi, 6(3),  681-
709. 
Akgül, Y. (2021). Borsa istanbul’da işlem gören ticari bankaların finansal
performansının bütünleşik CRITIC CoCoSo modeliyle analizi. Ekonomi ve
Finansal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 3(2), 71-90. 
Balıkçıoğlu, N. (2020). Makroekonomik kırılganlığın ölçülmesi: Balkan ülkeleri
ve Türkiye için karşılaştırmalı bir analiz. Manas Sosyal Araştırmalar
Dergisi, 9(3), 1573-1588.
Biçici, K. (2015). Para politikası şoklarının hasıla ve fiyat düzeyi üzerindeki
asimetrik etkileri: Orta asya ve balkan ülkeleri uygulaması. Yüksek Lisans
Tezi. Ankara: Başkent Üniversitesi, Bankacılık ve Finans Ana Bilim Dalı.
Çilek, A. (2022). Bütünleşik SV-CoCoSo teknikleriyle etkinlik analizi: mevduat 
bankaları gruplarında bir uygulama. Karadeniz Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 14
(26), 52-69.
Demiral, M., Bal, H., Algan, N. (2015). Gelişmekte olan ülkeler küresel sermayeyi
çekme konusunda niçin başarısız olmaktadırlar? Balkan ülkeleri için Lucas
paradoksunun yeniden incelenmesi. Çukurova Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler
Enstitüsü Dergisi, 24(1), 13-30.
Deveci, M., Pamucar, D. ve Gokasar, I. (2021). Fuzzy power Heronian function 
based  CoCoSo  method  for  the  advantage  prioritization  of  autonomous 
vehicles in real-time traffic management. Sustainable Cities and Society, 
69: 102846.
EBRD  Transition  Report  Archive  (2023).  Transition  Reports  2008-2022.  Web 
address: https://www.ebrd.com/publications/transition-report-archive.
Ecer, F. ve Pamucar, D. (2020). Sustainable supplier selection: A novel integrated 
fuzzy  best  worst  method  (F-BWM)  and  fuzzy  CoCoSo  with  Bonferroni 
(CoCoSo’B) multi-criteria  model.  Journal of Cleaner Production,  266: 
121981
Eken,  M.H.,  Selimler, H., Kale, S. (2015). Balkan ülkelerindeki bankacılık
sektörünün global kriz sürecindeki gelişimi ve değerlendirilmesi. Finansal
Araştırmalar ve Çalışmalar Dergisi, 7(13), 261-291.
Konat, G. (2021). Balkan ülkeleri için orta gelir tuzağı: panel veri  analizi. 
Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 20(2), 466-479. 
Tüzemen, Ö.B., Tüzemen, S. (2015). Yakınsama hipotezi: balkan ülkeleri örneği.
Balkan Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 4(7), 1-9.
Öncü, E. (2021). Balkan ülkelerinde banka karlılığını etkileyen faktörler. ABAD
Anadolu ve Balkan Araştırmaları Dergisi, 4(8), 479-492.
140 . Naci Yılmaz

Özdağoğlu,  A.,  Ulutaş,  A.  ve  Keleş,  M.  K.  (2020).  The  ranking  of  Turkish 
universities  with  COCOSO  and  MARCOS.  Economics Business and
Organization Research, 2(Special Issue): 374-392.
Ren, J., Liang, H. ve Chan, F. T. S. (2017), Urban sewage sludge, sustainability, 
and  transition  for  eco-city:  multicriteria  sustainability  assessment  of 
technologies based on Best-Worst Method, Technological Forecasting and
Social Change, 116, 29-39.
Rezaei, J. (2015). Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method. Omega, 53, 
49-57.
Rezaei,  J  (2016).  Best-worst  multi-criteria  decision-making  method:  Some 
properties and a linear model. Omega, 64, 126-130.
Şimşek-Yağlı, B., & Zengin-Taşdemir, S. (2023). Bütünleşik BWM ve TOPSIS
yöntemleri kullanılarak OPEC üyesi ülkeler için kurumsal gelişmişlik
analizi. Ömer Halisdemir Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi
Dergisi, 16(1), 119–135.
Ulutaş, A., Karakuş, C. B. ve Topal, A. (2020). Location selection for logistics 
center with fuzzy SWARA and CoCoSo methods. Journal of Intelligent &
Fuzzy Systems, 38(4): 4693-4709.
Ulutaş,  A.,  Topal,  A.  (2020).  Bütünleştirilmiş Çok Kriterli Karar Verme
Yöntemlerinin Üretim Sektörü Uygulamaları. Ankara:  Akademisyen 
Kitabevi.
Ulusoy, M.K., Özçelik, S.E. (2020). Balkan ülkelerinin ekonomik ve finansal
yapısı: sorunlar ve öneriler. Elektronik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi,  19(74), 
1033-1056.
Yazdani,  M.,  Zarate,  P.,  Zavadskas,  E.  K.  ve  Turksis,  Z.  (2019).  A  combined 
compromise solution (CoCoSo) method for multi-criteria decision-making 
problems. Management Decision, 57(9): 2501-2519. 
Wikipedia (2023), Balkanlar. https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkanlar. 19.2.2023.
 CHAPTER 8
AN APPLICATION FOR AGGREGATING
THE CRITERIA WEIGHTS OBTAINED
BY DIFFERENT OBJECTIVE
WEIGHTING METHODS AND THEIR
USE IN COPRAS

Mehmet Hakan ÖZDEMIR1

1  Dr. Öğr. Üyesi, Türk-Alman Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakül-

tesi İşletme Bölümü Sayısal Yöntemler Anabilim Dalı
142 . Mehmet Hakan Özdemir

1. Introduction
Multi-criteria  decision  making  (MCDM)  refers  to  a  group  of 
techniques  for  assessing  a  set  of  alternatives  in  light  of  several,  usually
conflicting criteria. Thus, given a set of alternatives (options) and a number
of decision criteria, the purpose of MCDM is to provide a choice, ranking, 
description,  classification,  sorting,  and,  in  most  instances,  an  order  of 
alternatives, from the most preferred to the least favored option. (Mulliner 
et al., 2016). Assigning weights to criteria is a crucial step that needs to be 
reconsidered in the majority of MCDM models. However, one of the main 
issues  with  MCDM  is  figuring  out  how  to  weight  the  various  criteria 
(Pamučar et  al.  2018;  Vinogradova et  al.,  2018).  The  assessment  of  the 
criteria  weights  can  be subjective,  objective  or  hybrid (Ginevičius and
Podvezko, 2005). The subjective methods calculate weights in accordance 
with  the  preferences  of  decision  makers  for  the  criteria.  The  opinion  or 
intuition  of  the  decision  maker  is  reflected  in  weights  created  using 
subjective methods. Due to lack of information or experience, the decision 
maker may impact the findings of analyses or the rankings of alternatives 
based  on  weights (Ma  et  al.,  1999).  Furthermore,  determining  the 
subjective weights for  the  criteria takes  a  lot  of  time,  particularly  when 
there  is  disagreement  among  the  decision  makers  regarding  the  issue  at 
hand  (Odu,  2019). On  the  contrary, the  objective  methods  calculate 
weights on the basis of objective data (e.g. decision matrix). However, by 
using  mathematical  models  to  generate  weights,  objective  methods 
frequently  ignore  the  decision  maker's  subjective  judgment (Ma  et  al., 
1999). The question of how completely and objectively the small sample 
of alternative traits conveys the value of the criteria is also left unanswered 
for  these  methodologies.  Obviously,  the  decision matrix  entirely 
determines  the  outcome (Mukhametzyanov,  2021). In  hybrid  methods, 
subjective and objective weighting methods are combined. The decision 
matrix data and the preferences of the decision makers can both be used in 
the hybrid methods (Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al., 2021).
Since only objective weighting methods will be used in this study, a 
few studies in  the  literature  using  objective  weighting  methods  will  be 
discussed below.
Using  the  weights  obtained  by  the  CRITIC  (CRiteria  Importance 
Through  Intercriteria  Correlation),  equal  weights (mean  weight),  and 
standard deviation methods, Diakoulaki et al. (1995) evaluated firms with 
regard to three ratios indicating the profitability, the market position, and 
the  labor  productivity  in  their  study  where  they  introduced  the  CRITIC 
method.
Zavadskas and Podvezko (2016) aggregated the entropy method and
the CILOS (Criterion Impact LOSs) method to create a new method called 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .143

IDOCRIW  (Integrated  Determination  of  Objective  CRIteria  Weights).

Using the weights obtained from these three objective weighting methods, 
office  buildings  were  evaluated  with TOPSIS  (Technique  for  Order 
Preference  by  Similarity  to  Ideal  Solution), COPRAS  (COmplex 
PRoportional  ASsessment),  and  SAW  (Simple  Additive  Weighting)
methods.
The  issue  of  selecting  suitable  methods  for  MCDM  problems  was 
addressed  by  Sałabun et  al.  (2020). Their  study centered on  comparing 
various  methods used  frequently  in  this  area  using  simulation-based 
analysis.  To  carry  out  the  research,  VIKOR  (VIseKriterijumsa 
Optimizacija  I  Kompromisno  Resenje),  COPRAS, TOPSIS, and 
PROMETHEE (Preference  Ranking  Organization  METHod for
Enrichment of Evaluations) II were chosen. Additionally, they employed 
various weighting and normalization strategies, such as the equal weights, 
entropy,  and  standard  deviation  methods.  It  was  found  that  the  equal 
weights  method  was  not  the  best  option  for  weighting  criteria  when 
compared to the entropy and standard deviation methods. They also found 
that using the entropy method produced smaller changes in the correlation 
between rankings.
To perform an assessment of the economy of Czech theaters, Vavrek 
and Bečica  (2020)  chose  eleven  criteria  with  regard  to  technical  and 
financial efficiency. The coefficient of variation, standard deviation, and 
equal  weights  methods  were  used  to  evaluate  the  significance  of  the 
selected criteria. Technical criteria were given more weight by the standard 
deviation  method,  whereas  the  coefficient  of  variation  method 
demonstrated  that  financial  criteria  are  more  important  than  technical 
criteria.  The  TOPSIS  method  was  then  used  to  determine  the  overall 
assessment.
Krishnan et al. (2021) calculated weights of criteria using CRITIC, D-
CRITIC  (Distance  Correlation-based  CRITIC),  entropy,  CILOS  and 
IDOCRIW methods and compared them in their study, which introduced 
the D-CRITIC method.
In  this  study,  three different  objective  weighting  methods,  namely 
entropy  method,  CRITIC method and  MEREC  (MEthod  based  on  the 
Removal Effects of Criteria) will be addressed, and the weights obtained 
from  these  methods  will  be  aggregated  to  obtain  the  final weights. 
Subsequently, seven smartphones will then be ranked with COPRAS using 
these aggregated weights.
Here is the remainder of the study: In the second section, the  three 
objective  weighting  methods  used  in  the  study and  COPRAS will  be 
144 . Mehmet Hakan Özdemir

addressed. The third section includes the application and the results. The 
study ends with the discussion and conclusion in the fourth section.
2. Methodology
The three objective weighting methods used in the study's application 
section  are  discussed  in  this  section,  followed  by  an  explanation  of  the 
COPRAS method for ranking the smartphones. It is assumed that there are 
𝑚𝑚 alternatives and 𝑛𝑛 criteria for the decision matrices in the explanations 
of the weighting methods.
2.1. Entropy method
This method  was  proposed  by  Shannon  (1948).  For  quantifying 
contrast  intensity  and  subsequently  determining  objective  weights  of 
criteria,  the  entropy  measure  has  been  suggested.  The  more  distinct  the 
scores  of  the  examined  alternatives  are,  the  higher  the  weights  that  this 
method  assigns.  The  same  reasoning,  when  viewed  from  the  opposite 
perspective, affirms that a criterion where all alternatives perform equally 
does not provide any additional information and should not be used in the 
decision making process (Diakoulaki et al., 1995). This method computes 
the  weights  of  the  criteria  by  using  the  following steps (Alinezhad  and 
Khalili, 2019; Huang, 2008):
1) The decision matrix is created by using Eq. (1).
𝑥𝑥11 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑗𝑗 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑛𝑛
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
𝐗𝐗 = 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚, 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (1)
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
[𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ]

2) By using Eq. (2), the decision matrix is normalized.
𝑥𝑥
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑚𝑚 𝑥𝑥 ; 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (2)
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

3) Eq. (3) computes the degree of entropy for each criterion.

𝑒𝑒𝑗𝑗 = −
1
ln(𝑚𝑚)
∑𝑚𝑚
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 · ln(𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ) ; 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛; 0 ≤ 𝑒𝑒𝑗𝑗 ≤ 1 (3)

4) Eq. (4) calculates the degree of variation for each criterion.

𝑑𝑑𝑗𝑗 = 1 − 𝑒𝑒𝑗𝑗 , 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (4)

International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .145

5) By using Eq. (5), the weights are calculated.

(1) 𝑑𝑑𝑗𝑗
𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 = ∑𝑛𝑛 (5)
𝑗𝑗=1 𝑑𝑑𝑗𝑗

2.2. CRITIC method

This method  was  introduced  by  Diakoulaki  et  al.  (1995). It adds a
second dimension to the concept of information generated by criteria in an 
MCDM  analysis.  This  is  the  conflict  between  various  criteria.  Each 
decision  situation  is  built  around  the  fundamental  MCDM  concept  of 
conflict.  An  MCDM  problem  where  the  alternatives perform  identically 
across every evaluation criterion is uninteresting because it is clear which 
option  to  choose.  In  this  instance,  adding  a  new  criterion  that  gives  the 
alternatives a different ranking adds a substantial amount of information 
and fundamentally changes the decision making environment. The weights 
established by the CRITIC method take conflict and contrast intensity, both 
components  of  the  decision  problem's  structure,  into  consideration
(Diakoulaki et al. 1995). The steps that are used in this method to compute
the weights of the criteria are as follows (Diakoulaki et al., 1995; Alinezhad 
and Khalili, 2019):
1) The decision matrix is created by using Eq. (6).
𝑥𝑥11 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑗𝑗 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑛𝑛
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
𝐗𝐗 = 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚, 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (6)
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
[𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ]

2) Using Eq. (7), the decision matrix is normalized.

𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 −𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗−
𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 =
𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗+ −𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗−
; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚, 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (7)

where 𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗+ = max 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 and 𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗− = min 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 .

𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖

3) The correlation coefficient among criteria is calculated by using 
Eq. (8).

𝜌𝜌𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 = ∑𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 2 𝑚𝑚
𝑖𝑖=1(𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑟𝑟̅𝑗𝑗 )(𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑟𝑟̅𝑘𝑘 )/ √∑𝑖𝑖=1(𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑟𝑟̅𝑗𝑗 ) ∑𝑖𝑖=1(𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑟𝑟̅𝑘𝑘 )
2 (8)
146 . Mehmet Hakan Özdemir

where 𝑟𝑟̅𝑗𝑗 and  𝑟𝑟̅𝑘𝑘 are  the  means  of  the  𝑗𝑗th  and  𝑘𝑘th  criterion, 
respectively.  𝑟𝑟̅𝑗𝑗 is calculated by using Eq. (9), and 𝑟𝑟̅𝑘𝑘 is computed 
similarly. 
𝑚𝑚
1
𝑟𝑟̅𝑗𝑗 = ∑ 𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ; 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … 𝑛𝑛 (9)
𝑚𝑚 𝑖𝑖=1

4) The  standard  deviation  for  each  criterion  is  computed  by  using 
Eq. (10).

𝑚𝑚 2
1
𝑠𝑠𝑗𝑗 = √ ∑ (𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑟𝑟̅𝑗𝑗 ) ; 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (10)
𝑚𝑚−1 𝑖𝑖=1

The index (C) is calculated by using Eq. (11).

𝑛𝑛
𝐶𝐶𝑗𝑗 = 𝑠𝑠𝑗𝑗 ∑ (1 − 𝜌𝜌𝑗𝑗𝑗𝑗 ) ; 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (11)
𝑘𝑘=1

5) Eq. (12) is used to calculate the weights of the criteria.
(2) 𝐶𝐶𝑗𝑗
𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 = ∑𝑛𝑛 (12)
𝑗𝑗=1 𝐶𝐶𝑗𝑗

2.3. MEREC
MEREC was introduced by Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al. (2021). The 
removal  effects  of  each  criterion  on  the  aggregated  performance  of 
alternatives  are  used  by  MEREC  to  calculate  the  weights  of  criteria,  in 
contrast  to  other  methods. In  MEREC,  a  criterion is given  more  weight 
when removing it has a greater impact on the overall performance of the 
alternatives.  In  addition to  weighting  each  criterion,  this viewpoint  may 
help  decision-makers  leave out  some  criteria  from  the  decision-making 
process.  A  fresh  viewpoint  on  choosing  the  weights  of  criteria  can  be 
gained  by  taking  into  account  the  variations  and  the  performance  of  an 
alternative based on eliminating criteria. In other terms, MEREC is built 
on the idea of causality. This method computes the weights of criteria by 
using the following steps (Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al., 2021):
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .147

1) The decision matrix is created by using Eq. (13).
𝑥𝑥11 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑗𝑗 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑛𝑛
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
𝐗𝐗 = 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚, 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (13)
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
[𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ]

2) The  decision  matrix  is  normalized  for  beneficial  and  non-

beneficial criteria by using Eqs. (14) and (15), respectively:

min 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑖𝑖
; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚, 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (14)
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚, 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (15)
max 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑖𝑖

3) Eq. (16) is used to determine the alternatives’ overall performance.

1
𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖 = ln (1 + ( ∑𝑛𝑛𝑗𝑗=1|ln(𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 )|)) ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚 (16)
𝑛𝑛

4) By removing each criterion, Eq. (17) calculates the performance 
of the alternatives.

′
𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
1
= ln (1 + ( ∑𝑛𝑛𝑘𝑘=1,𝑘𝑘≠𝑗𝑗|ln(𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 )|)) ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚, 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛
𝑛𝑛
(17)

5) The effect of removing 𝑗𝑗th criterion is calculated by using Eq. (18).

𝐸𝐸𝑗𝑗 = ∑𝑚𝑚 ′
𝑖𝑖=1|𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖 | ; 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (18)

6) The weights of the criteria are determined using Eq. (19).
(3) 𝐸𝐸𝑗𝑗
𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 = ∑𝑛𝑛 (19)
𝑗𝑗=1 𝐸𝐸𝑗𝑗

2.4. COPRAS
COPRAS was proposed by Zavadskas et al. (1994). This method uses 
following steps to rank the alternatives (Alinezhad and Khalili, 2019): 
148 . Mehmet Hakan Özdemir

1) The decision matrix is created by using Eq. (20).
𝑥𝑥11 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑗𝑗 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥1𝑛𝑛
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
𝐗𝐗 = 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (20)
⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮
[𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚1 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ⋯ 𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ]

2) Using Eq. (21), the decision matrix is normalized.
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑚𝑚 ; 𝑗𝑗 = 1, 2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (21)
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

3) Eq. (22) is used to weight the normalized decision matrix.
𝑟𝑟̂𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1, 2, … , 𝑚𝑚 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (22)

where 𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 is the weight of the 𝑗𝑗th criterion.

4) The  maximizing  and  minimizing  indexes  of  each  criterion  are 

determined  by  Eqs.  (23)  and  (24), depending  on  whether  the 
criteria are beneficial or non-beneficial.
𝑔𝑔
𝑆𝑆+𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑗𝑗=1 𝑟𝑟̂𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1, 2, … , 𝑚𝑚 (23)

𝑆𝑆−𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑛𝑛𝑗𝑗=𝑔𝑔+1 𝑟𝑟̂𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ; 𝑖𝑖 = 1, 2, … , 𝑚𝑚 (24)

where 𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖 describes the maximizing and minimizing indexes of the 

𝑖𝑖th criterion, depending on the type of it, and 𝑔𝑔 denotes the
number of beneficial criteria and 𝑛𝑛 − 𝑔𝑔 the number of non-
beneficial criteria.

5) Using Eq. (25), the relative significance value of each alternative 
is computed by
∑𝑚𝑚
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑆𝑆−𝑖𝑖
𝑄𝑄𝑖𝑖 = 𝑆𝑆+𝑖𝑖 + 1 (25)
𝑆𝑆−𝑖𝑖 ∑𝑚𝑚
𝑖𝑖=1
𝑆𝑆−𝑖𝑖

6) The relative significance values of the alternatives are ranked from 
greatest to lowest, with the highest final value having the highest 
rank.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .149

3. Application and results

This  study  used  data  from  the  top  seven  smartphones (SP1-7)
determined  for  2023  on  a  website  to  first  compute  criteria  weights 
employing three  different  objective  weighting  methods.  These  weights 
were then aggregated to obtain a single weight for each criterion. By using 
these  aggregated  weights,  these  seven smartphones were  finally ranked 
with the COPRAS method. RAM and internal storage criteria were added 
in addition to those in the research by Krishnan et al. (2021) because these 
two are  significant criteria  when  shopping  for  a  smartphone. Thus,  the 
criteria  used  in  the  study  are  price  in  US  dollars  (CR1),  screen  size  in 
inches (CR2), pixels per inch  (CR3), thickness in mm (CR4), weight in 
grams  (CR5),  RAM  in  GB  (CR6), and  internal  storage  in  GB  (CR7).
Screen  size,  pixels  per  inch,  RAM, and  internal  storage  are  beneficial 
criteria, whereas the other criteria are non-beneficial. Table 1 shows the 
data used in the study, and Table 2 provides the weights determined by the 
objective weighting methods and the ranking of the criteria according to 
these weights.
Table 1. Decision matrix (ZDNET, 2023; Versus, 2023)

Smartphone CR1 CR2 CR3 CR4 CR5 CR6 CR7

SP1 1199 6.8 501 8.9 233 12 1000
SP2 1099 6.7 460 7.85 240 6 1000
SP3 899 6.7 512 8.9 212 12 512
SP4 299 6.1 429 8.9 178 6 128
SP5 699 6.7 525 8.5 205 16 512
SP6 850 6.7 426 6.9 187 8 512
SP7 1000 6.1 460 7.65 204 6 1000

Table 2. Weights obtained by the objective weighting methods and 

the ranking of the criteria
CR1 CR2 CR3 CR4 CR5 CR6 CR7
Entropy 0.2184 0.0034 0.0110 0.0144 0.0181 0.2646 0.4700
weights
Entropy
3 7 6 5 4 2 1
ranking
CRITIC 0.1389 0.1442 0.1339 0.1542 0.1476 0.1211 0.1601
weights
CRITIC
5 4 6 2 3 7 1
ranking
MEREC 0.1567 0.0240 0.0353 0.0294 0.0532 0.1336 0.5678
weights
MEREC
2 7 5 6 4 3 1
ranking
150 . Mehmet Hakan Özdemir

The  radar  charts for  the  weights  found  using  the  entropy  method,
CRITIC  method,  and  MEREC are  shown  in  Figures  1,  2,  and  3, 
respectively.

Figure 1. Radar chart  Figure 2. Radar chart  Figure 3. Radar

for entropy method for CRITIC method chart for MEREC

As can be seen from Table 2, all three objective weighting methods 

give different weights for the criteria. While the weights calculated by the 
entropy  method  and  MEREC produce  a  ranking  for  the  criteria  that  is 
reasonably similar, CRITIC method produces a very different ranking.
In this study, weight aggregation has been applied to compensate the 
different weights obtained by different objective weighting methods. There 
are  several  aggregation  methods. However,  in  this  study,  aggregated 
weights for the  seven criteria  were  determined using  Eqs. (26)  and (27) 
(Mukhametzyanov, 2021):
(𝑘𝑘) 1/𝐾𝐾
𝑞𝑞𝑗𝑗 = [∏𝐾𝐾
𝑘𝑘=1 𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 ] 𝑗𝑗 = 1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛 (26)

where 𝐾𝐾 is the number of available objective weighting methods. In 
this  study,  𝐾𝐾 = 3,  as  three  different  objective  weighting  methods  are 
applied.
𝑞𝑞𝑗𝑗
̂𝑗𝑗 = ∑𝑛𝑛
𝑤𝑤 (27)
𝑗𝑗=1 𝑞𝑞𝑗𝑗

The  aggregated  weight  for  each  criterion  is  given  in  Table  3,  and 
Figure 4 shows the radar chart for the aggregated weights. Internal storage 
has the highest weight, whereas screen size has the lowest weight.
Table 3. Aggregated weights for the criteria
CR1 CR2 CR3 CR4 CR5 CR6 CR7
0.2019 0.0274 0.0448 0.0484 0.0627 0.1950 0.4198
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .151

Figure 4. Radar chart for the aggregated weights
The  degree  of  discrepancy  between  a  set  of  estimated  values  and 
actual  values  can  be  measured  using  a  variety  of  error  metrics,  such  as 
mean absolute error (MAE), mean squared error (MSE), root mean squared 
error  (RMSE),  mean  absolute  percentage  error  (MAPE),  and  symmetric 
MAPE (sMAPE). These error measures can also be used to evaluate the 
precision of the data produced by various MCDM methods. Typically, the 
accuracy  of  a  method  increases  with  decreasing  error  values.  Any  error 
metrics must be used with a collection of actual values. To compare the 
three methods, sMAPE for each method was then calculated using Eq. (28) 
by taking these aggregated weights to be the actual weights. As opposed to 
MAPE, which penalizes negative error (when the estimated value is greater 
than  the  actual  value)  more  severely  than  positive  error,  sMAPE  was 
chosen out of a variety of metrics (Krishnan et al., 2021).
(𝑘𝑘)
|𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 −𝑤𝑤
̂ 𝑗𝑗 |
𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 (𝑘𝑘) =
100%
𝑛𝑛
∑𝑛𝑛𝑗𝑗=1 (𝑘𝑘)
(𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 +𝑤𝑤
̂ 𝑗𝑗 )/2
; 𝑘𝑘 = 1,2, … , 𝐾𝐾 (28)

Table 4. sMAPE for each objective weighting method

Entropy CRITIC MEREC

77.82% 84.91% 27.78%

As can be seen from Table 4, the lowest sMAPE belongs to MEREC.
Table 5 shows the ranking obtained by COPRAS using the aggregated 
weights in Table 3. Since SP1 has the greatest relative significance value, 
SP1 is ranked first.
152 . Mehmet Hakan Özdemir

Table 5. Ranking by COPRAS using the aggregated weights

Smartphone 𝑸𝑸𝒊𝒊 Ranking

SP1 0.1689 1
SP2 0.1529 3
SP3 0.1327 5
SP4 0.1133 7
SP5 0.1522 4
SP6 0.1239 6
SP7 0.1562 2

4. Discussion and conclusion

In  this  study,  three  different  objective  weighting  methods,  namely 
entropy method, CRITIC method and MEREC, were considered and the 
weights  obtained  from  these  methods  were  aggregated.  Weight 
aggregation has been applied to compensate the different weights obtained 
by different objective weighting methods. Then, seven smartphones were 
ranked  with  COPRAS  using  these  aggregated weights. It  was  observed
with sMAPE that the weights calculated with MEREC were closest to the 
aggregated  weights.  Since  internal  storage  has  the  highest aggregated
weight among the criteria and SP1, SP2, and SP7 have the highest internal 
storage,  these  three smartphones are  anticipated to  occupy  the  top three 
ranks when taking into account the ranking obtained using the aggregate 
weights  in  COPRAS.  As SP4 has  the  lowest  internal  storage,  this 
smartphone ranks  the  last.  Although  price  is  the  second  most  important 
criterion according to the aggregated weights and RAM is the third most 
important criterion, the fact that the SP1 with the highest price has a larger 
RAM compared to the SP2 and SP7 places SP1 in the first place.
By  employing various  objective  weighting  methods  used in  the 
literature,  such  as  standard  deviation  method,  statistical  variance 
procedure,  CILOS,  IDOCRIW,  etc.,  future  studies  can  explore  how  the 
aggregated weights will be impacted and how the ranking with COPRAS 
or various MCDM methods will change when these aggregated weights are 
used.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .153

REFERENCES
Alinezhad,  A.,  &  Khalili,  J.  (2019).  New methods and applications in multiple
attribute decision making (MADM) (Vol. 277). Springer.

Diakoulaki, D., Mavrotas, G., & Papayannakis, L. (1995). Determining objective 
weights  in  multiple  criteria  problems:  The  critic  method. Computers &
Operations Research, 22(7), 763-770.

Ginevičius, R., & Podvezko, V. (2005). Objective and subjective approaches to

determining  the  criterion  weight  in  multicriteria  models. Transport and
Telecommunication, 6(1), 133-137.

Huang, J. (2008). Combining entropy weight and TOPSIS method for information 
system  selection.  2008 IEEE Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent
Systems, 1281–1284. IEEE.

Keshavarz-Ghorabaee,  M.,  Amiri,  M.,  Zavadskas,  E. K.,  Turskis,  Z.,  & 

Antucheviciene, J. (2021). Determination of objective weights using a new 
method based on the removal effects of criteria (MEREC). Symmetry, 13(4), 
525.

Krishnan, A. R., Kasim, M. M., Hamid, R., & Ghazali, M. F. (2021). A modified 
CRITIC  method  to  estimate  the  objective  weights  of  decision 
criteria. Symmetry, 13(6), 973.

Ma, J., Fan, Z. P., & Huang, L. H. (1999). A subjective and objective integrated 
approach  to  determine  attribute  weights. European journal of operational
research, 112(2), 397-404.

Mukhametzyanov,  I.  (2021).  Specific  character  of  objective  methods  for 

determining weights of criteria in MCDM problems: Entropy, CRITIC and 
SD. Decision Making: Applications in Management and Engineering, 4(2), 
76-105.

Mulliner, E., Malys, N., & Maliene, V. (2016). Comparative analysis of MCDM 
methods for the assessment of sustainable housing affordability. Omega, 59, 
146-156.

Odu,  G.  O.  (2019).  Weighting  methods  for  multi-criteria  decision  making 
technique. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental
Management, 23(8), 1449-1457.

Pamučar, D., Stević, Ž., & Sremac, S. (2018). A new model for determining
weight  coefficients  of  criteria  in  mcdm  models:  Full  consistency  method 
(fucom). Symmetry, 10(9), 393.
154 . Mehmet Hakan Özdemir

Sałabun, W., Wątróbski, J., & Shekhovtsov,  A.  (2020).  Are  mcda  methods 
benchmarkable? a comparative study of topsis, vikor, copras, and promethee 
ii methods. Symmetry, 12(9), 1549.

Shannon, C. E. (1948). A mathematical theory of communication. The Bell system

technical journal, 27(3), 379-423.

Vavrek, R., & Bečica, J. (2020). Efficiency evaluation of cultural services in the
Czech  Republic  via  multi-criteria  decision  analysis. Sustainability, 12(8), 
3409.

Versus (2023). Smartphone comparison, https://versus.com/en/phone.

Vinogradova, I., Podvezko, V., & Zavadskas, E. K. (2018). The recalculation of 
the  weights  of  criteria  in  MCDM  methods  using  the  bayes 
approach. Symmetry, 10(6), 205.

Zavadskas, E. K., Kaklauskas, A., & Šarka, V. (1994). The new method of
multicriteria complex proportional assessment of projects.

Zavadskas, E. K., & Podvezko, V. (2016). Integrated determination of objective 
criteria weights in MCDM. International Journal of Information Technology
& Decision Making, 15(02), 267-283.

ZDNET  (2023).  The  7 best  phones  of  2023  - Smartphones, 

https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-phone.
 CHAPTER 9
DOLLARIZATION IN TURKEY

Can MAVRUK1

1  Lecturer Dr. Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, Niğde Vocational

School of Social Sciences, Department of Marketing and Advertising,
Niğde, Turkey. [email protected]. ORCID: 0000-0002-4084-7447
156 . Can Mavruk

INTRODUCTION
Dollarization  is  primarily  due  to  a  lack  of  confidence  in  monetary 
policy.  The  ineffective  and  unsuccessful  policies  of  central  banks  cause 
high  unpredictable  rates  of  inflation.  The  most  important  policy  tool  of 
monetary policy that supports the preservation of the value of the domestic 
currency in cross transactions is interest. On the other hand, inflation is the 
most  basic  indicator  of  savings  when  real  and  legal  persons  create  their 
portfolios and  make investments.  All rationally expect their  assets to be 
appreciated  above  inflation  and  to  generate  real  returns.  In  a  fragile 
economy like Turkey with high exchange rate volatility, unstable monetary 
and fiscal policies, it has become inevitable for people to accumulate assets 
and enter into debt relations with a currency with a more predictable future 
and a stronger economy. Economists and financiers call this phenomenon 
"Dollarization".
In 1971, with the end of fixed exchange rate system,  a new system 
was sought. In the 1980s, the liberal trend that spread to the world from the 
United  States  of  America,  globalization  and  liberalization  of  capital 
mobility caused an intensification of dollarization in developing countries 
such as Turkey, which made inflation an integral part of its economy. The 
return  of  domestic  and  foreign  currency  to  savings  and  investment  cost 
have been important factors in dollarization. 
Previous  studies  attributed  the  reason  for  dollarization  to  domestic 
dynamics. The causes of dollarization were inflation and exchange rates 
(Saraç, 2010; Darıcı, 2004; Us & Metin-Özcan, 2005; Terzi and Kurt,
2007; Sarı, 2007; Hekim, 2008; Yalta & Yalta, 2021; Aktaş & Aydınlık,
2022).  Other  important  determinants  of  dollarization  were  interest  rates 
(Yalta  &  Yalta,  2021),  domestic  and  foreign  currency  interest  margins 
(Sarı, 2007), political events (Bărbuță-Mișu, Güleç, Duramaz and
Virlanuta, 2020), import, export, CDS premiums (Aktaş & Aydınlık,
2022).
This  study  aims  to  examine  short  run  and  long  run  relationships 
between dollarization (FED/(M1+M2)), USD/TL exchange rates, inflation 
and USD interest rates in the period of aformentioned events. The research 
focuses  on  causal  effects  of  these  macroeconomic  variables.  Based  on 
availability  of  monthly  data,  econometric  analysis  covers  the  2013m1-
2022m8 period. Dickey Fuller test for unit root and bound test (Pesaran, 
Shin  and  Smith,  2001)  for  cointegration  are  used.  Stability  of  the 
coefficients  in  the  models  is  tested  using  cumulative  sum  (CUSUM) 
squared of residuals.

1. BACKGROUND
Political developments in the last decade had tremendous impact on 
Turkish economy. Brunson crisis (2015-2018) and F35 bargain of Turkish 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .157

government  with  the  US  government  to  release  Brunson  had  mobilized 
exchange rates upwards in Turkey. Election of Trump had further elevated 
the issue. Dollarization increased from 58 percent 72 percent from Trump’s
election in November 2016 to his inauguration in January 2017. Trump had 
announced  that  they  would  hit  Turkish  economy  which  followed  by 
Biden’s statement to support Turkish  opposition  parties  against  the 
government. Extremely high volatilities in exchange rates and interest rates 
were observed after USD/TRY shock in August 2018 when Brunson was 
not released. USD/TL exchange rate went up about one TRY, USD interest 
rate 1.55 percent and dolarization rate 25 percent (CBRT, 2022a). Covid 
19  pandemic  also  contributed  to  negatve  effects  on  Turkish  economy. 
USD/TRY  exchange  rate  increased  from  6.04  in  March  2020  to  8.00  in 
November  2020.  Over  the  same  period,  consumer  price  index  increased 
from 57 percent  to 230 percent  and dollarization rate increased from 91 
percent  to  105  percent  (CBRT,  2022a).  And  finally the  expected  war  in 
Ukraine broke out in February 2022. A dramatic increase in energy prices 
were experienced months preceding the war due decline in energy flow to 
Europe. This has increased transportation cost at most in Turkey and an 
inflation shock was experienced in December 2021. Consumer price index 
in this month increased from 3.51 percent to 13.58 percent in a month. The 
most  important  determinants  of  high  inflation  were  food  and 
transportation.  These  were  two  extremely  important  future  indicators  of 
food and energy crisis for Turkey. USD/TL exchange rate increased from 
9.14  to  13.53  and  dollarization  rate  increased  from  107  percent  to  154 
percent  in two  months (2021m10-2021m12).  Monthly USD interest rate 
also increased from 2 percent to 3 percent which then went up to 8 percent 
in August 2022 (CBRT, 2022a). 
In  general  outlook,  Turkish  government  claimed  that  interest  rate 
causes inflation and lowered lending rates from 12 percent in October 2022 
to 10.50 percent in November 2022 (Trading Economics, 2022) whereas 
TSI inflation rate was 83.50 percent (CBRT, 2022b). This move flowed 
the cash to the banks and according to BRSA increased bank profits by 400 
percent only in the first half of 2022 (Bloomberg, 2022a). As of October 
22,  weighted  average  consumer  loan  interest  rates  (flow  data)  ranged 
between 26.00-33.72 percent (CBRT, 2022c). On the other hand, weighted 
average of interest rates for one month timed deposits had a range of 16.83-
19.11 percent in the 2022m1-2022m10 period (CBRT, 2022d). Profits of 
energy companies increased by about 524 percent (Bloomberg, 2022b).

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Aktaş & Aydınlık (2022) used fixed  and  random  effects  for  the 
2007Q4-2019Q1 period and found that inflation, import, export, exchange 
rate and CDS premiums were determinants of deposit dollarization. 
158 . Can Mavruk

Yalta & Yalta (2021) used maximum entropy bootstrap  method for 
2013-2021  monthly  data  to investigate  the  relationship  between 
dollarization,  consumer  price  index,  real  exchange  rate  and  volatility  of 
interest rate. The impact of inflation rate on deposit dollarization showed 
variations  before  and  after  the  new  presidential  system.  The  effect  of
inflation  rate  and  exchange  rate  on  deposit  dollarization  had  weakened 
over  time.  Furthermore,  interest  rate  volatility  and  economic  confidence 
were important determinants of deposit dollarization. 
Tufaner (2021) used regression and causality for the 2013m1-2021m2 
period  to  examine  the  relationship  between  international  reserves,  the 
difference  between  domestic  and  foreign  interest  rates,  the  returns  of 
financial  investment  instruments  and  the  exchange  rate.  One-sided 
causality  was  found  from  international  reserves  and  returns  of  financial 
investment instruments to dollarization. 
Bărbuță-Mișu, Güleç, Duramaz, Virlanuta (2020) used iterative
cumulative  sum  of  squares  and  markov  switching  dynamic  regression 
structural break models for the 2012m12-2018m12 period to examine the 
relationship  between  interest  rates,  exchange  rate  and  dollarization.  The 
authors found that speculative trading was not the cause of the dollarization 
of  deposits  in  Turkey.  Political  events  had  a  stronger  influence  over 
dollarization compared to economic events. Domestic citizens dollarized 
their  deposits  with  the  motivation  to  protect  against  political  ambiguity 
rather than economic volatility. Dollarization could be averted in the short 
run with an increase in interest rates. 
Hekim (2008) used OLS method for the 1992m1-2007m12 period and 
found the change in inflation and real exchange rates as the most important 
determinants of dollarization (FED/M2Y). 
Sarı (2007) used VAR model for the 1990m01-2006m12 period and 
found  that  the  exchange  rate,  domestic  and  foreign  currency  interest 
margins mutually affect the risk variable dollarization. 
Terzi  and  Kurt  (2007)  used  VAR  model  in  the  1990m1-2006m4 
period and found that the main reason for dollarization (FED/M2Y) was 
determined as inflation, exchange rate and money supply variables. Using 
OLS method for the 1992m01-2007m12 period. 
Us  and  Metin-Özcan (2005) used ARDL model for the 1990m1-
1999m12  period  to  show  that  the  inflation  rate  was  an  important 
determinant of persistance in currency substitution. 
Darıcı (2004) found that real exchange rate and inflation trigger
currency substitution based on LS method for the 1990m3-2002m3. 
Acar Balaylar & Abuk Duygulu (2004) used Granger causality test to 
analyze  the  relationships  between  M2  annual  deposit  interest  rate, 
inflation, real exchange rate, nominal GNP, quarterly treasury bill interest 
rate for the 1987m01-2000m12 period, and found no long run relationship 
between the variables. 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .159

Civcir  (2003)  used  Johansen  cointegration  test  for  the  period 

1986m01-1999m12 and found that the determinant of dollarization in the 
long run was the difference in real interest rates and the expected change 
in exchange rates. 
Domac & Bahmani-Oskooee (2003) used VAR model for the period 
1990m01-2001m12  and  found  that  shocks  in  dollarization  (FED/M2Y) 
first decreased the Central Bank monetary base as the public switched from 
domestic to foreign money holdings and then created an expansion in the 
monetary base. 
Adanur (2001) used Granger causality test for the period 1990m01-
2000m12 and found causality from inflation to dollarization (FED/M2Y). 
Akçay, Alper & Karasulu (1997) used GARCH model for 1987m01-
1995m12  and  found  that  currency  substitution  increased  exchange  rate 
instability. 
Yamak and Yamak (1997) used LS for the 1990m01-1997m12 period 
to show statistically significant and positive relationship between expected 
changes in exchange rates and dollarization (FED/M2Y). 
Küçükkale (1996) also used LS method and found a significant
relationship  between  FX  demand  and  inflation  expectation  for  the 
period1986m01-1995m07. 
Özkaramete Coşkun (1999) found a positive relationship between
dollarization (FED/Total deposits) and rates of change in exchange rates, 
broad money supply, inflation. 
Ertürk (1991), based on LS method for the period 1986m01-1988m07, 
determined  a  linear  relationship  between  inflation  increase,  devaluation 
expectations,  and  increase  in  foreign  currency  interest  rates  and  foreign 
currency demand. 
Hakioğlu (1988) analyzed the relationship between foreign exchange
deposits  (FED)  and  current  deposits  for  the  period  1984m12-1987m09 
using  LS  method  and  found  that  TL  was  substituted  with  foreign 
currencies.

3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In  its  broadest  sense,  dollarization  is  the  use  of  foreign  currency 
instead of the national currency to fulfill all the functions and use of money 
in  any  country.  The  use  of  foreign  currency  in  commercial,  financial 
transactions with a means of calculation, store of value against the official 
national  currency  is  called  both  dollarization  and  currency  substitution. 
Dollarization  and  currency  substitution  are  used  as  synonyms  in  the 
literature.  However,  the  domestic  currency  has  lost  all  its  functions  in 
currency  substitution  and  left  these  features  to  foreign  currency,  while 
dollarization has emerged as a result of the loss of the domestic currency's 
ability  to  store  and  calculate  value.  Residents  of  countries  experiencing 
chronic  inflation are  first  starting  to  use  foreign  currency  as  a  tool  to 
160 . Can Mavruk

accumulate  assets  or  as  a  unit  of  calculation  function.  Since  the  exact 
amount  of  foreign  currency  in  circulation  cannot  be  known,  the 
dollarization rate of the country is considered as an indicator of the rate of 
currency substitution.

3.1. Full Dollarization

Dollarization is categorized by looking at the ratios to the dimensions 
in which it is experienced in the economy. Full dollarization is the fact that 
it has an important place in the domestic financial system and that a foreign 
currency  trusted  by  economic  units  is  declared  as  a  legal  payment 
instrument (Sarı, 2007). Countries that legally accept full dollarization
mean that they have abandoned their national currencies and voluntarily 
relinquished their authority to determine monetary policy.

3.2. Partial Dollarization

Partial  dollarization  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  public  and  all 
economic sectors create foreign currency assets in their portfolios, and the 
public  and  private  sectors  accumulate  assets  and  liabilities  in  foreign 
currency. Countries that allow partial dollarization in the financial system 
encourage domestic and foreign residents to keep their savings within the 
domestic financial system by attracting capital flows to their system and 
minimizing capital flight without capital control.

3.3. Currency Substitution

In the literature, it is called currency substitution when real and legal 
persons  contractually  use  foreign  currency  instead  of  domestic  currency 
(Sarı, 2007). It arises due to the differences between domestic and foreign 
inflation rates, in line with the desire to protect the purchasing power of 
the domestic currency due to high inflation. Gresham's Law describes this 
phenomenon as a reverse operation. He stated that good money drives out 
bad money.
Yeyati  and  Sturzeneger  (2003)  defined  currency  substitution  as  the 
effect of the expected return on holding foreign currency directly, rather 
than being a function of the expectation of return on assets with interest 
from foreign currency. Since the main reason for currency substitution is 
unstable,  volatile  and  high  inflation,  it  is  thought  that  the  problem  of 
currency substitution can be solved by keeping inflation and expectations 
at  reasonable  levels  and  controlling  them.  This  approach  could  not  be 
confirmed by empirical studies in the literature (Sarı, 2007).
Currency  substitution  is  attributed  to  the  negative  relationship 
between the domestic currency demand and the inflation rate (Yeyati and 
Sturzenger,  2003).  Long-term  inflation  and  the  depreciation  of  the 
domestic  currency  are  shown  as  the  reasons  for  the  increase  in  the 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .161

dollarization rate in the economy.  In order to reverse this situation,  it  is 

considered necessary to maintain a stable low inflation in the long term and 
the appreciation of the domestic currency against international currencies.

3.4. Asset Dollarization

Asset dollarization is the term given to the use of foreign currency as 
a means of storing value and accumulating assets. The interest it expects 
to save on foreign currency and the rate of return it expects to obtain against 
the depreciation of the domestic currency due to the decrease in purchasing 
power lies at the basis of asset substitution. If foreign currency rates rise 
and there is an inflationary environment in the country, if people who have 
savings do not receive the real return they expect, asset substitution gains 
momentum.
One of the most prominent dollarization indicators of countries is the 
wide-ranging  (M2Y)  money  supply  and  the  total  amount  of  deposits  in 
foreign currency. Dollarization rate can be calculated as the second divided 
by the first (Metin-Özcan and Us, 2009).
In developing countries like Turkey, as a result of various financial 
and economic crises, the trust in the real economy decreases, and investors 
withdraw their assets from the financial system and keep them in a physical 
environment  called  under  the  pillow.  This  brings  the  dollarization  of 
liabilities, which we will discuss in the continuation of the study, to a level 
that cannot be met.

3.5. Liability Dollarization

The  situation  of  all  economic  actors,  including  the  finance  sector, 
firms and the treasury, to have liabilities in foreign currency is referred to 
as liability dollarization in the literature. If economic actors have liabilities 
in foreign currency and do not have sufficient foreign currency assets, they 
increase their sensitivity to exchange rate volatility (Sarı, 2007). Liability
dollarization is seen as a type of dollarization seen in developing countries 
with  high  current  account  deficits  and  foreign  borrowing  as  investment 
financing. Liability dollarization ratio is calculated by (FX Loans / Total 
Loans) + (FX and FC Indexed Domestic Debt / Total Domestic Debt) + 
(Total External Debt / GDP)

3.6. Financial Dollarization

Financial dollarization is the  combination of asset dollarization and 
liability dollarization. It is impossible not to see financial dollarization in a 
place where liability dollarization is experienced. Financial dollarization 
occurs  as  a  result  of  proportionally  high  dollarization  of  assets  and 
liabilities  in  the  balance  sheets  of  market  makers  and  sectors.  Financial 
dollarization occurs when economic units create assets in foreign currency 
162 . Can Mavruk

to protect their savings and assets against inflation (asset dollarization), on 
the other hand, foreign currency borrowing (liability dollarization) caused 
by the faulty works and failures of the market and institutions. (Yılmaz,
2005).  The  risk  of  fragility  in  the  financial  structure  along  with  capital 
flows in developing countries has made financial dollarization a research 
topic.
As economists examine economic crises, how the currency mismatch 
of economic units due to liability dollarization, how imbalances in balance 
sheets  threaten  financial  stability  and  how  important  it  is  in  crises  are 
observed. Looking at the sectors one by one, the assets of the companies 
that went into crisis and went bankrupt are mostly in domestic currency 
and their liabilities are mostly in foreign currency. The reason for this is 
not  because  of  the  firm's  indebtedness,  but  in  case  of  sudden  and  high 
depreciation of the domestic currency as a result of the high dollarization 
of the country.  The real debt stock in foreign currency increases compared 
to its assets, and as a result, it is expected that the investments decrease 
with the contraction in domestic production. Foreign currency liabilities of 
all  sectors  operating  domestically,  including  the  public  and  banks,  are 
among the important indicators that show the level of dollarization (Akıncı
et al., 2005).

3.6.1. Causes of Financial Dollarization

3.6.1.1. Dollarization Hysteria
Even  though  countries  such  as  Peru,  Bolivia  and  Argentina,  which 
experience high and continuous inflation, have a relatively stable economic 
structure  by  implementing  relatively  effective monetary  policies  and 
reducing  the  inflation  rate,  partial  dollarization  is  still  high  in  these 
countries. In the literature, this situation is called 'Dollarization Hysteria'. 
Oomes  (2003)  defined  dollarization  hysteria  as  the  increase  in  the 
purchasing power of the national currency and the partial dollarization that 
does not decrease despite the decrease in inflation. It is seen that once the 
savers get used to holding foreign currency deposits, they did not change 
their  portfolios  in  the  short  and  medium  term,  and  they  could  not  break 
their  expectations,  as  the  factors  causing  them  to  hold  foreign  currency 
deposits disappeared.
Even  if  the  exchange  rate  volatility  experienced  in  the  past  is 
prevented and a calmer exchange rate and inflation rate is ensured, savers 
avoid breaking their foreign currency deposits unless they expect that this 
environment will maintain its stability (Luca and Petrova, 2003).
The dollarization seen after the unsustainable exchange rate policy is 
directly  proportional  to  the  expected  inflation.  As  a result  of  the loss  of 
confidence  in  monetary  policy,  financial  stability  deteriorates,  volatility 
increases  and  the  high  level  of  dollarization  continues.  If  the  monetary 
policy  controls  inflation,  the  perception  of  households  and  companies 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .163

deteriorates as a result of the inability to allocate confidence, the expected 
inflation increases, and in parallel, the dollarization hysteria increases.

3.6.1.2. High Inflation and Price Volatility

Price volatility is an important cause of dollarization and its increase 
over  time  (Ize  and  Powell,  2005).  Confidence  in  the  national  currency 
decreases, with frequent economic crises and high inflation.
Considering  the  correlation  between  inflation  and  dollarization,  the 
reflection of changes in exchange rates on inflation in the short term makes 
it necessary to ensure stability in real exchange rates (Gençay, 2007). The
inability to achieve stability in real exchange rates increases the volatility 
costs  in  exchange  rates,  increases  prices  as  a  result,  and  causes  the 
dollarization rate to increase even more (Ize and Powell, 2005).
It has been determined that dollarized economies have a high rate of 
reflecting  the  volatility  in  exchange  rates  to  inflation.  Honohan  and  Shi 
(2001)  claimed  that  with  the  regression  model,  each  10%  increase  in 
dollarization burns out as an 8% increase in inflation. This relationship can 
also be analyzed for Turkey.
Even if there is a positive correlation between CPI and the USD/TL 
exchange rate (CBRT, 2022a), it is not possible to characterize the cause 
of inflation on the exchange rate until 2012. This tells us that the event that 
caused inflation has other reasons specific to Turkey. However, households 
and firms preferred to save foreign currency in order to protect their assets 
from these price increases.
The Turkish economy has experienced instability in macroeconomic 
policies  due  to  structural  weakness.  Structural  reforms  have  not  been 
implemented or sustained for a well-functioning market economy. Long-
term  budget  deficits  and  high  inflation  problems  destabilized  the  local 
currency  in  maintaining  its  value  and  lost  its  credibility  over  time. The 
deficits in the budget show that there is no planned expenditure, and every 
unit of expenditure made by the public, which has the largest expenditure 
item, is reflected in inflation. Before stabilization in financial markets is 
achieved, it is expected to provide stability in the public sector and to create 
a regulatory effect on the market.

3.6.1.3. Fundamental Sin

Borrowing  a  foreign  currency  other  than  the  domestic  currency  is 
called  fundamental  sin.  Capital  flows  occur  from  countries  with  current 
account surplus and low borrowing rates to countries with low incomes. 
The difficulty in using it to control consumption due to capital flows from 
high-income countries to low-income countries stems from the fact that it 
does not borrow abroad with its own currency. The depreciation of the real 
exchange rate with the increase in foreign currency liabilities and foreign 
164 . Can Mavruk

debt of a country will cause the debt level to increase in terms of domestic 
currency.  Borrower  countries  will  have  difficulty  in  rebalancing  to 
domestic exchange rates, but will have to borrow new money to pay off 
their debt or hold foreign currency in their reserves to repay their debts.
Countries whose national currency is not seen as a reserve currency 
in the international financial system will have to use foreign currency or 
gold to pay off their foreign debts.
There  is  a  difference  in  meaning  between  external  liability and 
external  debt. External  debt  is  the  borrowing  made  out  of  national 
currency, which flows from countries with surplus funds to countries with 
fund deficits. If the maturity of these borrowings is less than one year, it is 
called “short-term external debt”. External liabilities,  on  the  other  hand, 
refer to liabilities such as external debt, foreign loans and deposits in the 
form of foreign exchange deposits to real and legal persons not resident in 
Turkey (Eğilmez, 2021).
Foreign currency borrowing has increased continuously since 2012.
There are two ways in which the central government can pay off its debts 
that are due, by re-borrowing or using its reserves. The reserves are able to 
meet  the  short-term  debts. The  ratio  of  short-term  external  debt  has  the 
largest  share  in  debt  liabilities  (CBRT,  2022).  Since  2012,  the  debt 
coverage ratio of reserves has been decreasing. We know that the rise in 
2019 increased with the 3rd quarter of 2018 and with swap agreements in 
2019.
As a result of cheap foreign exchange, low inflation and low interest 
rates applied to the currency, the central government stopped borrowing in 
its own currency and started to borrow in foreign currency. Considering 
the  amount  of  this  borrowing,  with  the  view  that  the  foreign  exchange 
prices will stay at these levels and the interest rates will not rise in the short 
term, the use of reserves and borrowing, as well as FX open positions have 
increased day by day.
The  central  government  does  not  have  large  items  of  income  other 
than Central Bank that issues the national currency and the taxes it collects 
on the local currency. Therefore, it will pay its foreign currency liabilities 
with the foreign currency it will purchase using the local currency. As the 
real  exchange  rate  depreciates,  the  central  government  will  have  to  buy 
using more domestic currency for the level of foreign currency owed. 
The real exchange rate is a basket exchange rate index that is weighted 
based on certain criteria from various foreign currencies. It is formed as a 
result  of  calculating  the  real  exchange  rate  index  as  an  average  without 
taking  into  account  the  high  volatility  during  the  year.  The  domestic 
currency has been in a downward trend since 2010. This loss of value in 
the  domestic  currency  forces  the  state,  companies  and  households  who 
want to pay their debts to exchange more local currency and buy foreign 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .165

currency. Increasing money supply to meet the domestic money demand 
will cause inflation after a while.

When  we  look  at  the CPI-based real  exchange  rate  index  (CBRT, 
2022a), there is a downward trend line, as well as volatility on some dates, 
and  the  overhanging  of  the  line  shows  that  there  is  an  excessive 
depreciation in the domestic currency. It is observed that the TL has lost 
more  than  20%  of  its  value  during  the  sagging  dates.  Along  with  these 
value losses, it has been determined that real and legal persons evaluate 
every exchange rate decrease in the direction of purchase.

3.6.1.4. Risk Management

In the banking sector, they have to resort to foreign currency loans or 
investment & savings in foreign countries in order not to fall short of their 
foreign currency deposits (Honohan and Shi, 2001).
Due to the increase in foreign currency deposit rates, foreign currency 
positions in banks' assets have increased. The most important factor in the 
balance sheet of banks that determine credit dollarization, that have local 
currency income but extend foreign currency loans, plans to reduce their 
open  positions  in  order  to  avoid  exchange  rate  risk  is  called  risk 
management.

3.6.1.5. Distrust in Monetary Policy

Time series of deposit ınterest rate and inflation (Trading Economics,
2022) shows that  the depositors  who  save  in  domestic  currency  get  real 
returns  with  a  limited  maturity  period,  and  sometimes  they  get  returns 
below the inflation rate. It has become a normal situation for real and legal 
persons to hold foreign currency in order to protect their purchasing power. 
According to CBRT (2022a) data monthly percentage change in CPI 
and USD/TL exchange rate, USD/TL exchange rate increased more than 
inflation in 25 months out of 52 months, and depreciated during the 18-
month  period  compared  to  the  previous  period.  However,  excessive 
valuations  provide  higher returns  than  deposits  on  annual  averages.  The 
decreases experienced are caused by the FX deposits that were melted in 
the rises stemming from the rises experienced in the previous months. It is 
possible to follow from the news streams that the monthly data rising one 
after the other is due to the political and subsequent economic problems in 
the country.
Özkaramete Coşkun (1999) calculated the monthly percentage
changes in the exchange rate. The relationship between percentage change 
in FX deposits and USD/TL exchange rate based on CBRT (2022a) data 
was analyzed by considering the criteria in Özkaramete Coşkun's article.
166 . Can Mavruk

It is clearly seen in the graphs that real and legal persons lose their 
foreign  currency  savings  when  the  USD/TL  exchange  rate  rises,  and 
replace the foreign currency they sell when the exchange rate decreases. A 
stable exchange rate and anti-inflationary policies will reduce the rate at 
which savers resort to arbitrage, and then they will stop using it as an asset 
storage tool, although they do not need it. Akcay et al. (1997) investigated 
the  effect  of  deposit  dollarization  on  exchange  rate  stability  in  Turkey 
using  the  EGARCH-M  model  and  found  that  currency  substitution 
increases exchange rate instability.
There was a rapid change in savings as a currency in deposits. The 
negative divergence continued for a while with the balance reached in mid-
2019,  and  then  reverse  dollarization  started  with  the  change  in  the 
economic  management  in  November  2020.  However,  dismissal  of  the 
Central Bank President by the executive and deteriorated stability by the 
markets spoiled the positive atmosphere. Since the allocation of trust is a 
long-term  event,  it  is  necessary  to  ensure  the  continuity  of  the  right 
policies, to use the communication channels effectively and to manage the 
money market in line with the policy in order to regain the lost gains.
It is possible to analyze the  confidence of real and legal  persons in 
monetary policy by looking at the maturity structure of foreign currency 
deposit accounts.
According to BRSA FX deposit maturities data in the 2015-2021m3 
period, foreign currency deposits have increased continuously throughout 
the process. However, during this period, we see that there is a decrease by 
half in maturities of 1 year and above, and the demand accounts held for 
arbitrage doubled. The definite conclusion that we can draw in general is 
to say that the maturity of the deposits has shortened. This result means 
that  savers  lose  their  confidence  in  the  economy  over  time  and  their 
expectations are realized in a shorter time.
The fact that deposits are short-term and foreign currency loans are 
long-term creates difficulties in obtaining loans, increases the costs of the 
loans  given,  and  causes  inconsistency  in  the  balance  sheets  in  foreign 
currency in the banking sector (Gençay, 2007). Oya Gençay, in her study
in  2007,  stated  that  financial  dollarization  has  decreased  in  the  Turkish 
economy  since  2001,  the  share  of  one-month  FEDs  has  decreased,  and 
medium and long-term foreign currency loans have increased.
If we look at the domestic short-term loans in February 2021 period, 
we see that while the long-term loans increased by 1.307 million US dollars 
in the January 2021 period, the long-term loans decreased by 249 million 
US  dollars.  While  short-term  loans  obtained  from  abroad  increased  by 
USD 20 million, long-term loans increased by USD 415 million.
The share of short  term liabilities in total liabilities  decreased from 
43% in 2008 to 25% in 2015, subsequently increased to 33% in 2020 and 
decreased to about 32% in February 2021.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .167

According  to  CBRT  January  2021  data,  assets  increased  by  USD 
1.182 million, while liabilities increased by USD 1.493 million. Net FX 
Position  Deficit  was  realized  as  USD  155,343  million  and  increased  by 
USD 311 million compared to January 2021 period.
The  fact  that  liabilities  and  assets  do not  increase  at  the  same  rate 
causes  deterioration  in  the  balance  sheets  and  an  increase  in  the  current 
account  deficit.  In  case  the  savings  cannot  meet  the  liabilities,  foreign 
borrowing will increase. After a while, with the increase in exchange rates, 
economic actors with foreign exchange surplus will not want to sell their 
foreign  currency  speculatively.  Companies  that  want  to  pay  their  due 
foreign  currency  loans  will  choose  to  allocate  a  larger  share  of  their 
profitability and buy foreign currency.
If we  look  at  the  past  5 years  today,  after  the  increase  in  exchange 
rates experienced in 2018, a decrease is observed due to foreign currency 
loan utilization rates or lending rates. Likewise, it is understood that this 
demand shifted to domestic currency loans despite high interest rates. The 
share of foreign currency loans in total loan made a wide bump from USD 
160  million  in  January  2017  to  USD  185  million  in  August  2018. 
Subsequently declined to steady at about USD160 million over the last two 
years when total loan was about USD 640 milyon.
Portfolio flows of non-residents, which we call hot money and which 
are  generally  short-term,  are  important  foreign  currency  inputs  of  the 
country. The most frequently used instruments are stocks and GDS.
This review was based on the part of Kal's (2019) study, which deals 
with capital inflows. Partnering with companies with stocks is due to their 
expectations that the company has a future. GDS (Government Domestic 
Debt Securities) is an investment made in line with the expectations of the 
country's future financial structure and economy.
Markets are not entities with emotions. Markets price negative news 
and expectations without waiting for their realization. If it happens, it takes 
time for the exiting foreign investor to return. In our country, it has been 
observed that foreign investors have made a net portfolio exit for the last 3 
years. For this reason, we are faced with constantly increasing exchange 
rates in our country. Because when the foreign investor sells the securities 
in their hands, they exit the market by buying foreign currency. This causes 
the exchange rates to rise from the general level, the debt stock to increase 
and the residents to lose their confidence in the stability of the domestic 
currency.
Who  covers  the  foreign  exchange  demanded  after  these  portfolio 
sales? We can answer this question by looking at the trends in portfolio 
flow of non-residents (net movements) the first 5 months of 2021 (CBRT, 
2022a).
After  the  change  in  the  economic  management  in  November,  the 
capital flow has taken place. This positive expansion was reflected first on 
168 . Can Mavruk

stocks  and  then  on  GDS.  As  a  result,  with  hot  money  inflow,  the  new 
administration's  determined  attitude  and  a  stable  outlook  with  the right 
policies,  there  was  a  decrease  in  foreign  USD/TL  exchange  rates  from 
November 2020 to March 2021 and regressed to July 2020 prices.
As  a  result  of  the  deterioration  in  domestic,  international  portfolios 
and  domestic  capital  outflows  with  the  change  of  the  President  of  the 
Central Bank in March 2021, the exchange rate prices reached the lowest 
level of 7.28 in this period, but rose to 8.34 in one night.
Domestic residents evaluated the declining exchange rate prices with 
the change in economic management on November 8, 2020, as a buying 
opportunity and evaluated them in the direction of purchase until January 
8, 2021.
According to BRSA, the rising exchange rate prices with the change 
of the Governor of the Central Bank on March 20 caused a dissolution of 
approximately 10 billion dollars in foreign currency deposits in one week
(March  19-26,  2021  based  on  real  persons+commercial 
institutions+official and other institutions data).
The fact that official institutions do not sell any foreign currency, on 
the contrary, the increase in deposits as a result of purchases shows that the 
foreign exchange demand of foreign residents is met by domestic real and 
commercial  institutions.  Real  persons  and  commercial  institutions 
provided foreign currency to this demand by melting 3.55 percent of their 
deposits.

4. METHOD
4.1. Data
The overview of dollarization in the first part of the study is based on
the  data  extracted  from  Banking  Regulation  and  Supervision  Agency 
(BRSA), Central Bank of Turkey Economic Data (CBRT) and TR Ministry 
of Treasury and Finance.
For  short  run  and  long  run  regression  analysis,  monthly  USD 
exchange rate, CPI, FED and TRY deposits and weighted average interest 
rates  applied  to  USD  deposits  (flow%) all were  obtained  from  CBRT 
Electronic  Data  Distribution  System  (EVDS).  Since  M2Y  was  not 
available,  asset  dollarization  (AD)  data  is  calculated  by  FED/(M1+M2) 
where FED is foreign exchange deposits (demand and time deposits) and 
TRY is TL deposits,  M1  is  the  sum  of  currency  outside  banks,  demand 
deposits (TRY and FX), CBRT and banks, and M2 is the sum of FX and 
TRY time deposits. USD interest rates and TRY interest rates show similar 
behavior in the 2013m1-2021m6 period.
Table 1  demonstrates the  codes  of  the  variables  to  be  used  in  the 
models. 
 International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .169

Table 1: Variable codes and definitions
Variables Codes Definition
Asset  Monthly total foreign exchange deposits divided by the 
AD
dollarization sum of M1and M2.
Exchange rate EXCR Monthly CPI based USD/TRY exchange rates
Weighted average interest rates applied to monthly USD 
Interest rate USDIR
deposits (flow %)
Inflation CPI Monthly consumer price index

Behaviors of dollarization and CPI variables are observed in Figure 1.
In  Figure  1a,  monthly  CPI  has  two  temporary  shocks  in  the  2013m1-
2022m8 period. It shows a level stationary behavior about one percent up 
to 2021m6  before the second shock in 2021m12.  The two shocks in the 
same  months  were  also  observed  in  dollarization  time  series 
(FED/(FED+TRY)).  But  they  were  not  evident  in  FED/(M1+M2)  time 
series. Dollarization in either form seems to follow an upward drift in the 
same period. The second is used in this study.
Since monthly level CPI includes negative values (see Figure 1a) and 
logarithms of the negative values are undefined, logarithms were not taken. 
Instead, new monthly CPI series (2003=100) of Turkish Statistics Institute 
was used (see Figure 1b) and logarithms were taken. Logarithms are taken 
to more flatten or linearize the series (compare Figure 1a and Figure 2a).
15

1000
.6

.7
10

.6

800
.5
Dollarization

Dollarization
CPIm

.5

CPI
600
5
.4

.4

400
0

.3
.3

200
-5

2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1 2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1
date date

Dollarization CPIm Dollarization CPI

Figure 1a: Dollarization and CPI  Figure 1b: Dollarization and new CPI

Pairwise  graphs  of the  variables  in  logarithms  are  demonstrated  in 

Figure 2. Log of USD interest rates in Figure 2d seems to have a random 
walk with no positive or negative drift. The first difference (see Figure 3d)
seems to have zero mean. Constant should be included in the model. Log 
of dollarization and log of USD/TL exchange rates in Figure 2b follow an 
upward  and  downward  drifts but  not  deterministic  time  trend  and  both 
seem to be difference stationary.
120

120
1000

.7
100

100
.6
800
Dollarization

CPIEXCR
CPIEXCR

.5
CPI
600

80
80

.4
400

60
60

.3
200

40
40

2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1 2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1
date date

CPIEXCR CPI Dollarization CPIEXCR

Figure 2a: Exchange rate and CPI Figure 2b: Dollarization and EXCR

 170 . Can Mavruk

1.5
-.4

2.5

1
-.6

lnExchangeRate

6.5

lnusdir
-.8

.5
lnCPI
lnAD

1.5
-1

0
-1.2

1
5.5

-.5
-1.4

.5
2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1 2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1
date
months
lnAD lnCPI
lnfx lnusdir

Figure 2c: Dollarization and CPI Figure 2d: Dollarization and USDIR

Graphs  of  first  differences  are  demonstrated  in  Figure  3.  First
difference of lnAD in Figure 3a looks like white noise with zero mean. In 
Figure 3b and Figure 3c, first differences of lnCPI and ln EXCR seem to 
have nonzero means.
.15
.15
.1

.1
lnCPI, D
lnAD, D

.05

.05
0

0
-.05

2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1 2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1
date date

Figure 3a: Δ stationary lnAD Figure 3b: Δstationary lnCPI

.4
.1
.05

.2
lnCPIEXCR, D

D.lnusdir

0
-.05

-.2
-.1
-.15

-.4

2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1 2012m1 2014m1 2016m1 2018m1 2020m1 2022m1
date date

Figure 3c: Δstationary lnEXCR    Figure 3d: Δstationary lnUSDIR

Macro  economic  variables show  that  volatility  changes  over  time. 

Error term variances are both related to the error terms of past periods and 
show  fluctuations.  Due  to  large  differences  in  exchange  rates  and 
dollarization  rates,  logarithms  of  level  data  are  taken.  Although  large 
variance  inflation  factors  are  inevitable  especially  for  exchange  rates, 
heteroscedasticity of error terms can be corrected. 
Based  on  graphical  visualization, only  I(1)  (difference  stationary) 
variables are expected. However, unit root tests are needed for verification 
and further analysis is needed for model selection based on cointegration.

4.2. Unit Root Tests

Table  2 indicates  augmented  Dickey  Fuller  test  results  for each 
variable for model specification.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .171

Table 2: ADF Test Results and Stationarity
Optimal  Test  %5 CV  McKinnon p 
Variables Stationarity
lag statistic Interpolated DF value for z(t)
lnAD 2 -6.019 -2.889 0.0000 I(1)
lnEXCR 3 -7.098 -2.889 0.0000 I(1)
lnUSDIR 3 -3.573 -2.889 0.0058 I(1)
lnCPI 2 -2.991 -2.889 0.0357 I(1)

Asset dollarization (lnAD),  CPI  based  reel effective exchange  rates 

(lnEXCR),  USD  interest  rates  (lnUSDIR)  and  consumer  price  index 
(lnCPI)  became  stationary  after  first  differencing,  i.e.  I(1).  Thus, 
Autoregressive  Distributed  Lag  (ARDL(p,q))  model  can  be  specified  to 
determine the effects of exogenous (regressors, independent) variables on 
dependent variable. 

4.3. Econometric Model

In general, an ARDL(p,q) model has a form (Pesaran et al. 2001) of
𝑝𝑝 𝑞𝑞
𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡 = 𝛼𝛼0 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=0 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖′ 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 +𝛾𝛾1 𝑌𝑌𝑡𝑡−1 + 𝛾𝛾2 𝑋𝑋1,𝑡𝑡−1 + 𝛾𝛾3 𝑋𝑋2,𝑡𝑡−1 + 𝛾𝛾4 𝑋𝑋3,𝑡𝑡−1 +
𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 ~𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖(𝜇𝜇, 𝜎𝜎 2 ) (1)

where Y is the vector of the variables in the study, 𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 is disturbance 

(white noise) term and X is a vector of exogenous variables, i is the number 
of the variables in the model, p and q are optimal lag orders of Y and X, α
and β are ARDL short  run  coefficients,  and  𝛾𝛾𝑖𝑖 are  ARDL  long  run 
coefficients.
ARDL model includes lagged values of endogenous and exogenous 
variables. For cointegration, bound test of Pesaran, Shin and Smith (2001) 
is  used  to  determine  whether  there  is  cointegration  or  not  based  on 
hypotheses  H0:No  cointegration  and  H1:There  is  cointegration.  More 
specifically, 𝐻𝐻0 : 𝛾𝛾1 = 𝛾𝛾2 = 𝛾𝛾3 = 𝛾𝛾4 = 0 and  𝐻𝐻1 : 𝛾𝛾1 ≠ 𝛾𝛾2 ≠ 𝛾𝛾3 ≠ 𝛾𝛾4 ≠ 0
where 𝛾𝛾𝑖𝑖 are long run coefficients of the variables and i is the number of 
variables.
Where F statistic less than  the  critical  values for the upper  bounds, 
there is no cointegration. In this case, ARDL model is estimated for short
run relationship. Where F statistic greater than the critical values for the 
upper bounds, there is cointegration. In this case, error correction model 
(ECM) is estimated for long run relationship.
Long run terms in (1) are combined as error correction term (𝑒𝑒̂𝑡𝑡−1 ) to
generate ECM model as
𝑝𝑝 𝑞𝑞
𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡 = 𝛼𝛼0 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=0 𝛽𝛽𝑖𝑖′ 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + 𝜆𝜆𝑒𝑒̂𝑡𝑡−1 + 𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 (2)
172 . Can Mavruk

Where cointegration  is 𝑒𝑒̂𝑡𝑡−1 = 𝑌𝑌𝑡𝑡−1 − (𝛽𝛽0 + 𝛽𝛽1 𝑋𝑋1,𝑡𝑡−1 + 𝛽𝛽2 𝑋𝑋2,𝑡𝑡−1 +

𝑝𝑝
𝛽𝛽3 𝑋𝑋3,𝑡𝑡−1 ) lagged  OLS  residuals  and  adjustment  𝜆𝜆 = 1 − ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 and 
cointegration. If a short run parameter is significant, there is a short run 
causality from the explanatory variable to dependent variable. If t statistic 
of λ is significant, there is Granger-causality in at least one direction. If λ
is positive  and  significant,  then  the  model  is  said  to  be  unstable  and 
explosive. Significance implies that there is a long run causality among the 
variables  but  no  long  run  convergence.  Significant  long  run  coefficient 
implies  that  there  is  long  run  causality  from  independent  variable  to 
dependent  variable.  This  means  independent  variable  Granger-causes 
dependent variable in the long run. On the other hand, a significant short 
run  coefficient  implies  short  run  causality  from  independent  variable  to 
dependent  variable.    Stability  of  the  coefficients  in  the  models  is  tested 
using cumulative sum (CUSUM) squared of residuals. To observe stability 
CUSUM squared graph is generated.
Before  bound  test  is  employed  for  cointegration, optimal  lag  is 
selected based on the information criteria AIC, HQIC and SBIC, and LR 
test. For  monthly VAR  models, the Akaike Information  Criterion (AIC) 
criteria is recommended for optimal lag selection because it produces the 
most accurate structural and semi-structural impulse response estimates for 
realistic sample sizes (Ivanov & Kilian, 2001). 
Thus, before model selection, optimal lag selections for monthly data
based on AIC are found. When AD is dependent variable, optimal lags for 
asset  dollarization  (AD),  real  effective  exchange  rate (EXCR),  CPI  and
USD interest rate (USDIR) are (1 1 0 2). ARDL short run models indicate 
optimal lags automatically based on AIC. Then these optimal lags are used 
in the error correction and bound test ARDL models to determine whether 
there is cointegration or not. 

Table 3: Cointegration and Specified Models
Dependent variable Opt Lag F-stat Cointegration Model
lnAD 1 1 0 2 3.93 No ARDL-SR
lnCPI 4 4 2 0 3.02 No ARDL-SR
lnEXCR 2 4 4 3 8.97 Yes ECM-LR
lnUSDIR 3 1 4 2 2.36 No ARDL-SR

Table 3 shows bound test results for the variables of the study. F-stat
was  less  than  I(1)  upper  bound  except  for  EXCR.  Thus,  ECM  long  run 
model was specified for lnEXCR as dependent variable and ARDL short 
run model was specified for the other variables as dependent variables. The 
results are shown in Table 3. Since all models are not ECM, VECM cannot 
be run.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .173

5. ECONOMETRIC MODEL APPLICATIONS

5.1. Dollarization as Dependent Variable
Interpretations of the model estimation results are the same as OLS 
interpretations. Bound test with asset dollarization as dependent variable 
does  not  reject  the  null  hypothesis  of  no  cointegration.  Thus,  short  run 
ARDL model can be written as 
𝑝𝑝 𝑞𝑞1
∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡 = 𝛼𝛼0 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=0 𝛽𝛽1𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 +
∑𝑞𝑞2 𝑞𝑞3
𝑖𝑖=0 𝛽𝛽2𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=0 𝛽𝛽3𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + 𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 (3)

Bound test results for dollarization as dependent variable show an F-
value (3.91) to be less than the upper bound critical values at 5, 2.5 and 1 
percent. But the F value was greater than the upper bound critical value at 
10 percent. Thus, there is no levels of relationship (no cointegration) and 
the short run ARDL(1 1 0 2) regression model is run. In this model, optimal 
lags (1 1 0 2) means p=1, q1=1, q2=0 and q3=2. The estimated coefficients
and statistics of the short run regression model is shown in Table 4.
Table 4: Short run ARDL model results for dollarization
lnAD  Optimal lag Coefficient se t
lnAD L1 p=1 .888 .049 18.06*
lnEXCR  q1=0 -.535 .067 -7.96*
lnEXCR L1 q1=1 .378 .079 4.81*
lnCPI  q2=0 -.030 .024 -1.29
lnUSDIR q3=0 -.072 .026 -2.80*
lnUSDIR L1 q3=1 .122 .043 2.81*
lnUSDIR L2 q3=2 -.050 .027 -1.86
constant .769 .283 2.72*

All significant  short  run  coefficients are  in  line  with  theory.  The 
coefficient of the first lag of lnAD is positive and significant. A percantage 
change in the first lag of AD is associated with a 0.888 percent increase in 
AD whereas  a  percentage  increase  in  EXCR  decreases AD by  0.535
percent.
Diagnositics showed that there was no evidence of serial correlation 
based on DW d-statistics (1.81) which was confirmed by Beuch-Godfrey 
LM  autocorrelation  test (p-values  are  shown  in  Table  5).  Breusch-
Pagan/Cook-Weisberg  test  for  heteroskedasticity  did  not  reject  the  null 
hypothesis  of  constant  variance.  The  variables  had  no  unrestricted 
heteroskedasticity based on Cameron-Trivedi’s decomposition of IM test 
and White test. There was no autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity 
(ARCH)  effect based on  LM  test. Residuals were  normally  distributed 
based on JB test.
174 . Can Mavruk

Table 5: Diagnostics for dollarization model
Chi2(df) p-value
White Test 46.91 .0860
Breusch-Godfrey LM (lags) 1.409(1) .2352
1.765(2) .4138
1.836(3) .6071
3.887(4) .4215

Figure 4 indicates that the short run model is not stable because there 
is divergence from the five percent stability bounds.
CUSUM squared

1
CUSUM squared

2013m6 2022m8
date

Figure 4: Cusum Square Test For Stability of Dollarization

5.2. CPI as Dependent Variable

Bound  test  with  CPI  as  dependent  variable does  not reject  the  null 
hypothesis  of  no  cointegration.  Thus,  short  run  ARDL  model can  be 
written as 
𝑝𝑝 𝑞𝑞
∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡 = 𝛼𝛼0 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽1𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 +
∑𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽2𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽3𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 +𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 (4)
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .175

Table 6: Short run ARDL model results for inflation
lnCPI Coefficient se t
lnCPI L1 1.55 .094 16.58*
lnCPI L2 -.626 .177 -3.54*
lnCPI L3 .361 .159 2.27**
lnCPI L4 -.335 .079 -4.24*
lnAD  -.055 .042 -1.30
lnAD L1 .179 .057 3.12*
lnAD L2 -.160 .060 -2.68*
lnAD L3 -.000 .061 -0.00
lnAD L4 .064 .043 1.47
lnEXCR -.141 .040 -3.51*
lnEXCR L1 -.007 .060 -0.12
lnEXCR L2 .102 .043 2.38**
lnUSDIR -.004 .002 -1.42
constant .497 .188 2.64*

Table 6 shows the results of Model (4). All short run coefficients are 
significant except for interest rate. Every 10 percent increase in the first lag 
of CPI is associated with a 15.50 percent increase in current CPI whereas 
for  every  10  percent  increase  in  the  first  lag  of  dollarization,  inflation 
increases  by  about  1.79  percent  in  the  short  run.  For  every  10  percent 
increase  in  EXCR,  CPI  decreases  by  1.41  percent  in  the  short  run.  For 
every 10 percent  increase  in  the  second  lag  of  EXCR,  CPI  increases  by 
1.02 percent in the short run. 
Diagnositics showed that there was no evidence of serial correlation 
based on DW d-statistics (1.87) which was confirmed by Beuch-Godfrey 
LM autocorrelation test (in which p values are 0.09, 0.245, 247, 387 for 
lags 1, 2, 3, 4). Variables were homoskedastic based on Cameron-Trivedi’s
decomposition  of  IM  test  and  White  test.  There  was  no  autoregressive 
conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) effect. 
Cusum squared graph showed divergence from five percent stability 
bounds, thus the model was not stable.

5.3. Exchange Rate as Dependent Variable

ARDL short run model indicates automatic optimal lag selection as (2 
4  1  2)  for  lnEXCR,  lnAD,  lnCPI  and  lnUSDIR  respectively.  Running 
ARDL error correction and bound test with these optimal lags indicates an 
F-test  value  (6.08)  greater  than upper  bound  critical  values (3.77,  4.35, 
4.89, 5.61). This rejects the null hypothesis of no cointegration. Thus, error 
correction model is run with N=112 for the 2013m5-2022m8 period. The 
results of model (5) are demonstrated in Table 7.
𝑝𝑝 𝑞𝑞
∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡 = 𝛼𝛼0 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽1𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 +
∑𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽2𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽3𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + 𝜆𝜆𝑒𝑒̂𝑡𝑡−1 + 𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 (5)
176 . Can Mavruk

In Table 7, error adjustment term is negative and significant. Thus, the 
model is expected ro be stable. To observe stability, CUSUM square graph 
is generated. Significance of adjustment term implies that there is long run 
convergence among the variables and previous errors will be corrected in 
the present period. The speed of adjustment is 23.6 percent which means 
that 23.60 percent of errors will be corrected in one period. Only long run 
coefficient  of  lnCPI  is  significant.  This  implies  that  there  is  long run 
causality from CPI to EXCR, i.e., CPI Granger-cause EXCR in the long 
run. On the other hand, short run model indicates significant coefficients 
for dollarization, exchange rate and cpi. This implies short run causality 
from these variables to EXCR.  
For  every  10  percent  increase  in  CPI,  reel  effective  exchange  rate 
decreases by 7.86 percent in the long run. For every 10 percent increase in 
the first and third lags of CPI, real effective exchange rates increases by 
11.12 and 5.34 percent in the short run. For every 10 percent increase in 
dollarization, real effective echange rate decreases by 5.67 percent in the 
short run. For every 10 percent increase in current USD interest rates, real 
effective exchange rate decreases by about one percent and for every 10 
percent  increase  in  the  first  lag  of  USD  interest  rates,  real  effective 
exchange rate increases by 0.79 percent.

Table 7: Long run EC model results for exchange rates
lnEXCR  Coefficient se t
Adjustment
lnEXCR L1 -.236 .060 -3.94*
Long Run
lnAD .198 .283 0.70
lnCPI -.786 .197 -4.00*
lnUSDIR .022 .025 0.89
Short Run
lnEXCR LD .171 .106 1.62
lnCPI D1 -.529 .206 -2.56**
lnCPI LD 1.112 .221 5.06*
lnCPI L2D -.353 .243 -1.47
lnCPI L3D .534 .207 -2.25**
lnAD D1 -.567 .082 -6.88*
lnAD LD -.141 .106 -1.33
lnAD L2D -.130 .097 -1.35
lnAD L3D -.211 .099 -2.13*
lnUSDIR D1 -.098 .027 -3.58*
lnUSDIR LD .079 .027 2.86*
lnUSDIR L2D .040 .030 1.34
Constant 2.12 .378 5.61*
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .177

Diagnositics showed that there was no evidence of serial correlation 
based  on  DW  d-statistics  which  was  confirmed  by  Beuch-Godfrey  LM 
autocorrelation test and variables were homoskedastic based on Cameron-
Trivedi’s decomposition of IM test and White test. There  was  no 
autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) effect. 
Although  cusum  squared  graph  in  Figure  5 shows  divergence  from 
five percent  stability bounds, the model is not stable although  there is a 
reversion back to stability strip.
CUSUM squared

1
CUSUM squared

2013m6 2022m8
date

Figure 5: Stability of real effective exchange rate

5.4. USD Interest Rate As Dependent Variable

Bound  test  with  USD  interest  rate  as  dependent  variable  does  not 
reject the null hypothesis of no cointegration. Thus, short run ARDL model 
can be written as 
𝑝𝑝 𝑞𝑞
∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡 = 𝛼𝛼0 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛼𝛼𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽1𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 +
𝑞𝑞 𝑞𝑞
∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽2𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖=1 𝛽𝛽3𝑖𝑖 ∆𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑡𝑡−𝑖𝑖 +𝜀𝜀𝑡𝑡 (6)

Table 8 shows model estimation results which indicate that short run 
coefficients of two previous lags of USDIR, AD and EXCR are significant. 
CPI is not significant, thus inflation does not cause interest rates. Every 10 
percent increase in the first lag of USDIR is associated with a 12 percent 
increase in current USDIR in the short run. For every 10 percent increase 
in  real  effective exchange  rates,  USD  interest  rates decreases  by  10.68
percent in the short run.
178 . Can Mavruk

Table 8: Short run ARDL model results for USD interest rates
lnUSDIR Coefficient se t
lnUSDIR L1 1.204 .095 12.72*
lnUSDIR L2 .092 .153 0.60
lnUSDIR L3 -.327 .091 -3.57*
lnCPI  -.263 .736 -0.36
lnCPI L1 .662 1.31 0.50
lnCPI L2 .002 1.36 0.00
lnCPI L3 1.895 1.19 1.58
lnCPI L4 -2.337 .657 -3.55*
lnAD  -.500 .331 -1.51
lnAD L1 .524 .336 1.56
lnEXCR -1.068 .331 -3.22*
lnEXCR L1 .153 .487 0.31
lnEXCR L2 1.024 .338 3.02*
constant -.223 1.26 -0.18

Diagnositics showed that there was no evidence of serial correlation 
based on DW d-statistics (2.02) which was confirmed by Beuch-Godfrey 
LM  autocorrelation  test.  Breusch-Pagan/Cook-Weisberg  test  for 
heteroskedasticity did not reject the null hypothesis of constant variance. 
The  variables  were  homoskedastic  based  on  White  test.  There  was  no 
autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) effect based on LM 
test. Residuals were normally distributed based on JB test.
Cusum  squared  graph showed divergence  from  the  five  percent 
stability  bounds.  Thus, the  model was not  stable although there  was a
reversion back to stability. 

CONCLUSION
This  study  investigated  the  relationship  between  macroeconomic 
variables,  namely  dollarization,  real  effective  exchange  rate,  consumer 
price index (inflation) and USD interest rate. The signs of the coefficients 
were in line with the theory. 
We showed that there was short run causality from exchange rate and 
interest rate to dollarization; from dollarization, inflation and interest rate 
to  exchange  rate;  from  exchange  rates  to  interest  rates;  and  from 
dollarization  and exchange  rates  to  inflation.  Inflation  does  not  cause
interest, but it causes exchange rates in the long run. It seems that no model 
is  stable. However,  CPI  based  real  effective  exchange  rate  seems  to  be 
more  stable  despite  high  CPI.  A  monetary  policy  lowering  CPI  would 
stabilize exchange rates.
The reason for the residents of Turkey to accumulate their assets in 
foreign currency is due to interest rates and exchange rate volatility in the 
short  run.  Dollarization  in  previous  period  had  the  stongest  effect  on 
dollarization in current period. For every 10 percent increase in previous 
lag  of  dollarization,  dollarization  increased  by  about  nine  percent.  The 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .179

effect of exchange rate was less. For every 10 percent increase in previous 
lag of real effective exchange rates, dollarization increased by about four 
percent. Although  the  effect  of  inflation  did  not  show  significance  on 
dollarization,  the  upward  trend  of  inflation  caused  foreign  currency 
deposits to remain intact. The effect of USD interest rates was lower than 
that of real effective exchange rates. 
Domestic  residents'  evaluation  rates  of  these  interest  rates  are  very 
low. High TRY interest rates provided only a periodical hot money flow 
from outside. In the interest rate hike in September 2018, when the policy 
rate was increased from 17.75 to 24 percent, there was a decrease in foreign 
currency deposits ($1.70 billion), but the foreign exchange sold in a two-
week period was replaced. 
When  non-residents  wanted  to  convert  their  cash,  which  was 
generated  by  selling  their  securities  with  the  decision  to  withdraw  their 
capital  from  the  markets,  exchange  rates  increased.  However,  domestic 
residents  did  not  meet  this  demand,  but  there  was  a  limited  decrease  in 
deposits. There were purchases due to the decrease in the exchange rate. 
The percentage  meltdown in deposits of domestic residents was a  much 
higher exchange rate level than expected. The fact that foreign currency 
purchases  at  the  highest  exchange  rate  in  history,  when  the  study  was 
conducted, showed no positive views on the future. As of the first week of
June 2021, more than half of domestic residents' deposits was in foreign 
currency. 
The rate of short-term liabilities of the economy administration should 
be  reduced  as  soon  as  possible  and  steps  should  be  taken  to  reduce 
borrowing  interest  rates.  By  using  interest,  one  of  the  monetary  policy 
tools, a permanent decrease in the exchange rate cannot be achieved, and 
volatility  cannot  be  narrowed.  Turkey  is  a  country  that  can  produce  a 
current account surplus by closing all its liabilities together with the asset 
stock of its residents. First of all, the economy management has to present 
a strong and stable Turkish Lira in the future projections of the savers.
180 . Can Mavruk

REFERENCES

Acar, B.N. & Abuk, D.A. (2004). Türkiye’de para ikamesi olgusu ve para talebi 

fonksiyonunun istikrarı. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler
Fakültesi Dergisi, 19(2), 33-55.

Adanur,  A.N.  (2001).  Para  ikamesi süreci ve Türkiye örneği. Celal Bayar
Üniversitesi Yönetim ve Ekonomi Dergisi, 7(1), 197-207.

Akçay, C.O., Alper, E.C. &  Karasulu,  M.  (1997).  Currency  substitution  and 
exchange  rate instability: The Turkish case. European Economic Review,
41, 827–835.

Aktaş, R. & Aydınlık, Ü. (2022). Regıonal dollarization differences and

determinants: The case of Turkey. Öneri Dergisi, 17(57), 295-315.  DOI: 
10.14783/maruoneri.1010252

Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, BRSA. Ankara. BDDK Aylık ve

Haftalık Bülten. Retrieved from bddk.org.tr. Accessed: May 2021.

Bărbuță-Mișu, N., Güleç, T.C., Duramaz, S. & Virlanuta, F.O. (2020).

Determinants  of  dollarization  of  savings  in  the  Turkish  economy. 
Sustainability, 12, 6141. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156141.

Civcir, İ. (2003). Dollarization and its long-run  determinants  in  Turkey. 

http://econturk.org/Turkish economy/Dollarization_in_Turkey_MEP.pdf.

Darıcı, B. (2004). Para ikamesi olgusu ve Türkiye ekonomisi üzerine etkileri.

Yüksek Lisans Tezi. Balıkesir

Dumrul, C. (2010). Türk ekonomisinde para ikamesinin belirleyicilerinin sınır

testi  yaklaşımı ile eş-bütünleşme analizi. Erciyes Üniversitesi İktisadi ve
İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 35, 199-23.

Eğilmez, M. (2021). Bir yılda vadesi gelecek dış yükümlülüklerimiz,  Kendime 

Yazılar / mahfieğilmez.com

Ertürk, E. (1991). Türkiye iktisadında yeni bir boyut, para ikamesi: Kavram teori, 

oluşum süreci ve sonuçları. Bursa: Uludağ Yayınları.

Gençay,  O.  (2007).  Finansal  dolarizasyon ve finansal istikrar arasındaki ilişki:

Türkiye değerlendirmesi. Ankara. Uzmanlık Yeterlilik Tezi

Hakioğlu, D. (1988). Türkiye’de para ikamesi. TCMB tartışma tebliği, No. 8801.

Hekim, D. (2008). Para ikamesi histerisi ve Türkiye örneği. Eskişehir Osmangazi

Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 3(1), 27-43.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .181

Honohan,  P.  &  Shi,  A  (2001).  Deposit  dollarization  and  the  financial  sector  in 
emerging economies. Araştırma Tebliğ, Dünya Bankası No: WPS2748

Ivanov, V. & Kilian, L. (2001). A Practitioner's Guide to Lag-Order Selection for 
Vector  Autoregressions.  CEPR  Discussion  Papers  2685,  C.E.P.R. 
Discussion Papers.

Ize, A. & Levy-Yeyati, E. (2003). Financial dollarization. Journal of International
Economics, 59, 323-347.

Kal, S. (2019). 2003-2018 Dönemi Türk ekonomisinde dolarizasyon, kısa vadeli

sermaye hareketleri ve kur oynaklığı ilişkisi. İstanbul İktisat Dergisi, 69(2), 
357-377. 

Küçükkale, Y. (1996). Türkiye’de para ikamesi. KTÜ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.

Yüksek Lisans Tezi. Trabzon

Luca, A. & Petrova, I. (2003). Credit dollarization in transition economies: Is it
firms‘ or banks’ fault? Retrieved from 
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.200.3391&rep=
rep1&type=pdf

Oomes,  N.  &  Ohnsorge,  F.  (2005).  Money  demand  and  inflation  in  dollarized 
economies: The case of Russia. Çalışma Tebliği, IMF, No: 05/144.

Özkaramete Coşkun, N. (1999).  Türkiye'de dolarizasyon  ve  etkileri. Erciyes

Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 15, 249-255.

Saraç, T.B.  (2010).  Enflasyon  ve  para ikamesi ilişkisi: Türkiye ekonomisi için
ekonometrik bir analiz (1994:01-2009:12). Ekonomi Bilimleri Dergisi, 2(1), 
147-152.

Sarı, İ. (2007). Makroekonomik değişkenlerin dolarizasyon sürecine etkisi:

Ampirik bir yaklaşım. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Merkez Bankası Piyasalar Genel
Müdürlüğü, Ankara.

Taşçı, HM., Darıcı B. & Erbaykal E. (2009). Ters para ikamesi süreci ve döviz

kuru oynaklığı: Türkiye örneği, Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi, 10(1), 102-107.

Taşçı, H.M. & Darıcı, B. (2008). Türkiye'de para ikamesi ve ters para ikamesinin 

döviz kuru aracılığıyla senyoraj geliri üzerine  etkisi. Süleyman Demirel
Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 13(3): 89-104.

Terzi, H. & Kurt, S. (2007). Dolarizasyon, enflasyon ve reel döviz kuru ilişkisinin

VAR analizi ile tespiti. 8. Türkiye Ekonometri ve İstatistik Kongresi İnönü
Üniversitesi, Malatya. Tradingeconomics.com. Accessed: May 2021.

Tufaner,  M.B.  (2021).  The  determinants  of  dollarization  in  Turkey:  An

econometric analysis. Econder International Academic Journal, 5(2), 108-
118. DOI:10.35342/econder.93798.
182 . Can Mavruk

Türkiye  Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası-TCMB  (2021),  Elektronik  veri dağıtım

sistemi. https://evds2.tcmb.gov.tr/.

Us, V. & Kıvılcım, M.Ö. (2005). Modeling the persistence of currency substitution 

in the Turkish economy. Yapı Kredi Economic Review, 16(1), 3-16. 

Yamak, N. & Yamak, R. (1997). Para ikamesi (dolarizasyon) ve Türkiye örneği.

Doç. Dr. Yaman Aşıkoğlu’na Armağan, SPK Yayın, 56, 1-10.

Yeyati,  E.L. & Sturzeneger,  F.  (Ed.).  (2003).  Dollarization  debates  and  policy 
options. Macssachussets: MIT Publishing.

Yılmaz, M. & Uysal,  D.  (2019).  Türkiye’de dolarizasyon  ve  enflasyon 

ilişkisi. İktisadi İdari ve Siyasal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 4(10), 286-306.

Zeybek,  H.  (2014).  Dolarizasyon  ve  finansman  maliyeti.  İşletme ve İktisat

Çalışmaları Dergisi, 2(2), 44-61.
 CHAPTER 10
TRANSFERABLE UTILITY GAMES
AND THE EXISTENCE OF CORE
ALLOCATIONS

Mehmet KARAKAYA1

1  Asst. Prof., Department of Economics, İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University,

İzmir, Türkiye.
e-mail: [email protected], ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9495-2242.
184 . Mehmet Karakaya

1. Introduction

Cooperative  games  model  and  study the  collaboration  and 

cooperation  of  agents  at  which  people  form  coalitions  (Shapley 1953, 
Shapley 1969, Moulin 1988). A transferable utility version of a cooperative 
game consists of a finite set of agents and a value (characteristic) function 
which assigns a real number to every coalition. The real number assigned 
to a coalition by the value function is called the worth of the coalition, so 
the worth of a coalition (or what a coalition can achieve in a cooperative 
game) can be expressed by a single number. Given a transferable utility 
game, the main concerns are what coalitions will form and how the worth 
of a coalition will be distributed among the players of the coalition (Moulin
1988, Peters 2008) .

For  a  given  transferable  utility  game  it  is  assumed  that  the  grand 
coalition (which contains the set of all agents) forms. The assumption that 
the  grand  coalition  forms  is  plausible  if  it  is  considered  that  larger 
coalitions have bigger values. Then, the main concern is how the value of 
the grand coalition will be distributed to the set of all agents. A distribution 
of  the  value  of  grand  coalition  is  called  an  allocation.  We  want  that  an 
allocation to be stable in the sense that no coalition of the player set blocks 
it.  An  allocation  which  is  not  blocked  by  any  coalition  is  called  a  core 
allocation.

A  transferable  utility  game  may  not  have  a  core  allocation.  So,  the 
conditions guaranteing the existence of core allocations have been studied 
in the literature. We focus on the existence of core allocations in this paper 
and  revisit  conditions  (convexity  and  balancedness)  that  guarantee  the 
existence of core allocations. Convexity is a sufficient but not a necessary 
condition. Balancedness is both a necessary and sufficient condition for the 
existence of a core allocation.

Shapley (1971) showed that if a transferable utility game is convex 

then it has non-empty core allocations. That is,  convexity is a sufficient 
condition  for  a  transferable  utility  game  to  have  a  core  allocation. 
However, convexity is not a necessary condition, i.e., it is possible that a 
transferable utility game is a non-convex game and it has non-empty core 
allocations. A transferable utility game is convex if it satisfies that each 
player’s marginal contributions to larger coalitions do not decrease.

Bondareva (1962)  and  Shapley (1967)  showed that  a  transferable 

utility  game  has  a  non-empty  core  if  and only  if  it  is  balanced,  i.e., 
balancedness is a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a 
core allocation. So, the balancedness condition is weaker than convexity, 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .185

that is, every convex transferable utility game is balanced but the converse 
is not true.

The paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, we first introduce the 
formal  definitions  of  transferable  utility  game  and  give  examples  of 
unanimity game, majority game, and gloves game, and then we provide the 
core  concept  with  examples. In  Section  3,  we  introduce  convexity 
condition  with  examples  of  convex  and  non-convex  transferable  utility 
games. In Section 4, the necessary and sufficient condition, balancedness, 
is  introduced  and  examples  of  balanced  and  non-balanced  transferable 
utility games are given. Section 5 concludes.

2. Transferable Utility Games and Core Allocations

Let  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛} be a finite set of agents with  𝑛𝑛 ≥ 2 and a non-

empty  𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁 denote  a  coalition  of  𝑁𝑁 .  Let  𝑣𝑣: 2𝑁𝑁 → ℝ be  a  value 
(characteristic)  function  that  specifies  a  real  number  𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) for  each 
coalition  𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁 and  we  assume  that  𝑣𝑣(∅) = 0 .  For  any  non-empty 
coalition  𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁, the value  𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) is the worth of coalition  𝑆𝑆.

Definition 1. Transferable Utility Game

A  transferable  utility  (TU)  game  is  a  pair  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) that  consists  of  a 
finite  set  of  agents  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2, … , 𝑛𝑛} and  a  characteristic  function  𝑣𝑣 that
assigns a value for each coalition of  𝑁𝑁.
We now provide some examples of transferable utility games.

Example 1. Unanimity game

Let  𝑁𝑁 = {1, … , 𝑛𝑛} be  a  finite  set  of  agents.  The  value  function 
𝑣𝑣: 2𝑁𝑁 → ℝ is such that it assigns the value of one to the grand coalition  𝑁𝑁
and for any other coalition it assigns the value of zero. That is, for the grand 
coalition  𝑁𝑁 we  have  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1 and  for  any  other  coalition  𝑆𝑆 ⊊ 𝑁𝑁 we 
have  𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 0.
The pair  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) is now a unanimity game, where a positive value is 
obtained  if  the  society  as  a  whole  unanimously  agree  (only  the  grand 
coalition has a positive value). 

Example 2. Majority game

Let  𝑁𝑁 = {1, … , 𝑛𝑛} be  a  finite  set  of  agents.  The  value  function  𝑣𝑣
assigns  the  value  of  one  to  every  coalition  with  majority  and  zero 
otherwise,  that  is,  for  any  ∅ ≠ 𝑆𝑆 ⊊ 𝑁𝑁 ,  𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 1 if |𝑆𝑆| > 𝑛𝑛/2 ,  and 
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 0 if |𝑆𝑆| ≤ 𝑛𝑛/2 .  That  is,  only  coalitions  with  majority  have  a 
positive  value  of  one  and  other  non-majority  coalitions  have  a  value  of 
zero.
186 . Mehmet Karakaya

The pair  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) is called the majority game. 

Example 3. Gloves game

Let  𝑁𝑁 = {1, … , 𝑛𝑛} be a finite set of agents. Each agent has either a 
right-hand glove or a left-hand glove. Let  𝐿𝐿 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁 denote the set of agents 
each of whom has a left-hand glove and  𝑅𝑅 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁 denote the set of agents 
each of whom has a right-hand glove. 

Note that  𝐿𝐿 ∪ 𝑅𝑅 = 𝑁𝑁. The value function  𝑣𝑣 is defined as follows: for 

any  ∅ ≠ 𝑆𝑆 ⊊ 𝑁𝑁,  𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚{|𝑆𝑆 ∩ 𝐿𝐿|, |𝑆𝑆 ∩ 𝑅𝑅|}. The value of a coalition is 
equal  to  the  number  of  pairs  of  gloves  it  has.  For  instance,  consider  a 
coalition with five agents such that three agents have left-hand gloves and 
two agents have right-hand gloves. The number of pairs of gloves that this 
coalition has is two, so the value of this coalition is two. 

2.1 Core Allocations

We provide the definition of a core allocation and give some examples 
of transferable utility game with empty and non-empty core allocations in 
this section.

Given a transferable utility game  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣), a payoff distribution (an

allocation) is  a  vector  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 ) ∈ ℝ𝑛𝑛 which  assigns  a  real 
payoff for each agent in the society. That is, the grand coalition  𝑁𝑁 forms 
and its value  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) is allocated to members of  𝑁𝑁, where an agent  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁
gets  𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 ∈ ℝ.

We  say  that  an  allocation  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 ) is efficient if

∑𝑖𝑖∈𝑁𝑁 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁),  and  an  allocation  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 ) is individually
rational if for each  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁,  𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 ≥ 𝑣𝑣({𝑖𝑖}).

Let  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) be  a  TU  game  and  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 ) ∈ ℝ𝑛𝑛 an 
allocation, a coalition  𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁 blocks the allocation  𝑥𝑥 if
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) > ∑𝑖𝑖∈𝑆𝑆 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 = 𝑥𝑥𝑆𝑆 .

When  a  coalition  ∅ ≠ 𝑆𝑆 blocks  an  allocation  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 ), 

coalition  𝑆𝑆 leaves  from  society  and  generates  the  value  𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) itself  and 
then players in  𝑆𝑆 distribute this value among themselves in a way that each 
player in  𝑆𝑆 gets strictly better off.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .187

Definition 2. Core allocation

Let  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) be  a  transferable  utility  game.  An  allocation  𝑥𝑥 =
(𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 ) ∈ ℝ𝑛𝑛 is a core allocation (or is in the core) for  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) if it
is  not  blocked  by  any  coalition,  i.e.,  for  every  𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁 we  have  that 
∑𝑖𝑖∈𝑆𝑆 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 ≥ 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆). Let  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) denote the set of all core allocations for 
(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣). Then, 
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = {𝑥𝑥 ∈ ℝ𝑛𝑛 | ∑ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) and for each 𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁, ∑ 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 ≥ 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆)}.
𝑖𝑖∈𝑁𝑁 𝑖𝑖∈𝑆𝑆

Note  that  for  an  allocation  𝑥𝑥 to  be  a  core  allocation  2𝑛𝑛 − 1
inequalities  (one  inequality  for  each  coalition)  have  to  be  satisfied. 
Moreover,  for  a  core  allocation  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 ) we  have  that 
∑𝑖𝑖∈𝑁𝑁 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁), i.e., a core allocation must be efficient. We also note that 
a core allocation is individually  rational, that is, no singleton player can 
block a core allocation.

A transferable utility game might not have a core allocation as shown 
in the following example.

Example 4. A TU game (𝑵𝑵, 𝒗𝒗) with 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪(𝑵𝑵, 𝒗𝒗) = ∅.

Consider  a  transferable  utility  game  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) ,  where  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3}
and  the  value  function  𝑣𝑣 is  as  follows:  𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0, 
𝑣𝑣({1,2}) = 3/4,  𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 2/3, and  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

An  allocation  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , 𝑥𝑥3 ) ∈ 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) if  the  following 
inequalities are hold:
𝑥𝑥1 ≥ 0,      𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 0,      𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 0,      𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 3/4,      𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 2/3,     
𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 2/3, and  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 = 1.

Inequalities  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 3/4 ,    𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 2/3 ,  and  𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 2/3
imply that  2(𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ) ≥ 25/12.
So,  we  have  that  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 25/24 which  is  impossible  since  we 
have 𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1. Hence, there is no core allocation for this 
game, i.e.,  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅.

The  following  example  shows  that  the  majority  game  with  three 
players has no core allocations.

Example 5. A Majority game with three players

We  consider  Example  2  with  three  players.  Let  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3} and 
coalitions with at least two players have a value of one and other coalitions 
have a value of zero. So, the value function  𝑣𝑣 is as follows:
188 . Mehmet Karakaya

𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0, and  𝑣𝑣({1,2}) = 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) =

𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

An  allocation  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , 𝑥𝑥3 ) ∈ 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) if  the  following 
inequalities are hold
𝑥𝑥1 ≥ 0 ,      𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 0 ,      𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 0 ,      𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 1 ,      𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1 ,     
𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1, and 𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 = 1.

Inequalities  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 1 ,    𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1 ,  and  𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1 imply 

that 2(𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ) ≥ 3. So, we have that  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 3/2 which is 
in  contradiction  with  that  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.  Hence,  there  is  no 
core allocation for this game, i.e.,  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅.

We now see that a glove game with three players has a unique core 
allocation.

Example 6. A Glove game with 3 players

We  consider  Example  3  with  three  players,  i.e.  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3},  and 
players 1 and 2 each has a right-hand glove and player 3 has a left-hand 
glove. A coalition having a pair of gloves has worth one, i.e., a coalition 
having  a right-hand  glove and a left-hand  glove generates  a payoff one, 
and zero otherwise.

The value function  𝑣𝑣 is as follows:
𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0,  𝑣𝑣({1,2}) = 0,
𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1, and  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

An  allocation  𝑥𝑥 = (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , 𝑥𝑥3 ) ∈ 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) if  the  following 
inequalities are hold
𝑥𝑥1 ≥ 0 ,      𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 0 ,      𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 0 ,      𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 0 ,      𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1 ,     
𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1, and  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 = 1.

Inequalities  𝑥𝑥1 ≥ 0 ,    𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1 ,  and  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 = 1 imply 

that 𝑥𝑥1 = 0, and inequalities  𝑥𝑥2 ≥ 0,    𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥3 ≥ 1, and  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 =
1 imply that  𝑥𝑥2 = 0.

Then  𝑥𝑥1 = 0,  𝑥𝑥2 = 0, and  𝑥𝑥1 + 𝑥𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑥3 = 1 imply that  𝑥𝑥3 = 1. So, 
there exists a unique core allocation which is  (𝑥𝑥1 , 𝑥𝑥2 , 𝑥𝑥3 ) = (0,0,1), i.e., 
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = {(0,0,1)}.

3. Convexity

We  see  that  a  core  allocation  might not  exist  for some transferable 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .189

utility games. Shapley (1971) defined convexity and showed that a convex 

transferable utility game has a core allocation, i.e., convexity suffices for a 
transferable utility game to have a non-empty core allocation.

Definition 3. Convexity
A  transferable  utility  game  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) is convex if  for  any  coalitions 
𝑆𝑆, 𝑇𝑇 ⊆ 𝑁𝑁 we have 
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ 𝑇𝑇) + 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∩ 𝑇𝑇) ≥ 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) + 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇), (1)
or,  equivalently,  for  each  player  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁 and  each  𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑇𝑇 ⊆ (𝑁𝑁\{𝑖𝑖}) we 
have 
𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) ≥ 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆). (2)

In  order  to  get  the  inequality  2  from  inequality  1,  we  consider 
coalitions  𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖} and  𝑇𝑇 where  𝑆𝑆 ⊂ 𝑇𝑇 ⊂ 𝑁𝑁 with  𝑖𝑖 ∉ 𝑇𝑇 ,  then  from 
inequality 1 we have that 
⏟ ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) ∪ 𝑇𝑇) + 𝑣𝑣 ⏟
𝑣𝑣 ((𝑆𝑆 ((𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) ∩ 𝑇𝑇) ≥ 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) + 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇),
(𝑇𝑇∪{𝑖𝑖}) 𝑆𝑆
𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) + 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) ≥ 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) + 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇),
𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) ≥ 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆).

The  difference  between  𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) and  𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) is  the  marginal 
contribution of agent  𝑖𝑖 to coalition  𝑇𝑇 and the difference between
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) and  𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) is the marginal contribution of agent  𝑖𝑖 to coalition 
𝑆𝑆. Then, since  𝑆𝑆 ⊂ 𝑇𝑇, inequality 2 means that an agent has higher marginal 
contribution to larger coalitions.

Shapley (1971) showed that if a transferable utility game is convex 

then it has a non-empty core allocations. That is, convexity is a sufficient 
condition  for  a  transferable  utility game  to  have  a  non-empty  core 
allocations.

Example 7. A convex TU game

Consider  a  transferable  utility  game  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) ,  where  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3}
and the value function  𝑣𝑣 is as follows:
𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0, and 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) = 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) =
1/3, and  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

In  order  to  show  that  this  TU  game  is  convex,  we  will  show  that 
inequality 2 is satisfied for each player  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁.

For player 1, we first determine all coalitions  𝑆𝑆 and  𝑇𝑇 that satisfy 

𝑆𝑆 ⊆ 𝑇𝑇 ⊆ (𝑁𝑁\{1}): [𝑆𝑆 = ∅,  𝑇𝑇 = {2}], [𝑆𝑆 = ∅,  𝑇𝑇 = {3}], 
[𝑆𝑆 = ∅,  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}], [𝑆𝑆 = {2},  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}], and [𝑆𝑆 = {3},  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}].
190 . Mehmet Karakaya

For [𝑆𝑆 = ∅,  𝑇𝑇 = {2}], we have 

𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) − 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 1/3, 
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({1}) − 𝑣𝑣(∅) = 0, and  1/3 > 0.

For [𝑆𝑆 = ∅,  𝑇𝑇 = {3}], we have 

𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) − 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 1/3, 
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({1}) − 𝑣𝑣(∅) = 0, and  1/3 > 0.

For [𝑆𝑆 = ∅,  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}], we have 

𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2,3}) − 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1 − 1/3 = 2/3, 
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({1}) − 𝑣𝑣(∅) = 0, and  2/3 > 0.

For [𝑆𝑆 = {2},  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}], we have 

𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2,3}) − 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1 − 1/3 = 2/3,
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) − 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 1/3, and  2/3 > 1/3.

For [𝑆𝑆 = {3},  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}], we have 

𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2,3}) − 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1 − 1/3 = 2/3, 
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) − 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 1/3, and  2/3 > 1/3.
So, inequality 2 is satisfied for player 1. In a similar way, it can easily be 
shown that inequality 2 is also satisfied for players 2 and 3. Hence, this 
game is a convex game. 

Example 8. A non-convex TU game (𝑵𝑵, 𝒗𝒗) with 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪(𝑵𝑵, 𝒗𝒗) = ∅.

We  reconsider  Example  4,  where  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3} and  the  value 
function  𝑣𝑣 is  as  follows:  𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0 ,  𝑣𝑣({1,2}) =
3/4,  𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 2/3, and  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

Recall that we have  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅ for this game. In order to show 

that this TU game is not convex, we will show that inequality 2 is violated 
for  an  agent  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁 and  coalitions  𝑆𝑆 and  𝑇𝑇 such  that  𝑆𝑆 ⊂ 𝑇𝑇 ⊂ (𝑁𝑁\{𝑖𝑖}).
Let  𝑖𝑖 = 1,  𝑆𝑆 = {2} and  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}. We now show that
𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) < 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆).

𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖 }) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3} ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2,3}) −

2
𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1 − = 1/3,
3

𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖 }) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({2} ∪ {1}) − 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) − 𝑣𝑣({2}) =

3
− 0 = 3/4, and 1/3 < 3/4. So, this game is not convex.
4
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .191

Remember  that  this  game  has  no  core  allocations  (see  Example  4), 
i.e.,  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅ .  So,  a  transferable  utility game  with  no  core 
allocations is not a convex game. 

Example 9. Majority game with three players is not a convex

game.
We  reconsider  Example  5,  where  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3} and  the  value 
function  𝑣𝑣 is  as  follows:  𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0 ,  𝑣𝑣({1,2}) =
𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

We  showed  that  there  is  no  core  allocation  for  this  game,  i.e., 
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅ (see  Example  5).  We  now  show  that  this  game  is  not 
convex,  that  is,  the  inequality  2  is  violated  for  an  agent  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁 and 
coalitions  𝑆𝑆 and  𝑇𝑇 such that  𝑆𝑆 ⊂ 𝑇𝑇 ⊂ (𝑁𝑁\{𝑖𝑖}).
Let  𝑖𝑖 = 2,  𝑆𝑆 = {1} and  𝑇𝑇 = {1,3}. We now show that
𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) < 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆).
𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({1,3} ∪ {2}) − 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2,3}) −
𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1 − 1 = 0,
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({1} ∪ {2}) − 𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) − 𝑣𝑣({1}) =
1 − 0 = 1, and 0 < 1. So, this game is not a convex game. 

We now provide an example to show that the convexity condition is 
not necessary for a transferable utility game to have a core allocation. So, 
we will provide a non-convex game with non-empty core allocation.

Example 10. A glove game with 3 players-a non-convex TU game

(𝑵𝑵, 𝒗𝒗) with 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪(𝑵𝑵, 𝒗𝒗) ≠ ∅.
We reconsider the glove game given in Example 6. Recall that  𝑁𝑁 =
{1,2,3} and the value function  𝑣𝑣 is as follows:
𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0,  𝑣𝑣({1,2}) = 0, 
𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1, and  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

We show that this TU game is not convex, i.e., inequality 2 is violated 
for  an  agent  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁 and  coalitions  𝑆𝑆 and  𝑇𝑇 such  that  𝑆𝑆 ⊂ 𝑇𝑇 ⊂ (𝑁𝑁\{𝑖𝑖}).
Let  𝑖𝑖 = 1,  𝑆𝑆 = {3} and  𝑇𝑇 = {2,3}. We have
𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑇𝑇) = 𝑣𝑣({1,2,3}) − 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1 − 1 = 0,
𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆 ∪ {𝑖𝑖}) − 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) − 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 1 − 0 = 1 , and  0 < 1 .
So, this game is not convex.

Recall that this game has a unique core allocation (see Example 6), 
i.e.,  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = {(0,0,1)}.  So,  convexity  is  not  a  necessary  condition 
for a transferable utility game to have a non-empty core allocations. 
192 . Mehmet Karakaya

4. Balancedness

We  first  define a balanced  collection  of  coalitions  and  have  some 
examples of balanced collections of coalitions.
A  family  of  coalitions  ℬ = {𝑆𝑆1 , … , 𝑆𝑆𝑘𝑘 } ⊆ (2𝑁𝑁 \{∅}) is balanced if
for each  𝑆𝑆 ∈ ℬ, there exists a non-negative weight (balancing weight)  𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆
such that 
for each 𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁, ∑ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 = 1.
𝑆𝑆∈ℬ:𝑖𝑖∈𝑆𝑆

A partition of 𝑁𝑁 is  a  collection  of  coalitions  {𝑆𝑆1 , 𝑆𝑆2 , … , 𝑆𝑆𝐾𝐾 } (𝐾𝐾 ≤

|𝑁𝑁| is a positive integer) such that (i) for any  𝑘𝑘 ∈ {1, … , 𝐾𝐾},  𝑆𝑆𝑘𝑘 ≠ ∅, (ii)
⋃𝐾𝐾
𝑘𝑘=1 𝑆𝑆𝑘𝑘 = 𝑁𝑁, and (iii) for any  𝑘𝑘, 𝑙𝑙 ∈ {1, … , 𝐾𝐾} with  𝑘𝑘 ≠ 𝑙𝑙,  𝑆𝑆𝑘𝑘 ∩ 𝑆𝑆𝑙𝑙 = ∅.

Every  partition  of  player  set  𝑁𝑁 is  balanced  where  the  balancing 
weight  for  each  coalition  in  the  partition  is  one.  For  instance,  let  𝑁𝑁 =
{1,2,3}.  Consider  the  family  of  coalitions  ℬ̂ = {{1}, {2}, {3}} which  is  a 
partition. This collection is balanced where  𝛿𝛿̂{1} = 𝛿𝛿̂{2} = 𝛿𝛿̂{3} = 1.

For  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3} ,  consider  the  collection  of  coalitions  ℬ ̃=

{{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}} which is not a partition. This collection of coalitions 
is  balanced  where  the  balancing weights  are  𝛿𝛿̃{1,2} = 𝛿𝛿̃{1,3} = 𝛿𝛿̃{2,3} =
1/2. Since each player is a member of two coalitions in  ℬ ̃ , for each  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁
we have that the sum of balancing weights for coalitions containing player 
𝑖𝑖 is one, e.g., coalitions  {1,2} and  {1,3} contain player 1 and for agent 1 
we have  𝛿𝛿̃{1,2} + 𝛿𝛿̃{1,3} = 1/2 + 1/2 = 1.

We note that the union of balanced collections of  𝑁𝑁 is balanced. For 
̂ = {{1}, {2}, {3}} and  ℬ
instance,  for  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3} ,  we  know  that  ℬ ̃=
{{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}} are  balanced  collection  of  coalitions.  We  now 
consider  their  union  ℬ′ = ℬ̂ ⋃ℬ̃ = {{1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}}.  The 
collection  ℬ′ is balanced where the balancing weights are as follows:

̂ {1}
𝛿𝛿 1 ̂{2}
𝛿𝛿 1 ̂ {3}
𝛿𝛿 1
𝛿𝛿′{1} = = , 𝛿𝛿′{2} = = , 𝛿𝛿′{3} = = ,
2 2 2 2 2 2

̃{1,2}
𝛿𝛿 1 ̃{1,3}
𝛿𝛿 1 ̃{2,3}
𝛿𝛿 1
𝛿𝛿′{1,2} = = , 𝛿𝛿′{1,3} = = , 𝛿𝛿′{2,3} = = .
2 4 2 4 2 4

For agent 1, we have
∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ′:1∈𝑆𝑆 𝛿𝛿′𝑆𝑆 = 𝛿𝛿′{1} + 𝛿𝛿′{1,2} + 𝛿𝛿′{1,3} = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1,
for agent 2, we have
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .193

∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ′:2∈𝑆𝑆 𝛿𝛿′𝑆𝑆 = 𝛿𝛿′{2} + 𝛿𝛿′{1,2} + 𝛿𝛿′{2,3} = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1, and 

for agent 3, we have
∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ′:3∈𝑆𝑆 𝛿𝛿′𝑆𝑆 = 𝛿𝛿′{3} + 𝛿𝛿′{1,3} + 𝛿𝛿′{1,3} = 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1.

We  note  that  the  balancing  weights  (𝛿𝛿′𝑆𝑆 )𝑆𝑆∈ℬ′ for  the  collection  of 
coalitions  ℬ′ is not unique. That is, we can find other balancing weights 
(𝛿𝛿′′𝑆𝑆 )𝑆𝑆∈ℬ′ for  the  collection  of  coalitions  ℬ′.  Let  𝛿𝛿′′𝑆𝑆 = 1/3 for  every 
coalition  𝑆𝑆 ∈ ℬ′. Then, since every player is a member of three coalitions 
in  ℬ′, we have for each  𝑖𝑖 ∈ 𝑁𝑁 that ∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ′:𝑖𝑖∈𝑆𝑆 𝛿𝛿′′𝑆𝑆 = 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 =
1.

A balanced collection of coalitions is minimal if it does not contain a 
proper  sub-collection  which  is  balanced.  For  instance,  the  balanced 
̂
collection  ℬ′ is  not  minimal  since  it  contains  proper  sub-collections  ℬ
̃ that are balanced. The balanced collections  ℬ
and  ℬ ̂ and  ℬ̃ are minimal 
since none of them contains a proper sub-collection which is balanced.

Definition 4. Balancedness
A transferable utility game  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) is balanced if for each balanced 
family of coalitions  ℬ (with balancing weights  𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 for each  𝑆𝑆 ∈ ℬ), 
∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) ≤ 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁). (3)

We say that a transferable utility game  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) is minimally

balanced if the inequality 3 holds for every minimal balanced family of 
coalitions. 

Bondareva (1962)  and  Shapley (1967)  showed  that  a  transferable 

utility game  (𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) is  (minimally)  balanced  if  and  only  if  its  core 
allocations  is  non-empty,  i.e.,  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) ≠ ∅.  Hence,  balancedness  is 
both a necessary and sufficient condition for a TU game have a non-empty 
core allocations.

Example 11. A TU game (𝑵𝑵, 𝒗𝒗) which is not balanced.

We  reconsider  Example  4,  where  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3} and  the  value 
function  𝑣𝑣 is as follows:
𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0,  𝑣𝑣({1,2}) = 3/4, 
𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 2/3, and  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

We showed that  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅ for this game (see Example 4) and 

it is not a convex game (see Example 8). Since  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅ for this
game, we can say that this game is not balanced (by Bondareva, 1962 and 
Shapley, 1967).
194 . Mehmet Karakaya

In order to show that this game is not balanced, we will find a balanced 
family of coalitions  ℬ (with balancing weights  𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 for each  𝑆𝑆 ∈ ℬ) such 
that the condition  ∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) ≤ 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) is violated. 
Let  ℬ = {{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}}. This collection of coalitions  ℬ is balanced 
where  the  balancing  weights  are  𝛿𝛿{1,2} = 𝛿𝛿{1,3} = 𝛿𝛿{2,3} = 1/2.  We  now 
have that 
∑ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1,2} 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) + 𝛿𝛿{1,3} 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) + 𝛿𝛿{2,3} 𝑣𝑣({2,3}),
𝑆𝑆∈ℬ
= (1/2)(3/4) + (1/2)(2/3) + (1/2)(2/3),
= 3/8 + 2/6 + 2/6,
= 25/24.

That is, ∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 25/24 > 1 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁),  so  this  game  is  not 
balanced. 

Example 12. Majority game with three players is not a balanced

game.
We  reconsider  Example  5,  where  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3} and  the  value 
function  𝑣𝑣 is  as  follows:  𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0 ,  𝑣𝑣({1,2}) =
𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

We  showed  that  there  is  no  core  allocation  for  this  game,  i.e., 
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = ∅ (see Example 5), and this game is not a convex game (see 
Example 9). So, by Bondareva (1962) and Shapley (1967), we can say that
this game is not a balanced game.

In order to show that this game is not balanced, we will find a balanced 
family of coalitions  ℬ (with balancing weights  𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 for each  𝑆𝑆 ∈ ℬ) such 
that the condition  ∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) ≤ 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) is violated.

Let  ℬ = {{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}} .  This  collection  of  coalitions  ℬ is

balanced where the balancing weights are  𝛿𝛿{1,2} = 𝛿𝛿{1,3} = 𝛿𝛿{2,3} = 1/2.
We now show that for this balanced family,  ∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) > 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁).

∑ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1,2} 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) + 𝛿𝛿{1,3} 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) + 𝛿𝛿{2,3} 𝑣𝑣({2,3}),

𝑆𝑆∈ℬ
= (1/2)(1) + (1/2)(1) + (1/2)(1),
= 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2,
= 3/2.

That is, ∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 3/2 > 1 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) ,  so  this  game  is  not  a 
balanced game. 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .195

Example 13. A glove game with three players is balanced.

We  reconsider  the  glove  game  in  Example  6,  where  𝑁𝑁 = {1,2,3}
and  the  value  function  𝑣𝑣 is  as  follows:  𝑣𝑣({1}) = 𝑣𝑣({2}) = 𝑣𝑣({3}) = 0, 
𝑣𝑣({1,2}) = 0,  𝑣𝑣({1,3}) = 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = 1, and  𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁) = 1.

We showed that this TU game is not convex (see Example 10) and it 
has a unique core allocation where  𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶(𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣) = {(0,0,1)} (see Example 
6). Since this game has a non-empty core allocation, we can say that this 
game is balanced by Bondareva (1962) and Shapley (1967).

In order to show that this game is balanced, we will show that for all 
minimal  balanced  collection  of  coalitions  the  balancedness  condition  is 
satisfied (i.e, the inequality 3 holds).

We know that every partition is a trivially minimal balanced collection 
of  coalitions,  and  a  non-trivial  and  minimal  balanced  collection  of 
coalitions is  ℬ = {{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}}. So, the set of all minimally balanced 
collection  of  coalitions  are  ℬ = {{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}} (with  balancing 
weight  1/2  for  each  coalition)  and  the  set  of  all  partitions  ( ℬ1 =
{{1}, {2}, {3}} ,  ℬ2 = {{1,2}, {3}} ,  ℬ3 = {{1,3}, {2}} ,  ℬ4 = {{1}, {2,3}} , 
ℬ5 = {{1,2,3}}).

For  ℬ1 = {{1}, {2}, {3}}, we have that

∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ1 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1} 𝑣𝑣({1}) + 𝛿𝛿{2} 𝑣𝑣({2}) + 𝛿𝛿{3} 𝑣𝑣({3}) = (1)(0) +
(1)(0) + (1)(0) = 0 < 1 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁).

For  ℬ2 = {{1,2}, {3}}, we have that

∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ2 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1,2} 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) + 𝛿𝛿{3} 𝑣𝑣({3}) = (1)(0) + (1)(0) = 0 <
1 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁).

For  ℬ3 = {{1,3}, {2}}, we have that

∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ3 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1,3} 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) + 𝛿𝛿{2} 𝑣𝑣({2}) = (1)(1) + (1)(0) = 1 =
𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁).

For  ℬ4 = {{1}, {2,3}}, we have that

∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ4 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1} 𝑣𝑣({1}) + 𝛿𝛿{2,3} 𝑣𝑣({2,3}) = (1)(0) + (1)(1) = 1 =
𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁).

For  ℬ5 = {{1,2,3}}, we have that
∑𝑆𝑆∈ℬ5 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1,2,3} 𝑣𝑣({1,2,3}) = (1)(1) = 1 = 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁).
196 . Mehmet Karakaya

For  ℬ = {{1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}}, we have that

∑ 𝛿𝛿𝑆𝑆 𝑣𝑣(𝑆𝑆) = 𝛿𝛿{1,2} 𝑣𝑣({1,2}) + 𝛿𝛿{1,3} 𝑣𝑣({1,3}) + 𝛿𝛿{2,3} 𝑣𝑣({2,3}),
𝑆𝑆∈ℬ
1 1 1
= ( ) (0) + ( ) (1) + ( ) (1),
2 2 2
=1
= 𝑣𝑣(𝑁𝑁).

So, for every minimal balanced collection of coalitions, the inequality 
3 holds. Hence, this game is balanced.

Recall that this game is not a convex game (see Example 10). So, a 
convex game is balanced, but the converse is not true (i.e., a balanced game 
might not be convex). 

5. Conclusion

We  study  the  existence  of  core  allocations  for  transferable  utility 
games. A transferable utility game is defined by a pair that consists of a 
finite set of players and a value (characteristic) function assigning a value 
to each coalition of the set of players. For a given transferable utility game, 
the main concerns are what coalitions will be formed and how the value of 
each coalition will be distributed among the players of the coalition. It is 
implicitly  assumed  that  the  grand  coalition  forms  and  then  the  main 
concern is how the value of the grand coalition will be distributed among 
the set of all players. A distribution of the value of grand coalition is called 
a core allocation if it is not blocked by any coalition, that is, the sum of the 
individual  allocations  for  every  coalition  is  as  big  as  the  value  of  the 
coalition. So, no coalition has an incentive to block the allocation of the 
grand  coalition  by  leaving  society  and  distributing  the  value  that  they 
generate in the coalition among themselves.

We see that some transferable utility games has no core allocations, 
e.g., Example 4 and Example 5 (majority game with three players). So, we 
revisit the conditions that guarantee the existence of core allocations for 
transferable utility games. 

The convexity condition is a sufficient condition for the existence of 
a core allocation. Convexity condition means that a player’s marginal
contribution to a coalition does not decrease as the coalition gets larger. 
We see in Example 8 that majority game with three players is not a convex 
game and it has no core allocations. Convexity condition is too strong to 
be  a  necessary  condition  for  the  existence  of  a  core  allocation.  So, 
convexity  is a sufficient  but not a necessary condition for a transferable 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .197

utility  game  to  have  a  core  allocation.  So,  there  exists  non-convex 
transferable utility games with non-empty core allocations, e.g., Example 
10 (a glove game with three players).

A necessary and sufficient condition for a transferable utility game to 
have a non-empty core is the balancedness condition. So, majority game 
with three players is not a balanced game since its core is empty (Example 
12), and a glove game with three players is a balanced game since its core 
is  nonempty  (Example  13).  Moreover,  every  convex  transferable  utility 
game  is  balanced  but  a  balanced  transferable  utility  game  might  not  be 
convex. 

A majority game with three players (Example 5) is neither a convex 
game nor a balanced game, and it has empty core allocations. The glove 
game  with  three  players  (Example    6) is  a  balanced  game  (hence  it  has 
non-empty core allocations) but it is not a convex game.
198 . Mehmet Karakaya

References

Bondareva,  O.  (1962). Theory  of  the  core  in  the  n-person  game. Vestnik
Leningradskii Universitet, 13, 141–142 (in Russian).

Moulin,  H.  (1988). Axioms of cooperative decision making. Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press.

Peters,  H.  (2008). Game theory-a multi-leveled approach. Berlin  Heidelberg:

Springer, Springer-Verlag.

Shapley, L. S. (1953). A value for n-person games. H. W. Kuhn and A. W. Tucker

(Ed.),  Contributions to the theory of games II (pp.  307-317). Princeton 
:Princeton University Press.

Shapley,  L.  S.  (1967). On  balanced  sets  and  cores.  Naval Research Logistics
Quarterly, 14, 453–460.

Shapley,  L.  S.  (1969). Utility  comparisons  and  the  theory  of  games. G.Th. 
Guilbaud (Ed.), La Decision (pp. 251-263). Paris: CNRS.

Shapley,  L.  S.  (1971). Cores  of  convex  games. International Journal of Game
Theory, 1, 11–26.
 CHAPTER 11
AN ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGIC
RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND
CHINA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF
INTERDEPENDENCE1

Eylül Beyza ATEŞ ÇIFTÇI2

1  This study has been prepared on the basis of PhD thesis. Eylül Beyza Ateş
Çiftçi, “Asya’daki Güç Mücadelesi Bağlamında Gelişen Rusya-Çin İlişkileri”,
Advisor Prof. Dr. M. Lutfullah Karaman, İstanbul 2022.
2  Dr., Orcid: 0000-0003-0655-6846, [email protected]
200 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

Introduction
The fact that while obtaining their current strong positions in the
international environment, the mutual relations of Russia and China, which
were in a weaker position following the Cold War, became the strongest.
This was analyzed based on the theory of interdependence by this study. In
this article, it is argued that the two countries need to maintain cooperation
in terms of satisfying their national and regional interests, and they enter
a cycle of interdependence due to their inability to maintain the continuity
of power in situations where they cannot show cooperation. In addition
to the cooperation and strategic partnerships that emerged between the
two countries, the fields of competition that developed during the process
were also re-evaluated within the framework of the change in the level of
interdependence between the parties. As the levels of interdependence in
the aforementioned process are examined, it has been found that there is a
shift from vulnerability to sensitivity and from symmetry to asymmetry
between the two parties.
In the light of the analyzes performed, it has been concluded that the
mutual relations and interactions of both countries, which started as a
result of the search for a multipolar order in the international sense, still
continue to the extent that they avoid serious competition in the current
situation, and despite the changes in the level of interdependence, they
will continue to develop their relations based on interdependence for their
interests in the matters where they feel lack of power.
The fluctuating Russian-Chinese relations over the course of history
entered a new period of relations after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
which has also shaped the subject of this study. Russia-China relations
have shown significant improvement in the post-Soviet period. Both sides
expressed their dissatisfaction with the unipolar world order following the
Cold War and placed the discourse of multipolar world ideologies in their
political centers on the way to the steps taken for cooperation between
Russia and China. In the new world order based on multipolarity, in which
China and Russia want to be involved, the most important partners of
these two countries are seen to be themselves. Both countries are quite
uncomfortable with the current political conjuncture, and they want to
consolidate their superpower positions through the power fields they are
developing. It is so natural for these two actors acting in this way to show
cooperation to enhance their mutual political interests. Considering the
geographical proximity of Russia and China, the need for each other’s
resources and the possibility of rapid access to these resources provide
abundant areas of cooperation between them. The biggest reasons why
the two countries tend to cooperate with each other and develop their
partnerships are to balance the influence of USA in the region and the global
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .201

arena, to possess military equipment and advanced defense technologies,

to maintain trade and investment ties, to reach a secure import-export
network of the targeted resources. This situation is considered to be a win-
win opportunity for both parties. The fact that Russia and China, the two
important actors of Eurasia, are neighboring countries and complement
each other in the above-mentioned points also presents beneficial outcomes
for both sides.
In other words, both parties have resources that can be important
to each other. While China has material resources, Russia has different
political and regional advantages and energy resources. The areas where
Russia is considered to be relatively superior are the areas where China
is relatively weak. The fact that Russia is an energy supplier and has a
developed defense industry constitutes those areas that China wants to
develop. Having a desire to grow in terms of its political activity, Russia is
aware that it will not be able to achieve success in the policies it wants to
produce by itself as its economic opportunities are not sufficient. However,
it is trying to keep its interests in the region at the maximum level by
taking advantage of China’s economic superiority. China cannot ignore
the influence Russia has in Central Asia. On the other hand, China has
difficulties in achieving success in projects where it does not cooperate
with Russia on regional and global issues.
In the study, the basic arguments of the principle of interdependence
and the strategic development of Russia-China relations are to be discussed
from the past to the present, and the areas of cooperation and competition
in this development are detailed through the theory of interdependence. In
examining the actions underlying the foreign policies these two countries
develop in the context of the theory of interdependence in the current
mutual relations of Russia and China, the relations with the rest of the
region and with the Western world are also emphasized.
The selected study contributes to the social sciences as it assesses
what kind of political and economic effects will be reflected on the Asian
region and the rest of the world in a detailed way based on the framework
of the interdependence relationship formed by the two countries located at
the very heart of Asia. What distinguishes this study from others is that
the evaluations made are blended in all economic, political and military-
nuclear fields. At the same time, this study is notable for presenting
important theoretical implications regarding the strategic relations
between Russia and China. A gradual examination of mutual relations has
been made and these periods are associated with the features of the theory
of interdependence. In this way, it offers a solid theoretical background and
practical results together with future policy predictions.
202 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

Methodology
This research is based on the theory of interdependence. In this study,
a qualitative approach was used to analyze connection between China-
Russia relations and interdependence theory. The data collected were
secondary data obtained from sources that are related directly to the theme
of the research. In addition, studies in the field of scientific research were
synthesized. Hence the literature was analyzed very carefully.
Theoretical research involves the identification, analysis and
presentation of convenient theoretical information to clarify the subject
under discussion. Within the scope of this study, both a theoretical
framework has been drawn on the research subject and an evaluation
has been made based on secondary data. Empirical studies require the
collection of primary data sources as they present a concrete and verifiable
type of research. However, secondary data provides more opportunities
for periodic research. Through secondary data the relationship between
Russia has been discussed over a 50-year period and analyzed in a context
based on theoretical research. The earlier studies have contributed a lot to
knowledge by providing the related information and determining the ways
to findings. By and large, the existing literature and the material collected
from different resources help to develop a rationale for the study to develop
the findings and conclusion of the study in an advanced way.
Theoretical Perspective
According to the realist theory, which dominated the international
system as a dominant approach after the end of the second world war, the
national interests and sovereignty of the states became the actors of the
international system, and their importance has always been emphasized.
However, starting from the 1980s, especially with the end of the Cold
War, the ‘needs of the actors felt each other’ rather than the sovereignty,
transformed into a process and was expressed in the term interdependence,
which was formulated by Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye in the 1970s.
The theory of interdependence has begun to take its place on the world
stage since then (Keyman 2006: 1-20). While this process has directed the
actors existing in the international system to cooperation and integration,
it has also led the states to determine their foreign policy tendencies based
on these dynamics. These and similar movements, starting on the basis of
economy, began to appear in the international system with the terms such
as free market economy and free trade by blending political systems and
security areas, and developed in the international system (Öztekin 2018:
284).
The theory of interdependence was introduced and brought to the
literature following the book “Power and Interdependence”, published
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .203

by Keohane and Nye in 1977. In the international relations literature,

interdependence stands for the criteria determined by the mutual
interaction between the actors in the international system. Interdependence
refers to the situation where the parties act depending on each other as a
result of the interactions taking place between the actors. In other words,
interdependence is the name given to the complex conditions resulting
from the connections and relations created by the many ways of interaction
between states and societies in the non-hierarchical international system
(Keohane - Nye 2001: 7). The subject of these interactions can consist of the
economic, social, political or security-themed issues. However, according
to Keohane and Nye, in order for these interactions to be dealt with based
on an interdependence perspective, there should arise a cost factor for both
parties, they should not only bring profit-driven benefits to both parties,
but they should limit the movement area of ​​the parties, as well (Keohane
- Nye 2001: 8). In other words, the factor making the interdependence
permanent is the cost issue that may arise as a result of the disconnected
links between the actors. In the most simplified definition, the disruption
or termination of the aforementioned costs in interdependence represents a
costly relationship for the parties. Interdependence can be evaluated within
a framework that incorporates social, economic and political problems
resulting from the loss of value produced by economic relations and
interruptions in the supply of strategic goods such as oil and natural gas.
Interdependence possesses a political importance because it creates costs.
It is costly because it limits the autonomy of the actions of a state. National
political goals such as security and welfare rely on the policies of all actors
implicated in a relationship of interdependence. In the interdependence
relations that develop over time, the distinction between domestic and
foreign policy disappears, and every change taking place in domestic policy
also constitutes those the foreign policy becomes interested in. Therefore,
states enter into a sensitive relationship that becomes costly as soon as they
form a relationship of interdependence with each other, and they enter into
a sensitive relationship of interdependence that cannot ignore the interests
of other states and that cannot act only based on their own needs. The
sensitivity mentioned here can be defined as the obligation of an actor
to deal with external costs even if the policies an actor implements have
changed.
In addition, another issue that should be taken into consideration
in the theory of interdependence is the possibility that the degree of
interdependence between the parties may not always be equal. According
to Keohane and Nye, the relationship maintained in this case is an
asymmetrical relationship and this asymmetric relationship is inequal and
mentioned as one of the factors that create power in international politics
204 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

(Keohane - Nye 2001: 11). In situations where the degree of interdependence

is relatively equal and symmetrical, the interdependence between the
parties is at a balanced level. Yet, a relationship that can be formed with a
perfectly symmetrical dependency is quite rare (Nye – Welch 2015: 359).
In the asymmetrical situation, where the dependency is more unstable, the
two parties are inter-dependent on each other, but one is less dependent than
the other. This asymmetrical relationship described is the most common
type of interdependence, and when this is performed, the less dependent
party receives a source of power. In cases where the parties are less or
more dependent on each other, the phenomenon of power comes into play
and the concept of asymmetrical interdependence appears, and Keohane
and Nye explains how this asymmetrical interdependence phenomenon
creates power using the concepts of sensitivity and vulnerability (Keohane
- Nye 2001: 7). The concept of power and interdependence has determined
the name of Keohane and Nye’s work. According to them, the bargaining
power of one of the parties over the other depends on the sensitivity and
vulnerability of the other party (Kroll 1993: 321-347). For this reason, in
the interdependence conditions that appear, even though both parties have
different levels of power, they need to show a common desire and effort to
maintain their relations (Wagner 1988: 461-483).
Another main argument of the principle of interdependence is that
there is a direct connection between the concepts of integration and
interdependence. It is important to underlie which international policy
conditions shape interdependence and what kind of change is wished in the
structure of the international system. International organizations can set
the international agenda and accelerate the process in forming a coalition,
but while issues like the inadequacy of international organizations or the
problems of sanctions in the application of international law distance states
from each other, there is actually a search for a structure in which states
need integration (Chan 1985: 235). At this point, Keohane and Nye’s claim
is that interdependence and integration are mutually promoting processes
and it is argued that integration increases the level of interdependence just
as interdependence reveals the integration that is a need in world politics
(Keohane 2002: 28). International organizations provide states with a
space to act on regional or global problems they have to deal with and
the opportunity to cooperate at the costs that may arise. The existence of
international organizations and the status of being a party by states reduces
the uncertainty and fear in existing countries and provides a platform of
mutual benefit to countries. Thus, cooperation in one area encourages
other areas and ensures the healthy progress of interdependence within the
integration framework.
On the other hand, in addition to its basic arguments, interdependence
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .205

has two important effects on international relations. The first is the

assumption that military power has become meaningless under the criteria
set by interdependence, and the second is that interdependence fosters
the need for international cooperation. Under conditions determined by
interdependence, states as rational actors have strong aspirations towards
international cooperation and peaceful international politics. Actually,
rational actors do not aim to increase their power, but ultimately to achieve
absolute gains. International cooperation is a win-win solution to the joint
action problems in international politics. It will be better for all parties to
cooperate in a relationship of interdependence that causes the problems
of joint action. In his book titled “The Evolution of Cooperation” (1981),
Robert Axelrod carried out some important studies on inter-egoistic
cooperation under conditions of interdependence. He has tried to show
that expectations about the future significantly influence the results of
cooperation and will lead to stable models of cooperation. As a result,
stable cooperation will encourage and re-increase interdependence
(Axelrod 1981:1390-1396).
Steven Wong describes interdependence as something which is not
necessarily a difficult and lofty goal to be achieved, but rather as a set of
coherent outcomes that may arise as a result of states’ moves, reflecting
states’ national interests and security perceptions and desires (Wong
2015: 65-69). International cooperation and international institutions offer
the best way to achieve political goals under conditions of international
interdependence.
In the following literature review section of the study, the strategic
relations of Russia and China are to be discussed based on the perspective
of interdependence by making use of the theoretical framework examined
above. These strategic relations are to be analyzed primarily in the domain
of interdependence in the political, security and economic context on the
basis of cooperation between the two countries. In the discussion part
of the study, mutual relations are to be reinterpreted on the basis of the
competition area that has emerged over time, and the hypothesis put forward
are to be concluded by establishing the current state of interdependence
over the changing characteristics.
Review of Literature
The hegemonic leadership order, which symbolizes unipolarity and in
which the effect of globalization is not seen, is an order that is incompatible
with the nature of the conditions of interdependence (Gürkaynak –
Yalçıner 2009: 86). Russia and China’s desire for a multipolar world
order (Gürkaynak - Yalçıner 2009: 86), expressing that they do not
desire to be a hegemonic power in reference to this order, has gained a
206 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

meaningful character in the way of becoming regional powers having an

interdependence. Until the end of the Cold War and the emergence of the
possibility of a unipolar world, the relations between Russia and China,
whose definitions of interests and the foreign policies pursued towards
this did not intersect at any significant level, underwent changes with the
emergence of the United States as a hegemonic power.
In the globalizing world, being able to hold on to the international
system as nation states and having to face the severe consequences of
the competitions with other states in international settings directed most
states to create free economic areas and even establish political systems
by encouraging them to cooperate in the regional sense and formed the
foundations of the order of interdependence in mutual relations.
This relationship between the concepts of globality and interdependence
was first discussed by Keohane and Nye in the specific context of American-
Japanese relations (Keohane – Nye 2001: 238), paving the way for it to
be evaluated in many mutual relations in world politics. Considering
the countries of the world that were largely disconnected during the 19th
century, it was impossible to find a level of interdependence between
any two countries, but with the 1990s, it was observed that economic
interdependence on the world stage gradually began to gain symmetrical
characteristics among countries (Gürkaynak – Yalçıner 2009: 83). In this
context, the environment of interdependence created by the conditions of
globality has determined the framework of Russia’s and China’s relations
with each other.
The concept of interdependence, touching upon the mutual
interaction in the relations of different countries, is the complex interaction
conditions that appear in the international arena regardless of a certain
hierarchical order (Akçadağ Alagöz 2016: 36). In the case of Russia and
China, the interaction between the two sides has created a relationship of
interdependence on multiple issues and with multiple connections. These
interactions have manifested themselves significantly on three main issues
and have determined the order of interdependence between Russia and
China.
It is possible to classify these interactions between Russia and China
with the headings of political interdependence that arises due to their
common opposition attitude towards US hegemony in foreign policy,
security-based interdependence that arises within the scope of regional
integrations established for security issues, and economic interdependence
that emerges as a set of military/economic interests in the trade relationship.
In such an atmosphere, Russia and China, which came together against
the understanding of sovereignty that the US wants to perform from a
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .207

single source on the world stage, has become allies in line with their own
interests in terms of ensuring their security and the continuity of their
economic interests with international organizations. As a result, they
created a relationship of interdependence (Abdullah, 2019: 52).
Political interdependence: First of all, the most important factor that
has given rise to the fact that the two countries became closer has been their
common foreign policy understandings, emerging against the unipolar
world threat of the United States. Although China, which lost its room to
maneuver between the poles as the bipolar system ended at the beginning,
had to maintain good relations with the United States, it has always been
in search of finding different alliances that can provide support concerning
the problems it experiences in its relations with the United States. Russia,
on the other hand, in an effort to regain its power and in order to exist
as a superpower in the international system, has favored a foreign policy
complying with the interests of the West and specifically the United States.
However, Russia has never thought of adapting to the unipolar order and has
favored forming different alliances. As a matter of fact, Keohane and Nye
states that in an international order where states are becoming increasingly
dependent on each other on the basis of the principle of interdependence, it
is highly unlikely that states will take decisions completely independently
of each other in contrast to what realists think, (Akçadağ Alagöz 2016: 36).
In the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were a couple
of US actions that annoyed Russia and China, which were also disturbed
by the unipolar world led by the United States. The 1999 intervention in
Yugoslavia, which was carried out by NATO under the leadership of the
United States by bypassing the United Nations Security Council, the
2003 US invasion of Iraq carried out jointly by the United Kingdom by
bypassing the UN, and the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from
the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty fueled the common security concerns of
Russia and China (Çolakoğlu 2004: 186). On the other hand, the tariffs
and quotas imposed within the scope of the trade wars initiated by the US
have limited imports made by Russia and China (Çolakoğlu 2004: 188)
and therefore mutual trade relations completely deteriorated. The goal of
balancing these unilateral actions imposed by the United States has formed
the basis of the process leading to the strategic partnership between Russia
and China.
From China’s point of view, another problem experienced in mutual
relations with the US has dealt with the issue concerning Taiwan. In spite
of China’s claim that Taiwan belongs to China’s territory, the U.S. policy
on Taiwan has always been presented to support Taiwan’s independence,
recognize the Taiwanese government and encourage its international
acceptance, and even arms sales to Taiwan are performed by the U.S.
208 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

(Çolakoğlu 2004: 187). China has perceived the arms sales to Taiwan as
an interference in its internal affairs and even in its territorial integrity. As
a result of these attitudes of the United States, China felt a threat imposed
on itself in terms of mutual relations and turned to seeking alliances in the
regional sense.
From Russia’s point of view, the most important problem it has faced
in mutual relations with the US results from the policy of encircling
Russia through the eastward expansion conducted by the EU and NATO
(Çolakoğlu 2004: 187). The possibility that the borders perceived as its
backyard by Russia might be dominated by the West results in frequently
strained mutual relations and this situation leads Russia, like China, to
forming cooperation with regional institutions or forming alliances.
There are some similar characteristics these two countries show
concerning the patterns in their partnership relations and in their attitudes
towards the United States. First, Russia and China regard decisions
concerning political freedom on human rights as the issues dependent on
states, see Western states’ concerns about the status of freedoms as a cause
for intervention and sanctions as an ideological intervention. Russia and
China hold the assumption that the West-led campaigns for human rights
will result in similar opposition movements within their own territories or
in nearby countries and eventually lead to domestic instability and have
announced that they condemn the Western-supported colored revolutions
taking place in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan (Giray Bozkurt 2006:
118-138). Russia and China are highly sensitive about national unity
and believe that the internal threat is more destructive than the external
threat. They have supported each other in the acts of force directed against
Chechnya and the Tibetans, which are examples of colored revolution.
Second, both states are against NATO enlargement. In terms of
security, NATO enlargement is an issue that makes Russia worried more
than it does China, but with this threat that Russia is facing today on the
Western front, China is also worried that it may face this threat in one
of its own circles in the near future. As a matter of fact, the US forces
deployed in Central Asia after September 11 became a justifying incident
reminding of this concern. In this sense, what both countries want to
achieve by using the discourse of the multipolar world is to balance the
dominant power of the United States in the power distribution order to
be created with other states. The best examples of why Russia and China
try to promote a balancing policy are the 1995 intervention in Bosnia, the
1999 intervention in Serbia and the 2003 invasion of Iraq by NATO, led by
the United States. Because of all these US-centred actions, Russia has seen
NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe as a threat. In addition, China has
described the pressure U.S. imposed on it due to the violations of human
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .209

rights in China and the trade and political relations of US with Taiwan as a
disturbing threat and has placed these points on its political agenda.
From the U.S. point of view, Russia’s second Chechnya military
operation in 1999 and China’s rights violations in minority regions such as
Tibet and Xinjiang are some of the main examples exhibiting that Russia
and China violate human rights, disturbing the United States. On the other
hand, the US also has a distrust of the existing regimes in Russia and
China. Although Russia has adopted a democratic regime and a model
with a free market economy, it is thought that Russia has not been able to
meet the desired standards in terms of effective international cooperation
due to its old and strong authoritarian past (Çolakoğlu 2004: 188). China,
on the other hand, cannot erase its negative image in the eyes of the United
States. Several reasons for this arise due to the political issues. For example,
it is ruled in a completely authoritarian way by the Chinese Communist
Party, and even political opposition is completely forbidden in the country.
Concerning the economic level, although China has made all efforts to
integrate with the international economy, the US has the assumption that
it has not yet completed its transition from a central planning economy to
a real free market economy (Çolakoğlu 2004: 188).
Despite all these historical discomforts that the three powerful
countries have felt from each other, it would not be wrong to say that the
relations are based on cooperation from time to time. The United States,
which began to need the support of regional powers such as Russia and
China in terms of cooperation against terrorism especially after September
11, has been the witness of the most concrete cooperation during the
Afghanistan operation. Therefore, it would be correct to say that all three
countries pursue a relatively balanced foreign policy by staying away from
conflict and using cooperation opportunities, taking into account each
other’s potentials. The goal of balancing the United States, which emerged
independently of a certain hierarchical order between Russia and China
against the United States and their actions in this direction are the state of
political interdependence that the two countries exhibit.
The best example of the common foreign policy stance and political
interdependence of Russia and China, which intersect against the United
States, is as Norman Angell mentions in the relationship of necessity based
on working in need and harmony: One of the two people in a boat that is
sinking in an open sea, far away from the shore, has to paddle and the other
has to drain the leaking water. The parties have entered into a relationship
of interdependence in which one does not dare to throw the other out of the
boat because they need each other (Özpek 2014: 140). Therefore, neither
China nor Russia has little chance of balancing the United States alone and
gaining political influence in Central Asia independently of each other.
210 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

According to the theory of interdependence (Yantur – Dedeli 2021: 687-

692), which presents the condition that there should be an absolute negative
reflection on the parties within the scope of the cost condition, both Russia
and China have undertaken this cost in their relations at the point of not
being able to act alone in Central Asia.
Security-based interdependence: Secondly, the issue of border
security between Russia and China and the process resolved by regional
organizations in this context have strengthened mutual relations and
formed another important element of becoming closer. Although certain
progress was made in the border disputes from the 1950s to the 1990s,
periods of increasing tension continued to pit the two countries against each
other. As a result of the negotiations held in the 1990s, the border problems
were managed to be solved with a rate of 98%, but the newly independent
states that emerged on the border following the collapse of the Soviet
Union soon after, dragged the border issue between Russia and China into
uncertainty again. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was
designed for the solution of the border issues between the Soviet Union
and the People’s Republic of China, first addressed the security problems
of the two countries in terms of its idea of establishment. Then-Chinese
president Li Peng and Russian president Boris Yeltsin then demanded
that the security measures in the regions of the two countries close to the
border be discussed and started the necessary negotiations with the idea
of creating a platform for the solution of border problems. In 1996, the
presidents of the period met with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan
and signed an agreement on the aforementioned measures. As a result,
the organization, which was first established under the name of Shanghai
Five, has turned into a very important security agreement for the future
of Central Asia and especially for the field of action of Russia and China
due to the end of the Cold War and the emergence of the unipolar system
in which the United States is a superpower. The continued development
of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is an agreement
that eliminates the problem of post-Soviet Russia and China becoming
geopolitical rivals, is still shaped according to the relations and interests
between the two countries.
With the Shanghai Five, which was signed in 1996 as a kind of security
agreement, a model was established between the five countries to ensure
peace, stability and security on the borders and to improve security on the
Asia Pacific. The focus was on ensuring mutual trust by agreeing between
the parties not to conduct military exercises and to report on military
incidents within 100 km of the borders.
In the case of Russia and China, expectations from the Shanghai Five
can be interpreted differently. For China, this platform has been articulated
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .211

as a compromise that can be transformed into not only confidence-

building for the country within the scope of border management, but also
an economically and politically effective cooperation. Underlining that
it does not follow an expansionist policy within the framework of this
agreement, which proves that it is going to solve border problems with the
countries of the region, China sees the Shanghai Five as a tool to increase
its effectiveness in the region in this sense.
Russia considered the Shanghai Five as a means of keeping China’s
current relations with the Central Asian states under its own control,
within the scope of the close environment doctrine that it put into practice
in 1993. The other member countries of the Shanghai Five, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, perceived the organization as a power they
would have to ensure their security from the countries in the region, and
also regarded it as a platform where they could have close contact with
China. Therefore, the parties that take advantage of the interdependence
between the larger states are not only the larger states, but also the weaker
states that have the power to shape the foreign policy behaviors of the
larger states (Akçadağ Alagöz 2016: 38).
In line with the different expectations of the parties, the Russian and
Chinese leaders, who came together in 1994 just before the establishment
of the SCO, agreed on the “Constructive Partnership” and then on the
“Strategic Partnership” in 1996, with the idea of creating a cooperation
organization in the region. They met with the presidents of Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and signed
agreements mediating good neighborly relations. The Central Asian
Republics, which have been left alone with various problems since the
day they gained their independence, looked at the SCO as a regional
security circle, with the thought that it would not be possible for them to
protect their country’s security alone. In the same period, in addition to the
security concerns experienced by Central Asian countries due to radical
Islamist organizations, Russia had to deal with with Chechnya threats
and China with East Turkistan threats. For this reason, the security-based
integration needed has created interdependence and interdependence has
deepened the scope of integration. In this regard, the relationship between
integration and interdependence is once again exemplified. Of primary
importance, the negotiations for increased security in border areas have
gained importance in the context of security concerns. In addition,
secondary and multidimensional aspects have emerged through various
political, economic and diplomatic issues of the same countries.
In addition to the threat of a unipolar world, issues such as the
accelerated enlargement process initiated by the European Union, NATO’s
strategy of reaching out to Eastern Europe as a result of the determination
212 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

of a new concept for itself, and the desire of some countries in the
Commonwealth of Independent Nations (CIS) to form a separate union
have also taken shape as a result of the SCO member countries’ coming
together on this platform and seeking answers to the problems mentioned.
In the light of all these developments, common security concerns
experienced has forced the countries to form a regional integration. In
addition to the border disputes that initiated the interactions of Russia and
China, the dissatisfaction felt with the presence of the US in the region led
these two countries to show cooperation in which they would gradually
develop and deepen their interdependence although they previously
saw each other as a threat for themselves. Notwithstanding all possible
differences of these both parties, this cooperative integration brings Russia
and China to a closer common political harmony, and it is an example of
multidimensional interdependence, not just political or economic one. In
this sense, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization represents a rational
cooperation structure established under the criteria set by interdependence,
in which the interests of Russia and China are taken into consideration on
the cost-benefit level.
The most important reason for the rapid growth of the organization
after its establishment was the desire to quickly liquidate the United States
for security conditions from the region, which was seen as sensitive by
both Russia and China. Taiwan is a sensitive issue for China as Taiwan
is supported and used as a natural base by the US. This poses a serious
security threat to China, which claims that it will eliminate this problem
by including Taiwan in its territory if deemed necessary. For Russia, it
is understood that it will be in similar tendencies with China in terms of
feeling threatened by the power and regional security it has established
through the region it defines as its immediate environment. For this reason,
Russia and China, which are disturbed by the policies carried out by the
United States and exhibit a common attitude towards these activities,
have united under the roof of the SCO within the scope of security and
multifaceted cooperation in terms of their interdependence. Thus, the
adventure of security-based interdependence between Russia and China
and the future of the SCO have always been closely related to the U.S.
presence in the region.
Economic Interdependence: Despite the harsh power policy and its
strategic practices that have maintained their dominance in international
relations for many years, with the increasing effects of globalization,
there has been a change in the center of power and the military policies
in practice have started to shift towards the field of economic policy. The
meaning of real power is not limited to countries with military potential
and their regional control, but has tended to have a character integrated
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .213

into the global economy. It is noteworthy that within the scope of the post-
Cold War security concept, economic diplomacy has become a source
of economic security. On the way to economic security, processes such
as the establishment of the WTO, the liberalization of trade, and the
increase in the trade shares of developing countries have become some
indicators of the development of economic diplomacy. Indicators of
economic diplomacy, such as national trade, peaceful development and
the establishment of prosperity, have also been the determinants of a real
process of interdependence in which countries are intertwined. If it is
accepted that trade is the alternative in the scenario where costly modern
wars and military gains are excluded, the most natural solution for Russia
and China in terms of strategic partnership has been to enter into a
relationship of economic interdependence.
In addition to the previous titles, another important pillar of the strategic
partnership of Russia and China constitutes the last point, namely the
trade relationship and economic interests between the two countries. The
leading indicator of the interdependence between Russia and China is the
dimension of economic and commercial relations in terms of representing
the most active, continuous and effective item in their overall relations.
As the commercial relations of states increase in the international system,
states becoming mutually dependent on each other for different products
emerge as a result of this situation, and this two-way dependency between
states is called economic interdependence (Kaya 2019: 43).
In terms of considering the relations between the two countries and
the level of economic interdependence of these relations there arise two
important features that cannot be ignored in the commercial dimension.
Firstly, as an export-oriented country, Russia maintains stability in
its economy based on its sources of energy and defense industry, and
secondly, China represents a large market for these issues that Russia
needs (Knutsishvili 2019: 50). In other words, the two countries constitute
dynamic and stable market, trade partner and investment center for each
other. Russia can find a a safe export gateway as China is an import-
oriented country in the energy and defense industry. The parties become
economically interdependent in cases where the powers of the two states
are almost equal to each other and on condition that the two countries
become highly sensitive due to the mutual interactions formed (Kaya 2019:
62). Based on the initial example given in commercial relations, Russia-
China relations in the phenomenon of interdependence appear both in a
sensitive structure and in a symmetrical direction.
What initiated the basis of mutual relations of Russia to China was
Russia’s military equipment sales to China followed by Russia’s military
budget decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Modernizing its
214 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

military infrastructure, China, began to increase its military expenditures.

The weapons bought from Russia developed the military industry of
China, and thanks to this, China managed to get the weapons it needed
(Knutsishvili 2019: 64). Especially considering the embargo imposed by the
US and the EU on arms sales to China in 1989, China had to turn to Russia
to renew its military technologies and Russia became China’s main weapon
supplier (Knutsishvili 2019: 49). As a response to this, Russia could find a
chance to be relieved economically thanks to China, which developed its
technology although the Russian economy had been in a difficult situation
after the new Cold War. However, it would be wrong to state that there is a
comprehensive military cooperation structure between the two countries,
but rather, it can be stipulated that there is a close commercial relationship
in terms of technical-military weapons and equipment supply (Özbay,
www.tasam.org). The border dispute contributed to the relations between
the two countries which was first resolved within the SCO, and then by the
commercial military/economic ties established.
Economic interdependence constitutes the most common type of
interdependence concept and links trade and peace. It is argued by David
Ricardo, one of the liberal economic theorists, the goods produced by the
states in a competitive environment are actually produced in a most cheap
way. However, the states should buy the goods that they have to produce
expensively from countries that produce them cheaper (Oğuzlu 2014:
105). As a result of this, a relationship of interdependence will have been
established by the states and the peaceful relations could be maintained as
the countries gain profits (Oğuzlu 2014: 105). As a result, the probability of
conflict or war will decrease and the states will strengthen their relations
as trade states in their interactions, and in this way, the interdependence
relationship that develops within the scope of trade will result in peace
between these states.
China’s industry has turned into a production facility. In this situation,
oil supply constitutes the remarkable component of the trade relations
between Russia and China. Therefore, it might be stated that this relation
can account for China’s closeness with Russia with the need for oil to
keep its industry strong. Actually, Keohane and Nye indicate that there
must be a negative impact and cost regarding the issue that is the subject
of dependency between the two countries, which gives the possibility of
mentioning a relationship of interdependence (Akçadağ Alagöz 2016: 51).
There can be a recession in the Chinese economy in the slightest problem
that may occur in the energy supply. Therefore, by bearing the cost of
being deprived of oil, China always tends to have a strategic partnership
with Russia, enjoying the majority of the world’s reserves. In line with this,
Russia seems to bear this cost with the possibility of not being able to benefit
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .215

from the extensive market opportunity in China. The energy cooperation

of Russia with China is important and costly as this cooperation illustrates
that there are alternative markets to the European market, where Russia is
highly dependent. Therefore, in the absence of demand originating from
Europe, Russia will reduce the cost element of its interdependence, thanks
to its access to the Chinese market and cooperation.
What brings up the issue “Russian natural resources for access to
Chinese financial resources” results from China’s rapid economic growth
enabling Russia to meet the increasing energy and raw material needs.
Establishing economic cooperation mechanisms is what China’s main
policy focuses on in order to provide access to energy and natural resources,
as well as to establish long-term economic links so that the interests of the
country are protected. Russia’s close relations with China and its policies
of cooperating are based on the desire to regain its weight in the economic
and political fields that it previously had in the international system and to
compensate for this loss with new international mechanisms.
The economic cooperation maintained by the two major countries also
determines the global political economy. While the development of the
Siberian region, in particular for Russia, is maintained by the economic
cooperation between Russia and China, this cooperations provides a space
for China to supply economic items such as military equipment, oil and
raw materials. While Russia is the largest oil producer, China is also the
largest energy consumer, which underlies the leading reason why the key
supply item in the economic relations between the two countries is energy.
Representing the most fundamental feature of interdependence relations,
energy exchange has originated from China’s rapidly growing economic
characteristic.
Even though the military industry has found a room to develop itself
in the field of production, China has rapidly continued its trade in military
materials, weapons and energy with Russia. However, the entire order
of trade relations is influenced by the need for energy in addition to the
military industry. The need for energy is also known to strengthen the
developing countries. In this regard, China is in need of safe energy sources
and is afraid to take risks. Therefore, it has maintained its dependence on
Russia. What brings up the interdependence between Russia and China
is the fact that China is a rising power that needs energy and Russia
possesses and exports energy resources. Energy demand has become the
second main trade area that has brought its close neighbor Russia and
China closer after defense industry trade as China continues to grow and
develop. The inevitable partnership between China and Russia results
from Russia’s status of being the largest supplier country in the world
energy market (Knutsishvili 2019: 71). On the other hand, although Russia
216 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

cannot maintain stable trade relations with the West, China is a reliable
market for Russia. These issues denote the strategic partnership between
the two countries and they are the indicators of economic interdependence.
China’s low-cost access to high-tech Russian weapons is achieved
by Russia’s arms sales to the country. This is an especially critical trade
item as it balances Taiwan, receiving weapons from the US and the West.
Russia also continues its trade with China mutually in favor of China’s
surplus goods. In addition to the increasing arms trade between the
two countries, the first joint military exercise in 2005 brought up a new
dimension of concern in their stance against the United States, pointing
out that military relations would also be improved. The official Russian-
Chinese partnership is not limited to the military exercise relationship. It
has also involved the field of energy in the commercial sense within the
framework of the agreement signed in 2006. An agreement, valid since
2011, has also been signed concerning the annual transfer of 60-80 billion
cubic meters of Russian natural gas into China through two pipelines
which pass through Eastern and Western Siberia (politikaakademisi.org,
2012).
The biggest joint platform of action of Russia and China, which is
working in harmony in Central Asia in all these matters, is the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, whose security they also guarantee. While
Russia and China are getting closer in order to protect their mutual
economic interests, the Central Asian countries have also believed in the
power of economic relations to be established with Russia and China in
order to protect, develop and safely transport the underground resources of
their regions to world markets. For all these reasons, the SCO, established
in 1996, has been equipped with purposes such as protecting the borders
between member countries, developing economies and solving basic
problems with other countries. The function of the organization has been
mutually expanded to many purposes (Abdullah 2019: 55).
China is the country that is constantly and fastest developing within
the SCO. Since 1978, this spectacular growth in economic terms, except
for some intermediate periods, has been a threat for other countries in
the regional and global sense. Despite this, China’s growth does not turn
into a competition among the countries that are dependent on China
within the scope of the principle of interdependence, which is one of the
basic arguments of the liberal understanding (Yantur – İşeri 2021: 41-
49). China has cheap labor and market. However, despite the economic
power potential it has achieved, it has not reached its target point in terms
of military power capacity and energy supply. In this sense, in order to
maintain its rapid development in the economic and military fields, it
avoids international conflicts and applies the win-win understanding in
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .217

accordance with the principle of interdependence in its relations with other

countries and stands behind the competition (Yantur – İşeri 2021: 49).
Russia remained economically dependent on revenues from oil and gas
exports to a large extent following the period of the Soviet economy. On the
other hand, it saw its energy resources as a foreign policy tool that would
have an influence not only in terms of economic power but also in terms
of regaining its global power (Elma 2007: 138). Russia, which implements
energy policy depending on its foreign policy, has energy resources that
both guarantee economic development and become the determinant of
Russia’s international position. In this sense, Russia affects not only the
energy dependence of the Soviet bloc countries, but also regional powers
such as China. Considering the prices reached by oil, Russia, which has
largely paid its debts, has been able to consolidate its budget and has a state
control over the energy sector (Elma 2007: 139). This energy strategy that
Russia implement has been an indicator of China’s increasing dependence
on Russia as a response to rising energy needs of China.
The data in the first two months of 2022 show that the mutual
trade volumes of Russia and China increased by 38.5% compared to the
same period of 2021, representing the highest peak in the last 12 years
(Euronews 2022). Within this volume, which corresponds to an increase
of approximately 26.4 billion dollars, it is seen that China’s imports from
the EU and Australia decreased by 0.2% and 2.3%, while its imports from
Russia increased by 35.8% and China’s exports to Russia increased by
41.5%, reaching $ 12.6 billion (Euronews 2022). In the same period, China
grew by 15.5% in the general import table and 16.3% in the export table
(Euronews 2022).
Figure 1. Russia’s Trade Volume with China (Import-Export)

Source: “Rusya Batı’nın Yaptırımlarını Çin’le Aşabilir mi?”, BCC News Türkçe,
(Retrieved On: 30.07.2022)
218 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

Figure 13 illustrates Russia’s trade volume data with China for 2021
and previous years. According to the figure, the trade volume of Russia
with China developed and increased in a balanced way. On the other hand,
being the country that imports the most from Russia, China constitutes
almost equal to the sum of the imports of the European Union countries. It
should be noted that Europe still represents Russia’s largest energy market
(see Figure 14).

Figure 2. Top Countries Importing Goods from Russia

Source: “Rusya Batı’nın Yaptırımlarını Çin’le Aşabilir mi?”, BCC News Türkçe,
(Retrieved On: 30.07.2022)
It can be understood from both tables that the dependency items of China
and Russia on each other causes a long-term commercial and economic
cooperation with each other between Russia and China, and this is called
the order of interdependence. China is a new market and high technology
supply for Russia except for Europe as China depends on Russia’s energy
supply. They are solving the power shortages and interdependence they
need against the USA by turning them into cooperation.
On the other hand, put forward in 2004 and developed as an approach
against the current “Wahington Consensus”, the “Beijing Consensus” can
be regarded as a plus market economy in addition to China’s authoritarian
rule. Today, the economic aspect of this agreement, which includes political,
economic and soft power in the new world order adopted by Russia, is
formed by long-term trade and energy agreements, while the method of
developing economic relations using national currencies is applied within
the scope of these agreements (Yogayeva, www.aa.com.tr). China and
Russia use their position as a new center of attraction rather than polarize
the existing order, continue to show development and progress against the
USA with the features specific to this agreement.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .219

Discussion
Based on an inclusive overview of the three interactions of China and
Russia, it is seen that we have divided them into political interdependence,
security-based interdependence and economic interdependence in the
literature section. The mutual relations between Russia and China are
so unique for the United States that they cannot be compared with the
relations of other states in any sense because these two countries are
strong enough to pose a threat to the United States. In addition, these two
countries have a constitutive relationship with all the countries in Asia and
they can have a formative effect on these Asian countries because they are
geographically connected. The two countries have consistently based their
policies on the United States because the partnership between Russia and
China has matured and developed to challenge the interests of the United
States at the end of the Cold War. In this regard, Russia and China are
working both separately and together to deal with the power and influence
of the United States in all political, economic and security-oriented areas
in the international arena. These two allies against the United States are
making joint decisions to challenge the US’ regional order, global norms
and coercive expansions by supporting each other.
Russian-Chinese cooperation weakens the United States. While this
cooperation implies a deepening dependence on China for Russia and
accelerates tensions between Russia and the West, China’s constructive
communication with the United States puts China in an advantageous
position in this triangular relationship. While China’s constructive
relations with the United States pose no threat, there is a perceived threat
that can result in regime change in domestic politics due to the attitude
of the Russian elite in Russia. However, the country’s security, economy
and prosperity may become stronger if Russia gets closer to the West.
However, since there is no need for Russia getting closer to China to make
its political system more open, to switch to a transparent and orderly
investment regime, and to open its economy to more competition, there is
not any threat for Russia in establishing close relations with China.
Although there is mostly an agreement on many international issues
between the two countries, it is possible that there arise some differences
in their opposition to the United States. While Russia does not avoid taking
risky measures against the international order imposed by the United
States, China obeys existing orders that may provide benefits to its country
and refrains from risky-costly attempts to confront the United States.
In the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the periods of
development and change in the economies of the countries gathered under
the roof of the Commonwealth of Independent States are very important
220 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

in terms of directly affecting the Russian economy. While the failed

transformation to the market economy as a result of the reforms carried
out in Russia between 1992 and 1997 resulted in some years of decline in
the economy, the period between 1996 and 1997 showed some efforts to
overcome the economic crisis experienced by the countries that declared
their independence. The period between 1998 and 1999, in particular, was
experienced as a period of slowdown as a result of Russia’s monetary and
other crisis in its domestic economy (Bulut 2014: 17). The years 2000-2008
witnessed an economic recovery process in Russia as a result of the price
increase in raw material resources. However, this period was followed by
a slowdown process again as a result of the global economic crisis in 2008
in the same year, which undermined all economies (Bulut 2014: 17). The
Russian economy has been in a renewal and development process since
2010 and eventually managed to recover after the global economic crisis.
While the construction, household and automotive sectors facilitated
the extraordinary economic growth in China, this rapid growth could not
meet the increasing demands in areas such as raw materials, energy and
transportation, and caused an excessive demand in the raw material markets
around the world, which increased the prices. The rapid growth of China
alone increased the world’s steel demand with a rate of 75%. Therefore,
the energy need to be created was unlimited. What’s more, China’s energy
resources are not evenly distributed within the country, and it still ranks
second in the world energy consumption ranking (Akçil 2008: 24).
The economic growth in the 1990s has transformed China into a
global center of attraction, making the country the first and most influential
region in Asia. However, within the scope of the reforms that started in the
1970s before this global growth, it started to shape its relations with other
countries, including Africa and Latin America, not ideologically as it had
before, but rather the scope of these relations focused on economy (Üngör
2009: 27-38). In this way, it has expanded its sphere of influence day by
day. Especially after the 1997 Asian economic crisis, it started to have an
impact not only on East Asia but also on Central and Southeast Asia with
its economy that continued to develop (Üngör 2009: 28). In spite of the
SCO it established and acted cooperatively with Russia and other Central
Asian countries, China’s membership in the World Trade Organization in
2001 presented another turning point in the country. As a result of this,
China began to draw the profile of a competitor rather than a partnership
to other developing countries. It can be observed that both technological
and industrial developments gave a chance to China to have a tendency
towards an export-oriented policy. The active role of trade occupying a lot
of space in China’s foreign policy, has reached a dominant position and has
attracted the attention of all countries.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .221

Although Russia and China can maintain a cooperative relationship

and have a common aim of distancing the United States from the region, it
should not be forgotten that the two countries are natural rivals of each other
in Central Asia. China’s economically expansionist influence throughout
the region undermines Russia’s dreams of reviving the Eurasian Economic
Community. For this reason, within the scope of the SCO, which they use
as common mechanisms of action, Russia focuses more on cooperation in
the military field, while China focuses on economic issues. For example, in
the Middle East, where Russia is making heavy expenditures and trying to
exist despite the risk of war with the United States, China is consolidating
its influence through its economic power quietly and in a risk-free fashion
(Kemaloğlu, www.aa.com.tr). Thus, the reason for the insecure attitude
between the two countries today is because of the new feature of the
interdependence relations, which changes and transforms asymmetrically
when compared in terms of economic size.
The energy sector is critical to the economy of both Russia and China.
China is the world’s largest energy importer and it is true that all energy
resources across Central Asia are important to the economic progress of
this country. China needs a great deal of energy, and therefore, by making
investments in the region, it has increased its cooperation with the countries
of the region affiliated to the SCO in the first place. It has met its energy needs
from the region. On this occasion, China’s superpower position has also
strengthened in the region as its economic development continues rapidly.
With economical progress that it had shown, China further developed
the arms trade between the two countries in its favor. Russia made 40%
of its military equipment exports such as warplanes, air defense systems,
warships and submarines to China, preparing the ground for the change
of balances against itself and contributing to the development of China
(Kemaloğlu, www.aa.com.tr). Although Russia seemed to be in a superior
position in many respects in the first place, it started to fall behind compared
to the fast-developing modern Chinese economy. Furthermore, China
managed to get in touch with more contacts due to its trade in military
materials and eventually produce its own weapons (Knutsishvili 2019: 65).
Since 2007, China has reduced the import of weapon systems and other
technological products from Russia, turning the interdependence balance
against Russia. This incident affects the trade balance maintained since
the post-Cold War period and has removed away an important export item
from Russia in terms of the defense industry. In addition, Russia exports
oil, having a special importance for Russia, to China. However, as a result
of China’s diversification of the energy market with its active investments
in Africa in recent years, China’s interdependence against Russia has
decreased its bargaining power has increased.
222 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

In order to exemplify the changing balances between Russia and China

in interdependence, it is necessary to remember the states of insensitivity
and vulnerability, which represent two important features of the concept. As
explained extensively in the theoretical section, the dependency situation
in which one of the parties is dependent on the other party for a product
they want to obtain, but where alternative supply routes are still possible
is called sensitivity. In addition, the state of dependency where there
are fewer suppliers or no alternative is called vulnerability (Kaya 2019:
37). When this issue is considered regarding China’s energy needs, the
dependency relationship in this process, where China is highly dependent
on Russia for oil supply and has no alternative in terms of market, can be
described as vulnerability. As a result of China’s investments in Africa, a
new alternative market opportunity in oil supply can be explained as the
changing sensitivity of China’s dependence on Russia.
The comprehensive partnership of Russia and China provides great
economic benefits to Russia, especially in terms of energy and arms sales,
and it functions as a leverage in the level of the relations with the USA.
Despite this, China’s economic or political power in Central Asia is not a
desirable situation for Russia. Its economic dependence on China, which
has not bothered Russia until now, has resulted in a concern for Russia
regarding the Asia-Pacific as Russia realized that the issue has turned into
a political dependence throughout the Central Asia. Russia foresees that
that it will go through a trouble especially if China increases its influence
in East Asia, and therefore does not want to completely destroy its relations
with the USA and does not want to make its country fully dependent on
China. Russia wants the relations between the main power centers to be
in a balanced order. On the one hand, Russia does not want the USA to
leave the North Pacific in order to prevent China from being the dominant
power in the region, and on the other hand, it expects the USA to look after
Russia’s national security interests.
A study on Russia’s changing role in the international arena
experienced after 2010 includes some concerns about Russia’s place in
world affairs, its relationship with the great powers and its position in
the face of China’s rapid rise. It has been evaluated that it has lost an
important advantage in the defense industry (Akçadağ Alagöz 2016: 37).
In this direction, although the parties do not have to be equal in terms of
power to mention interdependence, the interdependence relations are not
always the same in terms of the ratio observed and even vary depending
on the conditions (Akçadağ Alagöz 2016: 37). Despite Russia’s superiority
in possessing nuclear weapons, it has been determined that China has
the second largest defense budget in the world after the USA and has
traditionally had an advantageous position compared to Russia, ranking
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .223

third in the line. In addition, it is stated that China has a clear advantage in
terms of conventional defense forces and other important security forces.
Therefore, although the relations between Russia and China are observed
to be stable, they are not static in the long run. The faster-than-expected
growth of China affects the relations between the two countries on a daily
basis owing to the changing balances in their power potential.
In this sense, interdependence is not considered as a relationship
in which every absolute interest is kept in balance mutually (Akçadağ
Alagöz 2016: 37). The symmetrical and asymmetrical characteristic of
interdependence especially in Russia-China relations has manifested itself
over time. If mutual relations are damaged in the period when the dependency
relationship is symmetrical, both sides are negatively affected, while the
country that is more dependent on the other party in the asymmetrical
relationship dimension is more negatively affected (Akçadağ Alagöz 2016:
37). In every example of dependency where the needs of the parties to
each other are not maintained equally, an asymmetrical picture emerges
(Kazimov 2020: 42), and in the case of Russia-China interdependence,
their relation has shifted from symmetrical to asymmetrical as a result of
the developments carried out by China.
It can be clearly evaluated that Russia and China are still both in
cooperation and competition concerning the occupation of Ukraine, which
is the most up-to-date action of Russia. Although most countries boycotted
at the very beginning of the Beijing Winter Olympics held in China on
February 4, 2022, Putin participated in the opening of the Olympics, which
revealed that Russia and China had very good diplomatic relations as of
that date (McDonell, www.bbc. com). Following Putin’s visit to China
accompanied by a delegation of 54 people from various sectors and the
contracts worth 117 billion dollars for oil and natural gas supply signed
during this visit, Putin announced this situation as a natural integration
between the two countries (Huseyni, Independent Türkçe). However, there
are some scenarios such as China could be informed about the invasion of
Ukraine on February 24, 2022, taking place right after the Olympics and
even Putin might take this decision during his Beijing visit as a result of
the economic agreements with China and China could demand that Russia
wait until the end of the Olympics (Bulut, Independent Türkçe). It is also
among the scenarios mentioned that the purpose of China’s support of this
plan is that Russia’s ongoing historic Ukraine problem is resolved in favor
of Russia as soon as possible (Huseyni, Independent Türkçe). However,
contrary to China’s expectations, Russia’s inability to reach a quick result
despite long weeks due to encountering a strong Ukrainian resistance has
put China to a great test concerning ignoring and not condemning Russia
(Huseyni, Independent Türkçe).
224 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

China has been pressured to mediate to end the Occupation and

to impose a compromise on Russia. However, China is Russia’s most
important ally. In parallel, China abstained from voting in both the UN
Security Council and the UN General Assembly, which created confusion
about China’s stance on the war (Huseyni, Independent Türkçe). It is
observed that China, which did not vote in favor of Russia and did not
help its ally much following the sanctions to be applied to Russia, did
not maintain its supportive attitude before the war. At this stage, it was
supposed that China applied an equation to give full support before the
invasion and systematically withdraw its support after the invasion and put
the rivalry between them to the fore. According to this scenario, China’s
interest is that Russia does not win the war. It will be more preferable for
China if Russia is drawn into a protracted war in which it has exhausted
its resources, is weakened, and is thus defeated and forced to isolate itself
from the West. (Huseyni, Independent Turkish). Again, according to this
scenario, Russia, which has finally been isolated and weakened from the
West, will have no choice but to become the only ally with China.
Russia’s aim is not to advance as a minor partner within the framework
of the Russian-Chinese alliance, but to become a great power on its own
(Huseyni, Independent Türkçe). Russia always has this aim and it had it
while he was entering into a war with Ukraine. Russia’s minor partnership
only covers the period when it weakened after the collapse of the Soviet
Union and sought refuge in forced friendship with China in order to find
common ground against the US. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on the
other hand, means that the current Eurasian Union population reaches 226
million, eliminates the buffer state between it and the West, and becomes
strategically stronger than NATO and the EU (Huseyni, Independent
Türkçe). With this power it will reach, Russia will transform itself into
a third power equal to both powers instead of an ally of China in the
distinction between the USA and China, which needs less cooperation
with China, can conflict with the interests of China for the continuity of
its own power (Huseyni, Independent Türkçe). The result of the scenario
that China bets on Russia concerning the Ukraine war – we do not know
whether Russia will win the war - is the reality of Russia and China, which
have never been reliable partners of each other and always have a feeling
of rivalry.
Another accepted scenario from the perspective of the USA is that
Russia was provoked into the war by the USA. Henry Kissinger once
said: “Instead of dealing with both Russia and China simultaneously, it
is important first to push the two powers apart, to bring one power to its
knees, and then to impose pressure on the second power”. According to
this scenario, this tactic above was adopted by Biden. Thus, the process
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .225

leading to the Russia-Ukraine war was fueled (Bulut, Independent Türkçe).

The gains to be made during the Ukraine war seem to have been aimed at
weakening Russia, reuniting European countries that distanced themselves
from the US under the umbrella of NATO, and the EU’s cooperation with
the US instead of competition (Bulut, Independent Türkçe). A militarily
weakened Russia means a strengthening of US influence in the Pacific-
Far East. From the perspective of the world economy, China, which is the
world’s second largest economy and trying to be the first state in rank, is
much more important than Russia. For this reason, the main goal for the
USA is for China to leave its cooperation with Russia and remain neutral
on both military and economic issues (Bulut, Independent Türkçe). Two
main issues that directly concern China and the West are the Taiwan issue
and the One Belt One Road Initiative. In these matters, China is hesitant to
leave Russia, which is its great supporter, strategic partner and ally, and to
end its alliance. Although China’s support for Russia’s achievement of its
goals in Ukraine may be beneficial in the short run as it is an example that
China can also benefit in a possible Taiwan issue, a strengthened Russia
will not be in China’s interest in the long run (Bulut, Independent Türkçe).
Therefore, for now, China, which defines Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
with the words issue and crisis instead of war or occupation, may abandon
this alliance the day it faces a strong Russian threat (Bulut, Independent
Türkçe). Until that day, China, while resisting to keep its distance and
neutrality in order to protect its country from Western sanctions as much as
possible, continues to try to convince the West of the legitimacy of Russia’s
security concerns due to the alliance’s past and future possibilities, and
continues to make statements that the friendly relationship with Russia
continues. (Bulut, Independent Türkçe). As a matter of fact, China, which
could not stand alone against the Western world in case Russia should be
weakened, or which could not bear the possibility of being faced with the
destiny of a weakened Russia, is aware that it is still interdependent with
Russia (Bulut, Independent Türkçe).
China is very sensitive about Taiwan. The 20th National Congress
of the Communist Party of China was held on October 16-22, 2022. In
the speech made by the Chinese President and CCP General Secretary
Xi Jinping at this Congress, the political and economic direction of the
country for the next five years was outlined, the Taiwan issue was kept
on the agenda, and it was stated that the use of force would be used to
reunite Taiwan with China if necessary (Euronews 2022). Jinping stated
that they were making sincere efforts to achieve unification by peaceful
means. He clearly underlined that they would not hesitate to take all
other necessary measures (Euronews 2022). China, which adds to the
constitution of its party that it does not accept Taiwan’s independence,
226 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

completely opposed to a possible independence that Taiwan would achieve

by supporting separatist activities (www.bloomberght.com). Expressing
that they were closer than ever to the unification of China and Taiwan,
which he defined as the motherland, Jinping also stated that they had the
competence to achieve this (www.bloomberght.com). With the statements
made in the last congress, China, which has fully revealed its plan and
intention about Taiwan, has once again stated that they will never give up
on Taiwan in parallel with the attitude it has maintained until today. In this
sense, in a possible crisis with the West, China thinks that it can undergo
a similar situation as Russia does, and therefore follows a foreign policy in
an effort not to sever all ties with Russia, which is its sole supporter on the
Taiwan issue. This issue re-exemplifies China’s status of sensitivity in its
interdependence on Russia.
Actually, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the scope of strategic
partnership between Russia and China has been reshaped in the form
of alliance, distance and criticism. On the one hand, China abstained in
the UNSC vote and determined the distance between China and Russia,
on the other hand, did not leave its alliance by rejecting the sanctions to
be applied to Russia. The biggest factor in this is the interdependence of
the two countries, which still continues in the current order. To sum up,
the process of interdependence between Russia and China has evolved to
a different level as a result of the political, economic and social events
experienced over time in the international conjuncture. While the subject
of the interactions in non-systematic issues between the two countries
consisted of political, security and economic-based agendas, there was an
asymmetrical transformation in the cost concept within the framework of
the principle of interdependence and in the symmetrical feature between
the parties. The extent of the political and economic relations between
Russia and China has yielded and will continue to result in certain
sensitivities and vulnerabilities for the two countries.
Conclusion
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, five new independent states
were established in Central Asia, and Russia and China were positioned as
regional powers in the international system and especially in Central Asia.
To fill the gap left by the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is not clear which
regional power will dominate in Central Asia, considered to be the center
of Eurasia, and whether competition or cooperation will be used to fill this
gap. The shaped Russia-China relations are deemed worthy of examination
within the scope of this study. As a result of the balancing policy carried
out against the USA, which both countries perceive as an external threat
in the region due to certain reasons, the search for a multi-polar order
determined the level of the relationship between the two countries and
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .227

paved the way for the process yielding a relationship of interdependence.

The forms of the interactions on which these two countries maintain their
interdependence have been dealt with through political, security-based
and economic interdependence accounts and as a result of the evaluations
made, it has been concluded that Russia and China are interdependent
on all these issues, that they will continue their cooperation in the near
or medium term, that they will avoid serious competition, that they will
develop their relations on the axis of interdependence for the sake of their
interests, even if there are changes in their level of interdependence. In
order to support the hypothesis in this regard, a theoretical framework has
been drawn and the historical progress of both Russia and China from the
Cold War to the present time has been discussed. The current dependency
relationship of the two great powers has been analyzed and it has been
determined that the nature of their interdependence seems to be equal at
first, but turns into a disproportionate and asymmetrical form over time.
The extent of the political and economic relations between Russia and
China has created and will continue to create certain sensitivities and
vulnerabilities for the parties. Therefore, the interdependence between the
parties has been examined in terms of quality, the cost to the parties and
the power relationship it has created, and it has been concluded that there
is a disproportionate and asymmetrical feature at the level of dependency.
The interdependence relationship observed between the two countries
has led to a foreign policy reflection that reduces the possibility of military
intervention to be carried out by the states concerned against each other,
increases the division of labor and paves the way for the peaceful resolution
of the problems. However, friendship or enmity issues in the current world
and international conjuncture seem to have a constantly changing alliance
structure. The slightest attitude or situation that can change in matters has
a sensitivity that can turn all existing balances in the opposite direction.
The dimension of relations, which is quite different from the sharp-sided
world of the Cold War in this state, does not contain any clarity and
constantly changes in terms of those who participate in cooperation and
competition. The comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation
between Russia and China, which started and developed in a sensitive and
symmetrical line in this direction, has turned into areas where the two
countries compete in terms of regional efficiency.
The interdependence relationship between Russia and China, which
this study claims, is a different relationship dimension that does not
require absolute cooperation, equal gain and endless trust as it is known.
Today, Russia and China are regional powers that still aim to be a global
power, have both cooperation and competition dynamics, and therefore
cannot abandon their status of interdependence at once. The USA, which
228 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

makes attempts to distance the two countries from each other, also causes
the two countries to get closer on an endless dimension, similar to the
search for multipolarity at the very beginning of the process. As a result,
new dynamics will continue to emerge while developments occur in the
international conjuncture, especially in the relations between Russia and
China, where cooperation and competition are mixed.
In the current situation, it has been inferred that Russia and China are
still interdependent on many issues, they will continue their cooperation
relationship unless there is an important and fundamental development,
they will avoid turning into ambitious rivals, they see themselves as
inadequate and need mutual cooperation for their interests even though
there are differences in the status of their interdependence; and they will
develop their relations at the level of interdependence for their interests when
they need mutual cooperation. As evidenced by the current conclusions, it
is seen that bidimensional and multidimensional cooperation agreements
are continuing to be made between the countries in question, Russia and
China, which will increase cooperation in political sense, in their security
concerns and in many other fields, especially in economic issues. These
developments gain importance in terms of supporting the conclusion
presented in the study. Considering a scenario in contrast to the additional
cooperation to be established on the dimension of interdependence
between Russia and China, it is also evaluated that China and Russia can
follow separate and independent policies if the reasons giving rise to the
interdependence of the two countries are to be eliminated. In the case
of this possibility, it is expected that Russia and China follow different
political and economic interests and that new alliances led by each country
are formed.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .229

REFERENCES

Abdullah, E. (2019). Küresel Sistemde Çok Kutupluluk ve Şangay İş Birliği Örgü-

tü. Yüksek lisans tezi. İstanbul Üniversitesi.
Akçadağ Alagöz, E. (2016). Ekonomik Karşılıklı Bağımlılık Kapsamında AB-Çin
İlişkileri. Uludağ Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 9 (2), 33-
56.
Akçil, K. (2008). Çin Ekonomisi ve Türkiye ile Çin’in Ekonomik İlişkilerinin Tür-
kiye Ekonomisi Üzerindeki Etkileri. Yüksek lisans tezi. Selçuk Üniversi-
tesi.
Axelrod, R., Hamilton, W. D. (1981). The Evolution of Cooperation, Science (New
Series), 211 (4489) 1390-1396.
Bloomberght. Çin’den Tnsiyonu Yükselten Tayvan Çıkışı. https://www.bloom-
berght.com/cin-den-tansiyonu-yukselten-tayvan-cikisi-2317878 [Erişim
26.10.2022]
Bulut, F. (2022). Ukrayna Savaşı, Çin ile Rusya’nın Dostluk Derecesini Gösterdi:
İttifak, Mesafe ve Eleştiri. Independent Türkçe, https://www.indyturk.com/
node/506861/t%C3%BCrki%CC%87yeden-sesler/ukrayna-sava%C5%9F
%C4%B1-%C3%A7in-ile-rusya%E2%80%99n%C4%B1n-dostluk-dere-
cesini-g%C3%B6sterdi-i%CC%87ttifak [Erişim 08.08.2022]
Bulut, R. (2014). SSCB’nin Dağılması ve Rusya Federasyonu’nda Serbest Piya-
saya Geçiş. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fa-
kültesi Dergisi, 1 (2), 7-19.
Giray Bozkurt, S. (2006). Bağımsız Devletler Topluluğu’nda Renkli Devrim-
ler-Kırgızistan Örneği. Akademik İncelemeler Dergisi, 1 (1), 118-138.
Chan, S. (1984). International Relations in Perspective. New York: Macmillan.
Çolakoğlu, S. (2004). Şangay İş Birliği Örgütü’nün Geleceği ve Çin. Uluslararası
İlişkiler, 1 (1), 173-197.
Elma, F. (2007). Sovyet Sonrası Rusya ve Orta Asya. Journal of Azerbaijani Stu-
dies, (10), 129-143.
Euronews. (2022). Çin ile Rusya’nın Ticaret Hacmi 2 Ayda Son 12 Yılın En Yük-
sek Seviyesine Ulaştı. https://tr.euronews.com/2022/03/07/cin-ile-rusya-n-
n-ticaret-hacmi-2-ayda-son-12-y-l-n-en-yuksek-seviyesine-ulast, [Erişim
30.07.2022]
Euronews. (2022). Cinping Çin Komünist Partisinin Ulusal Kongresinde Ko-
nuştu; Tayvan’ı Yeniden Birleştirme Sözü Verdi. https://tr.euronews.
com/2022/10/16/cin-lideri-komunist-partinin-20-ulusal-kongresinde-ko-
nustu-pekin-savasa-girmeye-hazir [Erişim 16.10.2022]
Gürkaynak, M., Yalçıner, S. (2009). Uluslararası Politikada Karşılıklı Bağımlılık
ve Küreselleşme Üzerine Bir İnceleme, Uluslararası İlişkiler, 6 (23), 73-
97.
230 . Eylül Beyza Ateş Çiftçi

Hüseyni, H. (2022). Ukrayna Krizi Sonrası Değişen Dengelerin Çin-Rusya İlişkisi

Üzerindeki Etkileri. Independent Türkçe, https://www.indyturk.com/node/
486036/d%C3%BCnyadan-sesler/ukrayna-krizi-sonras%C4%B1-de%-
C4%9Fi %C5%9Fen-dengelerin-%C3%A7in-rusya-ili%C5%9Fkisi-%-
C3%BCzerindeki [Erişim 08.08.2022]
Kaya, H. E. (2019). Karşılıklı Bağımlılık ve Asimetrik Bağımlılık Bağlamında Av-
rasya Ekonomik Birliği: Karşılaştırmalı Bir Analiz. Doktora tezi. Trakya
Üniversitesi.
Keohane, R. O., Nye, J. S. (2001). Power and Interdependence. New York: Addi-
son Wesley Longman.
Keohane, R. O. (2002). Power and Governance in A Partially Globalized World.
New York: Routledge.
Keyman, E. F. (2006). Küreselleşme, Uluslararası İlişkiler ve Hegemonya. Ulus-
lararası İlişkiler, 3 (9), 1-20.
Nye, S. J., Welch, D. A. (2015). Küresel Çatışmayı ve İşbirliğini Anlamak. Çev.
Renan Akman. İstanbul: Kültür Yayınları.
Oğuzlu, T. (2014). Liberalizm, Uluslararası İlişkilere Giriş. Der. Ş. Kardaş, A.
Balcı. İstanbul: Küre Yayınları.
Özbay, F. (2006). Rusya-Çin İlişkileri Nereye Gidiyor?. Türk Asya Stratejik Araş-
tırmalar Merkezi (TASAM), https://tasam.org/tr-TR/Icerik/378/rusya-cin_
iliskileri_nereye_gidiyor [Erişim 21.04.2022]
Özpek, B. B. (2014). Liberalizm ve Uluslararası İlişkiler. Uluslararası İlişkiler
Teorileri, Der. R. Gözen, s.140-156. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları.
Politika Akademisi. (2012). 1990 Sonrası Rusya Federasyonu-Çin Halk Cumhu-
riyeti İlişkileri. Uluslararası Politika Akademisi, http://politikaakademisi.
org/ 2012/06/29/1990-sonrasi-rusya-federasyonu-cin-halk-cumhuriyeti-i-
liskileri/ [Erişim 21.04.2022]
Kazimov, U. (2020). Rusya Çin İlişkileri ve Soğuk Savaş Sonrası Askeri İlişkiler.
Ahi Evran Akademi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 1 (1), 37-52.
Kemaloğlu, İ. (2020). Rusya-Çin İlişkileri: İttifak mı Rekabet mi?, Anadolu
Ajansı, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/analiz/rusya-cin-iliskileri-ittifak-mi-reka-
bet-mi/1972667 [Erişim 21.04.2022]
Knutsishvili, Z. (2019). Tek Kuşak Tek Yol Projesi Bağlamında Rusya-Çin İlişkile-
ri. Yüksek lisans tezi. Giresun Üniversitesi.
Kroll, J. A. (1993). The Complexity of Interdependence. International Studies Qu-
arterly, 37 (3), 321-347.
McDonell, S. (2022). Rusya’nın Ukrayna’yı İşgali Çin İçin Neden Büyük Bir Sı-
nav?. BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-60585185
[Erişim 08.08.2022]
Yantur, P., Dedeli, K. (2021). Türkiye-ABD Karşılıklı Bağımlılık İlişkilerinin Sek-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .231

törel Analizi. Trakya Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 23 (2), 687-692.

Yantur, P., İşeri, R. (2021). Yükselen Güç Çin Halk Cumhuriyeti’nin Ekonomi Po-
litik Stratejisi. Kocaeli Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 1 (41), 41-49.
Yogayeva, A. (2022). Pekin Olimpiyatları ve ABD-Rusya-Çin Üçgeni, Anadolu
Ajansı, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/analiz/pekin-olimpiyatlari-ve-abd-rus-
ya-cin-ucgeni/2496733 [Erişim 30.07.2022]
Üngör, Ç. (2009). Çin ve Üçüncü Dünya. İstanbul Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler
Fakültesi Dergisi, 41, 27-38.
Wagner, R. H. (1988). Economic Interdependence, Bargaining Power, and Politi-
cal Influence. International Organization, 42 (3), 461-483.
Wong, S. C. (2015). Hedged Economic Interdependence in Asia. How Do Asians
See Their Future? Edited by François Godement, European Council on
Foreign Relations, 65-69.
 CHAPTER 12
TALENT MANAGEMENT

Aylin AKYOL1

1  Aylin Akyol, Asst. Prof., Adıyaman University, Orcid: 0000-0003-

2700-5111
234 . Aylin Akyol

INTRODUCTION
Most firms must learn to successfully compete in this complicated
and dynamic environment created by the global economy in order to
experience sustained growth (Anand, 2011: 25). Businesses must manage
talent as a source of competitive advantage in today’s complicated global
economy (Wright & Kehoe, 2008). The primary factor influencing
corporate performance is generally acknowledged to be organizational
talent management (Meyers, 2020: 1). In recent years, there has been
significant progress in the relevant literature focusing on talent management
(Valverde, Scullion, & Ryan, 2013: 1832). Talent management is a limited
research area that contributes to the current literature on the management of
human resources. Talent management is becoming more and more crucial
for corporate performance and individual talent development in order to
maintain a competitive advantage (Kaliannan, Darmalinggam, Dorasamy,
& Abraham, 2023:1). In recent years, theoretical and methodological
studies have been conducted in order to conceptualize the scope of talent
management (Makarem, Metcalfe, & Afiouni, 2019: 181).
The concept of talent expresses the whole of the skills, experience,
knowledge, talents, intelligence, and competencies needed by the employees
to resolve various situations and problems faced by the organization
(Michaels, Handfield-Jones, & Axelrod, 2001; Ugboego, Edeh, Amarachi,
Ikechukwu, & Adama, 2022: 29). The methodical explanation of base
positions that contribute in different ways to the company’s sustainable
competitive advantage is part of the talent management process, as is the
creation of a talent pool of high-potential and high-performing officers to
fill positions. It has to do with enhancing a differentiated human resources
architecture to make it easier to hire qualified candidates and ensure
their dedication to the company (Collings & Melahi, 2009: 305). Talent
management, decided at the top management level, is regarded as a priority
for any firm since it promotes competitiveness, performance, effectiveness,
and productivity (Bloom, Lemos, Sadun, Scur & Van Renen, 2014 as cited
in Basco, Bassetti, Dal Maso, & Lattanzi 2021: 2).
Today’s talent supply, composition, and movement in companies are
shaped by a variety of complex and fluid dynamics and processes. Most
businesses compete on a worldwide scale and grow operations across
borders. It is referred to as a macro talent management system and is
present in numerous external scenarios. Macro talent management can
either directly or indirectly strengthen or weaken a company’s ability to
attract, hire, and retain talent which is essential to achieving competitive
business goals. Economic, political, governmental, technological, and
cultural factors all have an impact on macro talent management (King
& Vaiman, 2019: 194). Macro talent management refers to activities
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .235

systematically developed by political authorities and non-governmental

groups to improve skill levels both inside and between nations (Khilji,
Tarique & Schuler, 2015: 37 as cited in King & Vaiman, 2019: 199).
As the world’s leading multinationals grow globally, global talent
management remains a significant obstacle and challenge that needs
to be overcome. How to manage an increasingly varied, educated, and
digitally-savvy workforce globally is one of the biggest issues faced by
multinational corporations. (Froese, Shen, Sekiguchi, & Davies, 2020: 1).
Due to market competitiveness and talent scarcity, businesses have recently
had trouble keeping good personnel, forcing executives to adapt their
human resources strategies. Businesses generally use specialized talent
development resources rather than inclusive talent improvement. In the
literature, inclusive talent development is expressed as the management of
performance for career development and retention of employees through
training for all employees regardless of individual differences (Kaliannan
et al., 2023:1).
A company may accomplish its goals and establish the ideal culture
with the help of talented and dedicated employees. Finding and retaining
talent in startups is a huge global challenge. Talent management facilitates
employee engagement and develops talented and productive employees.
It constitutes a complex task that decides the sustainability of any
organization in a competitive environment (Durai &Viji, 2022: 138).
Businesses continue to embrace talent management, which first gained
popularity in the 1990s as they realized how much their success depends
on the talents and skills of their employees. The term was invented after
a study by Mckinsey & Company in 1997 (Agrawal, 2010: 483). Today,
talent management is perceived by business theorists and practitioners as
one of the priorities in organizational management (Dries, 2013). The main
reason for this situation is the intense competition between businesses for
a limited number of talented employees, which is called the ‘talent war’
in the literature (Michaels et al., 2001). Despite the ongoing discussions
on talent management for over forty years, the subject has not yet reached
theoretical maturity and needs to be developed (Collings & Melahi, 2009).
There is a need for empirical research that demonstrates the positive impact
that talent management initiatives by businesses have on staff attitudes
and behaviors in particular. Due to research gaps, the lack of scientifically
proven rationale for managers to make decisions about talented employees
is cited. (Gajda, 2022: 92).
Businesses are increasingly seeking strategies to portray themselves
as desirable employers as the “war for talent” intensifies. Companies more
frequently disclose their global talent management plans on their websites
236 . Aylin Akyol

and in job advertising (Ewerlin, 2013: 279). For a long time, international
corporations have faced significant difficulties in the competition for
talent. There are various reasons for this situation. The need for qualified
human resources has increased as a result of globalization and the resulting
escalation of competitiveness. Demographic changes that increase the
migration of skilled workers to different countries increase the labor
supply in developed countries. With the increase in the relocations of
enterprises, the country’s markets are faced with the rapidly increasing
demand for talent that cannot be met due to the inadequacy of the existing
qualified workforce. With the increasing importance of knowledge as a
resource, talented employees are becoming the foundation of the struggle
for competitive advantage worldwide. As a concept encompassing
organizational actions to recruit, choose, develop, and integrate the best
individuals in strategic roles at the global level, global talent management
is crucial for human resources (Scullion & Collings, 2011: 6 as cited in
Ewerlin, 2013: 280).
Contemporary economic realities characterized by intense
competition, high dynamics of change in the business environment, and
declining demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic lead to a significant
increase in risk and uncertainty in corporate governance. Trends weaken
the ties between employers and employees facing challenging market
conditions and are unable to provide stable, long-term employment to their
employees. Employees’ satisfaction, and commitment to work decrease,
and their desire to change workplaces increases. In response to the
economic challenges of the 21st century, managers decide to implement
talent management programs to reduce the loss of talented employees and
meet the current and future human capital needs of the business (Gajda,
2022: 92).
Talent management and development have gained popularity over the
past 20 years, as first and foremost, human resources are seen as strategic
partners for effective business strategies. The discipline of human resource
management has seen a significant increase during the past 20 years.
Personnel management is the first step of HRM, which leads to strategic
human resources management. Strategic human resource management
aims to improve company performance, whereas traditional HRM
concentrates on individual performance (Kaliannan et al., 2023: 2).
Though talent management has garnered attention recently, the
majority of current research is being put into creating concepts, processes,
and definitions. Regarding various organizational styles, talent management
has not been thoroughly researched. In this context, the need for highly
qualified employees considered as talent in organizations is emphasized
(Ingram & Glod, 2016: 339). Anand (2011: 25) states that there is a need
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .237

for new research on the enterprise-wide talent management application in

research he conducted in a telecommunications company in India. In this
context, within the scope of this study, talent management is examined
in a theoretical framework. The study aims to contribute to the related
literature. In the following parts of the study, first of all, the concept of
talent is explained, talent management is expressed, and the study makes
conclusions and evaluations.
TALENT CONCEPT
One of the biggest problems firms are currently facing is finding,
developing, and keeping talent, according to Gallardo-Gallardo,
Thunnissen, and Scullion (2020: 457). In this context, talent needs to be
well managed. Talent is an individual’s ability to understand, identify
relationships, analyze, and reach conclusions. Talents are innate and
developed through training and experience. It is necessary to organize the
talents of any organization to direct its employees and ensure organizational
efficiency. Strategies should be framed by keeping employees in critical
roles and related skills (Durai & Viji, 2022: 139).
There are numerous definitions of the concept of talent. In theory and
practice, talent is often defined as a collection of individual characteristics.
It is also used to define the concepts of talent, high performance, or high
potential. Despite the variations in definitions, two items of ability can
often be defined. First, talent relates to an individual’s abilities or potency
and that extends to its original meaning. In general terms, it is stated that
the particular talent of the gifted individual enables him to achieve better
results than the person who does not have this ability. These abilities
are; leadership skills, creativity/innovation, and the potential to increase
performance. Second, talent focuses on performance. In this context, it
is related to the fulfillment of responsibilities on the basis of expertise
and competencies. When the two definitions of talent are compared, talent
can be characterized as workers with the potential for above-average
performance, as well as excellent job performance. Talented employees
also need to be willing and able to progress (Ewerlin, 2013: 281).
As it turns out, the definition of talent in the literature is not
consistent. While talent can be described as an individual, talent also
refers to personality traits (Davies & Davies, 2010; Latukha, Kriklivetc
& Podgainyi, 2022: 296-298). The term “talent” refers to the full range of
abilities, knowledge, skills, and competencies that individuals must possess
in order to meet the organization’s difficulties (Michaels et al., 2001).
The fight for talent among multinational firms dominated international
discussions in 1998 when The McKinsey Consulting Group first brought
talent to the literature on human resource management (Aina & Atan,
238 . Aylin Akyol

2020; Michaels et al., 2001; Ugboego et al., 2022: 29).

Talent can be explained in an objective and subjective context.
Objectively, the term “capability” refers to the distinctive and developable
skills that a person possesses and may develop via sufficient learning
and training. These skills include analytical thinking, problem-solving,
effective time management, communication, productivity, creativity,
etc. Subjectively, talent refers to workers who are highly driven, open to
learning, knowledgeable in their fields, and capable of completing tasks
in a unique, creative, and effective manner by standing out in any setting
(Yıldız & Esmer, 2021:17-18).
The foundational element for improving and sustaining organizational
performance is talent. Many companies struggle to put into place efficient
talent management systems in this environment. In this regard, one of
the major issues facing businesses globally is finding, developing, and
retaining talent (cited in Pagan-Castano, Ballester-Miquel, Sanchez-
Garcia, & Guijarro-Garcia 2022: 528). Talent can also be viewed as a
strategic resource for developing a competitive advantage (Warraich &
Ahmed, 2020). The organization needs the appropriate talent to succeed
in the future. It is thought that one aspect of organizational life on a daily
basis is managing and developing talent. The progress of each individual’s
talent is essential and should be appreciated in organizations. Allowing
people to discover and develop their abilities should become a component
of the work routine (Agrawal, 2010: 483).
Talent can be examined with the human capital approach. According
to the human capital model, an organization’s capacity has value based on
its particular knowledge, skills, competencies, contributions, and abilities
(Pagan-Castano et al., 2022: 529). Applications for the development of
talented employees are; orientation, business simulation, rotation, project
work, reading, electronic learning, participation in strategic meetings,
mentoring, and coaching (Yazıcıoğlu, 2006; Altınöz, 2018: 89).
Talent increases performance. It is generally seen that teams made up
of the best individuals perform better (Anand, 2011: 26). It is emphasized
that the definition of talent should be the first step toward creating effective
talent management practices within an organization (Tansley, 2011;
Nijs, Gallardo-Gallardo, Dries, & Sels, 2014). The two main groups of
methods for talent definition are object approaches and subject approaches.
According to the object approach, talent is a character trait. Subcategories
in the comprehension of talent are identified in this method. 1. Talent as a
natural ability, 2. As a skill, 3. As Participation, and 4. As Adaptation. The
subject approach characterizes talent as a person. There are also two sub-
categories in this approach: Inclusive and particular talent. The inclusive
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .239

paradigm includes applying the concept of talent to all employees of

the enterprise. In a particular paradigm, a definite group of employees
is distinguished. For example, there may be employees who produce the
highest results or those with great potential (Latukha et al., 2022: 296-298).
TALENT MANAGEMENT
In the book “The war for Talent,” published in 1998, experts from
the McKinsey firm presented the idea of talent management. The book
emphasizes the value of talent management and generates a great deal
of interest in it. According to recent reports, organizations are investing
more and more money in the talent management process. While there is
considerable interest in talent management, there is uncertainty in the
conceptuality of talent management in the literature. There is a need to
strike a better balance between the needs of organizations and the aims and
expectations of individuals, according to the talent management approach
to retaining talent (Pagan-Castano et al., 2022: 529).
It is generally agreed that the idea of talent management was developed
in 1997 when the American consulting company McKinsey published
research results showing that the most successful companies focus
intensely on their talented employees (Michaels et al., 2001). In the last
decade, significant progress has been made in constructing the conceptual
underpinnings of talent management due to the increasing number of
scientific studies on the conception of talent. Research focuses primarily
on defining the concept of talent in the organizational context, identifying
the factors that shape human talent, conceptualizing talent management,
and identifying and analyzing applications in the field (Gallardo-Gallardo
& Thunnisen, 2015; Gajda, 2022: 92). According to Tamaş (2022: 478-479),
the concept of talent management was developed by a group of McKinsey
& Company, a global management consultancy company, that wanted
a paradigm shift in human resources and coined the term “talent war”
with the world at the end of the 1990s. This concept intends to emphasize
that human resources should put emphasis on ensuring the success of
businesses.
Another explanation is that in the late 1990s, when “The War for
Talent” was at its height, talent management became relevant to HR
professionals. Both strategic and tactical components are included in talent
management. There is a global and local effort to ensure that operational
human resource operations and strategic decisions are focused on creating
a competitive edge through talent management. Today, talent management
is viewed as a portfolio of interconnected HR activities that help place
the appropriate people, with the right competencies, in the right jobs, at
the right locations, and for the right salaries. Using human resources for
240 . Aylin Akyol

the organization’s competitive advantage, talent management is a long-

term organizational strategy. Strategic human resources practice makes
talent management, which focuses on talent acquisition and performance,
its primary principle (Claus, 2019: 208).
There is no standardized definition of talent in the literature on business
management (Harsch & Festing, 2020: 45; Yıldız & Esmer, 2021: 3). Talent
management defining as the activities and processes that systematically
involve attracting, identifying, developing, engaging, retaining, and
positioning valuable talent within an organization to create sustainable
strategic success (Collings & Melahi, 2009; Warraich & Ahmed, 2020;
Pagan-Castano. et al., 2022: 529). Human resources academics perceive
talent management as a new HR strategy to select the best minds and place
their skills where they fit to achieve the organization’s goals. In a different
review, Edeh and Dialoke (2016) stress that people with abstract thoughts
and physical prowess won’t be taken seriously until they can contribute to
the business’s efforts to address problems. This situation is identified with
talent management processes. It is a methodical technique for managing
personnel who possess the pertinent and essential knowledge and expertise
to address organizational issues. Accordingly, an employee with exclusive
skills who is not sought in the workplace cannot be considered a talent.
Talent management promotes business success across a variety of economic
sectors. Moreover, the process of talent management is considered as
medicine for a distraught organization and affirms its power in building
resilience toward a healthy existence as an organization (Ugboego et al.,
2022: 29-30).
In the early years, academics perceived talent management as an
alternative trend to human resource recruitment. As talent management
began using more frequently, talent management began to be an area of
interest in academic research. However, there are not enough empirical
studies on the concept. Talent management is rapidly transitioning to a
new paradigm shift with the emergence of the 4th Industrial Revolution
(Claus, 2019: 209).
Due to its significance in the modern dynamic global workplace,
talent management has predominated the literature on human resource
management (Ugboego et al., 2022: 29). Since talent management is a
relatively new and expanding field, more input from various industries
and national viewpoints is needed. Talent management is estimated as a
consequential requirement for businesses to achieve commercial goals and
sustainable competitive advantage. It is also a substantial factor contributing
to the effective execution of corporate strategy (Yıldız & Esmer, 2021:1).
In order to develop a thorough talent management system, firms need first
look into several fundamental questions, according to Zhang and Bright
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .241

(2012). What is talent, who qualifies as having talent, and what does talent
management entail? When the traditional human resources management
system is unable to satisfy the demands of the international corporate
environment, talent management comes to the fore. The talent management
structure and the extent of the talent management system of representative
enterprises are both limited and shaped by organizational culture, which
also plays a crucial role in this process (Tatoğlu, Glaister, Demirbağ, 2016;
Yıldız & Esmer, 2021: 2-6).
Talent management is commonly understood to be a particular set of
human resources (HR) techniques intended to recruit, choose, develop, and
keep high-performing or high-potential workers in critical organizational
positions (Collings, Melahi, & Cascio, 2018; Meyers, 2020: 1). According
to Anand (2011: 25), talent management is a crucial step in ensuring that
firms have enough qualified people resources to achieve their present and
future business needs. The procedure encompasses all significant facets of
an employee’s lifecycle, including recruitment, training, and performance
evaluation.
Talent management encompasses a variety of tasks and procedures,
some of which include building a talent pool of high-potential and effective
employees to fill the roles, designing a differentiated human architecture to
make it simpler to hire qualified candidates, ensuring loyalty to the business,
and systematizing the explanation of key roles that contribute in various
ways to the organization’s sustainable competitive advantage (Collings &
Melahi, 2009: 304; Liu et al., 2021: 2). According to Makarius and Srinivasan
(2017: 495), employers continue to be interested in talent management as
they grapple with difficult issues related to the unpredictability of talent
supply and demand in industries. In particular, employers often talk about
the talent gap between the abilities of candidates and the skills needed in
businesses. The importance of developing good relations with suppliers
is emphasized in talent management. Individuals are promoted to take
control of careers but do not know definitively what skills are required or
how to cope with the challenges of a fluctuant workforce. The importance
of the responsibility issue is increased by uncertainties surrounding the
labor supply and demand for skills and certifications.
A common workforce strategy has always been talent management.
In today’s new normal post-pandemic, HR professionals focus more on
talent management. The main objectives are to train a growing, agile,
and self-motivation workforce in rough times. Businesses find it crucial
to retain and manage their talent globally. For centuries, it has been seen
the source of helping firms cope with crises is human resources. Firms
should help their capabilities be efficient and effective during the crisis
(Wadhwa, Gujrati & Uygun, 2022: 51). The management of talent is noted
242 . Aylin Akyol

as one of the most significant issues with human capital that enterprises in
the twenty-first century must deal with (Dries, 2013: 272). In recent years,
there has also been a question about those responsible for talent acquisition
and development (Makarius & Srinivasan, 2017: 496).
Managers must make important decisions about the quantity and
quality of talent they need to operate their organization on a daily basis,
but they frequently lack the complete and accurate information they need
to do so. Because of this, it is challenging for them to manage their talent
portfolio so that they can implement their business strategy with the right
people in the right place at the right time. Businesses can facilitate talent
management by implementing strategic workforce planning. This approach
is used by firms based on different innovations explained as human capital
planning (Ruse & Jansen, 2008: 38).
Anand (2011: 29) uses the following broad parameters to examine how
the organization views talent management:
 Integration of talent management as a process,
 Talent management develops talent retention in the organization,
 Talent that encourages growth and provides opportunities,
 Talent management as a link to pay and monetary reward.
Alziari (2017: 379-380) states the following issues regarding talent
management practices in large international companies:
• 1.Human capital management is a challenging concept when
applied carefully,
• 2.Talent is not general,
• 3.Talent management does not refer to the same subject as people
management,
• 4.Talent decisions are not HR made by business leaders,
• 5.The decision moment of HR is related to who will take the job.
There is a competitive perspective that supports the belief that
talent management is related to identifying talented people and finding
and fulfilling their aspirations. Professional service firms often adopt
a competitive approach, as job offers are based on employee skills. In
addition, using the same personal development approach for everyone in
the organization while shortening the time for high-potential employees,
a developmental perspective suggests talent management for accelerated
development paths for individuals with the highest potential. In this
context, it focuses on developing high potentials or talents faster than
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .243

others (Agrawal, 2010: 483). Basco et al. (2021: 1) mention how limited
industry competition tends to lead risk-averse family businesses to invest
less in talent management strategies. The study revealed an intermediary
relationship between the degree of risk aversion, the level of investment in
family companies, and talent management as a decision from the senior
management level.
The talent management process is widely adopted and adapted by large
and multinational enterprises. Businesses are facilitating their operations
to gain strategic advantages by using talent management. When firms are
successful by making their talent management processes effective for the
entire workforce, they contribute to rapid growth and development for
businesses and employees, thus increasing the motivation of employees.
Adopting talent management processes brings substantial challenges to
businesses (Anand, 2011: 26).
 Identifying and evaluating new and existing talents,
 Organizing the talent pool,
 Maintaining a high level of commitment as an employee
throughout his/her tenure,
 Retaining the talent pool,
 Maintaining sufficient reserve power.
Business strategy and the required specialized skills determine
talent. The goal of talent management is to have individuals who are truly
excellent at everything that the win-win business requires. Strategies
describe capabilities and abilities. The skills required to acquire a business
strategy are described. These capabilities guide the definition of talent and
the decisions about how it will be positioned organizationally (Alziari,
2017: 380). The process of training and integrating new hires, advancing
and keeping on board current employees, and luring highly qualified
candidates to a company is referred to as talent management (Agrawal,
2010: 484).
Tarique and Schuler (2010: 124) defined talent management globally.
Accordingly, he defines global talent management as practices that
attract, develop, and retain individuals with high levels of human capital.
Talent management is a concept that businesspeople define critically
for organizational success. However, there is no consensus on talent
management and ability definition (Crane & Hartwell, 2019: 82-83).
Employees are significantly impacted by the rapid changes in
globalization, technology, and demographics. The talent management
practices that have been used over the previous 20 years are altering due
244 . Aylin Akyol

to the new context. The demands of their employees today are not being
met by talent management strategies, as leading companies across all
industries are realizing. To find and nurture the talent they need, employers
concentrate on creating meaningful employee experiences. To boost HR
competencies, practitioners of the new generation of talent management
are creating an HR component that incorporates management frameworks
like design thinking, agile management, behavioral economics, and
analytics (Claus, 2019: 207). Leading HR companies are reimagining
talent management and improving the lives of both employees and
employers. The new and improved talent management strategy places a
strong emphasis on adaptability, personalized solutions, and identifying
sustainability options (Claus, 2019: 213).
Worldwide talent management refers to all organizational efforts
to find, hire, train, and keep top personnel in the most critical positions
required to meet business strategic goals on a global scale (Scullion,
Collings, & Caligiuri, 2010: 106; Froese et al., 2020: 1). According to Tamaş
(2022: 472), the fact that information technologies are more on the agenda
during the pandemic period also means a new obstacle in the race to hire
people with great potential or talent. Talent identification, attractiveness,
and retention are talent management research applications that can provide
firms with a definite competitive advantage.
The definition of talent management in the managerial literature, from
a resource-based approach, is the enhancement of high-performance and
high-potential employees in key organizational roles. A strong conceptual
framework is lacking in talent management research, which is still in
its infancy. It emphasizes talented individuals without regard to their
organizational or specialized position (Thunnissen, Boselie & Fruytier,
2013 as cited in Basco et al., 2021: 5).
While businesses adopt different approaches to talent management,
academics and businesspeople agree:
1.Talent management is both a process and a collection of activities.
2.Talent management refers to talents in an organization, and
outstanding refers to skilled workers.
3.Talent management includes different human resource management
practices, including talent acquisition, development, and retention, covers.
4.The process is implemented as an element of talent management and
activities must be integrated.
5.Talent management processes designed to meet the needs of firms
lead to particular results as achieving business goals (Gajda, 2022: 93).
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .245

In the related literature, talent management is examined with two

approaches. Talent management focuses on establishing a solid theoretical
foundation in the first approach. The notion of talent in this context is
connected to the nature and essence of talent management. When it comes
to the intrinsic abilities, learned skills, knowledge, attitudes, and capacities
of employees, talent is regarded as naturalness, mastery, commitment,
and harmony that emerge and produce outstanding results. The second
strategy emphasizes talent management as a whole. The literature on
talent management has four basic points of view. It first concentrates
on the procedures and duties closely associated with human resource
management. By connecting people management approaches to strategic
objectives, researchers attempt to distinguish between them. Second, it
emphasizes how talent management is viewed as the practical application
of the valuable competencies of brilliant individuals. According to
researchers, businesses are only as competent as their best employees.
Third, it highlights the significance of internal staff flow in a company and
focuses on the internal talent pool, which is strongly correlated with supply
and demand. Fourth, it focuses on identifying key-important statuses
rather than examining abilities alone. It emphasizes that the organizational
perspective and interests are the key points (Ingram & Glod, 2016: 340).
Meyers (2020: 2) explains talent management within the scope of
social exchange theory (Blau, 1964). Within the theoretical framework,
talent management practices are considered a substantial investment of
an enterprise in its most valuable employees. Employees who perceive
the investment feel pressure to respond by exhibiting positive attitudes
in the form of organizational commitment and positive behaviors in the
form of increased effort towards work. Positive attitudes and behaviors
are expected to translate into valuable talent management results at the
organizational level, primarily in the form of increased innovation and
business performance (Collings & Melahi, 2009).
The human capital theory is used by Ugboego et al. (2022: 32) to
explain talent management. Gary Becker and Theodore Schultz first
proposed the human capital hypothesis in the 1960s (Becker, 1964).
According to human capital theory, a company’s value is determined by its
workforce’s fundamental talents and skills (Ayashree, Tchantchane, & Lee,
2013). Talent management is the base operating system of the business. It
is about human resource planning that improves the efficient performance
of the job. Employee satisfaction and better business outcomes are both
impacted by talent management. Talent management is much more than
just better organizational results. Additionally, it plays a significant role in
determining how employees feel (Setia et al., 2022: 751).
246 . Aylin Akyol

The cause of the increasing interest in talent management research

in recent years is related to the sustainability of competitive advantage
(Ashton & Morton, 2005; Coulson-Thomas, 2012). Developing a talent
pool from both internal and external resources, providing sufficient
resources to key jobs, and focusing on work motivation, organizational
commitment, and extra-role behaviors that improve organizational
performance are all aspects of talent management (Collings & Melahi,
2009). The talent management strategy emphasizes differentiation and a
break from traditional human resource management practices. Businesses
that wish to actively incorporate talent into organizational life must figure
out how to capitalize on their competencies and create structures, tactics,
and climates that will motivate their staff to contribute to the success of the
company (Ingram & Glod, 2016: 340).
Alayoğlu (2010: 94), one of the talent management researchers in the
national literature, states that more comprehensive empirical research
should be done in his study, which examines talent management in a
theoretical framework. The theory-based studies of Doğan and Demiral
(2008: 164) emphasized that talented employees make a difference in
businesses, and competitive advantage and success will be achieved
through good management of talents as values. Çelik and Zaim (2011:
37) explain in their theoretical studies that the best talent management
approach in businesses cannot be imitated and is unique. According to
research, firms will determine a talent management approach that will
distinguish them from their competitors in the future. Altuntuğ (2009: 445)
states in his study that the best management approach for every business
is formed based on the company’s capabilities. Altınöz (2018: 82) states
in his research that companies with corporate talents are at the forefront
of their sectors, depending on employees with individual capabilities.
The importance of determining the talent pool correctly is emphasized
in talent management. Stating that businesses implement compulsory
training for their employees in the talent pool. Aytaç (2014: 1) qualitative
research in Ankara on teachers reveals that teachers perceive the talent
management approach commonly as a model applied in private schools
and as a human resource management skill and competence. Within the
scope of the research, teachers state that school administrators do not have
the qualifications at the desired level. Yumurtacı (2014: 187) examines
talent management theoretically and states that the successful talent
management process is provided by active policies that all talent managers
in the organization will not implement. So, the importance of determining
the most appropriate talent management strategy is emphasized for the
organization with firm strategies. Altunoğlu, Atay, and Terlemez’s (2015:
47) research conducted with the case (case study) method in a bank reveals
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .247

that the bank’s human resources and talent management practices have a
positive effect on the bank.
CONCLUSION AND EVALUATION
This research has aimed to examine talent management at the
theoretical level. Despite the rapid developments in the scope of talent
management, current debates on the understanding and conceptual
boundaries of talent management continue (Collings & Melahi, 2009).
Talent management is under development at the theoretical level, and new
studies on conceptualization are constantly required (Makarem et al.,
2019: 190). Talent management is usually understood to be a particular set
of human resources (HR) procedures designed to recruit, select, develop,
and keep high-performing or high-potential workers in key organizational
positions (Collings et al., 2018; Meyers, 2020: 1)
The fourth industrial revolution is revolutionizing businesses with
amazing results for their personnel, driven by demography, technology,
and globalization. It offers HR the chance and the task to reimagine
and restructure talent management. By discovering, forecasting, and
examining trends that affect personnel acquisition and performance,
academic research can assist professional talent management practice
(Claus, 2019: 213).
The dynamic capability of the company to find, nurture, retain, and
empower personnel to realize objectives and carry out business plans is
known as talent management. Talent management is a skill that is influenced
by working conditions, workplace culture, and talent development.
Besides, firms that increase investments in information technology can
develop expertise in managing talent (Benitez-Amado, Llorens-Montes,
& Fernandez-Perez, 2015: 214-215). Talent management represents a
decisive element that supports the field of human resources. Success,
on the other hand, depends on keeping the existing human resource of
the business, motivating it, and developing it according to its potential.
Talent management programs help the information technology sector to
find qualified and competent professionals and invest in performance by
advancing them in digital training (Tamas, 2022: 481-482).
In general, adopting a strategic approach to talent management
contributes to being perceived as attractive by potential candidates by
developing mechanisms due to the nature of the human resources process
(Orel et al., 2022: 1526). Pagan-Castano et al. (2022: 528) emphasized the
importance of talent management as a source of competitive advantage
toward the transition to human capital decisions with the bibliometric
analysis they conducted within the scope of literature review study.
248 . Aylin Akyol

In order to accomplish their company strategy, businesses continue to

struggle with finding the right personnel at the right time and place. With
the aid of human capital planning, businesses are better able to identify
the types and quantities of talent required to carry out their strategies,
predict talent shortages in the future, and prioritize the investments and
actions needed to fill those gaps before they have a negative impact on
business performance. In this way, continuous competitive advantage and
innovation can be achieved (Ruse & Jansen, 2008: 43).
By investigating how talent changes are a result of the interaction
between human and social capital, Crane and Hartwell (2019: 90) make
a significant contribution to the literature on global talent management.
It turns out that businesses need to deal with internal elements to
evaluate, develop and place human resources in different teams and pay
attention to resources that can be effective in generating and integrating
new knowledge. It is necessary to promote the proper human and social
capital structuring at the right time in global talent management. By
having a thorough grasp of the relationships, businesses may implement
spheric talent management strategies that enhance individual and team
performance, promote organizational learning at the international level,
and help businesses achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
According to the results of the research conducted by Valverde et al.
(2013: 1832), even when talent management principles and practices are
applied, awareness of talent management is notably low. Typical human
resources policies associated with talent management do not necessarily
apply to multinational enterprises. Accordingly, it is reported that talent
management must go beyond certain practices to represent a literal
strategic approach to using human abilities effectively. Within the scope
of the research, the explanations of the management on the determination
of talents especially emphasize performance and attitude in multinational
enterprises. Talents have been seen as people who are loyal and committed
to the business, and who are also reliable and consistent. In this context,
while identifying high potential is an attractive talent management policy
for businesses, it becomes necessary to prioritize the strategic approach
to define the characteristics that employees must have and which are also
accepted as base resources in a particular firm. Senior managers and
business partners occurred at the headquarters of the business’s talent
base. For multinational enterprises, attracting talent is not perceived as
a challenge. Abilities are identified subsequently working for the firms,
and managers can observe their performance in a particular organizational
context. There is little concern about talent retention policy (Valverde et
al., 2013: 1847).
Gajda (2022: 91) found that talent management practices, directly
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .249

and indirectly, affect the job engagement of talented employees and that
perceived procedural justice regulates the relationship between perceived
distributive justice and job engagement. Managers can implement talent
management programs to increase the job engagement of talented
employees. It is substantial that the employees nominating and selecting
program process is objective and obvious, and all candidates have equal
opportunities. In addition to developing talents, managers must consider
all employees. When businesses invest in human resources, they can create
a sense of organizational support in all employees. In another research,
Omotunde and Alegbeleye (2021: 1) concluded in their research with
librarians working in Nigeria that talent management practices affect job
performance.
Employees participating in talent management programs gain a
unique status and more development opportunities, additional incentives,
and the possibility of rapid promotion related to preferential treatment
(Gajda, 2022: 100). A transition to a people-oriented and participatory
management pattern can be achieved instead of a rigid and hierarchical
management approach with the understanding of the importance of talents
in management. Through the transformation, employees perceived as a
passive and ordinary business source are beginning to be an indispensable
element of competitive advantage with their behavioral and mental abilities.
Talented employees contribute to creativity and can make the business
different and inimitable. The support of the senior management level is
substantial in the process. The main task of management in a competitive
environment is to identify authentic talents. After determining the actual
capability with objective evaluation criteria, a profile is developed for
talent then the relevant ability for the optimal job is assigned in suitable
amounts. Discovered and developed abilities should be institutionalized
and identified with the business (Altuntuğ, 2009: 457-458). Discovered
and developed skills must be institutionalized and linked to the company.
An encouraging culture in work environments values employees
by recognizing their talents, providing the opportunity to use talent,
and encouraging talent to increase their skills to develop organizational
commitment. A strategic approach in human resources policies in the form
of flexible working hours will strengthen the employee’s work-life balance
and emotional commitment to the organization. Leveraging innovative
practices followed by leading businesses in the form of competency-
based assessment, creating chances for lifelong learning, and outsourcing
recruiting and development will increase corporate commitment and talent
retention.(Durai & Viji, 2022: 148).
According to Ewerlin (2013: 300), personality plays a substantial role
in shaping the individual’s needs, and in this context, more research on
250 . Aylin Akyol

talent management is needed. The individual nature of people is strongly

determinant in the influence of global talent management programs.
Focusing on career-oriented tools leads to an intense increase in the
employment of talented individuals. It is emphasized that different uses
of global talent management programs have various positive effects on
recruiting and retaining talent. Multinational businesses in particular
will be able to boost the number of talented staff members by creating
specialized global talent management programs. Thanks to spheric talent
management programs, person-organization harmony can be achieved,
recruitment processes can be made efficient, and the costs incurred by
selecting candidates who are not suitable for the job can be reduced.
Froese et al. (2020: 9) suggest that future research should be well
integrated into global talent management, considering the diverse literature.
Businesses that offer talent management solutions are willing to develop
the competencies of their employees. The aim is to make employees
more productive and help them achieve corporate goals (Ingram & Gold,
2016: 345). The research conducted by Durai and Viji (2022: 138) in India
revealed that the structures such as identifying talents, attracting talents,
talent training, and development positively affect employee engagement.
It is stated that the culture of talent is dominant in determining
organizational commitment. Pagan-Castano et al. (2022: 534) state that
talent management is accepted as a substantial element for developing
the competitive advantage of firms and the subject is increasingly being
researched in different disciplines. It is also recommended to examine the
relationships between talent management and competitive advantage with
more in-depth studies. The results of Anand’s (2011: 25) research show that
talent management is an excellent component of the employee development
process and a technique used throughout the entire organization. Increased
employee engagement, decreased fatigue, and proportionally longer
average tenure result from the successful management of the talent pool.
In addition, talent management strategies and processes contribute to the
development of employees to varying degrees. After all, a properly planned
talent management strategy helps support effective business performance
(Omotunde & Alegbeleye, 2021: 11).
According to the research results of Latukha et al. (2022: 317-
318), positive relationships emerged between the application of talent
management practices that differ between generations and business
performance. Businesses can operate to create a sustainable competitive
advantage source by creating an effective generational diversity talent
management system. According to the results of the research conducted
by Ugboego et al. (2022: 28), it has been found that the dimensions of talent
management have a significant positive effect on organizational resilience.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .251

It is concluded that talent management measured by talent attractiveness,

talent development, and retention increases the organizational durability
of hospitality businesses.
According to the research results of Saurombe and Barkhuizen (2022:
1), talent management practices such as talent acquisition and development,
talent retention, management commitment, performance management,
workforce planning, and human resource recruitment are used to predict
employee happiness and meaningfulness of the job perceptions arise.
Employee intention to leave diminishes when perceptions of talent
management activities such as acquisition, development, performance
management, recruitment, retention strategies, and workforce planning
rise. Employees’ perceptions of talent retention practices affect the
meaningfulness of their jobs and overall happiness (Saurombe &
Barkhuizen, 2022: 5).
As a result of the research conducted by Setia et al. (2022: 749) with
employees in logistics services with structural equation modeling, it is
revealed that talent management and knowledge management contribute
positively to job satisfaction partially or together, and this situation affects
employee performance. Employees must share their opinions, ideas, and
skills in order to succeed since logistics services are constantly developing
with strong knowledge management and talent management.
As a result of the research of Ugboego et al. (2022: 34), it is found
that talent management towards attracting talent, developing talent, and
retaining talent increases the organizational resilience of accommodation
firms. In future research, different methodologies can be used to determine
the impact of talent management on other criterion variables. Identifying
talent is one of the basic policies of human resources professionals. At the
core of attracting talented individuals with different job characteristics is
creating a harmonious work environment where each capable individual
will appreciate the other’s competencies. The next dimension of talent
management is talent development in motivation and compensation
management. The post process of attracting organizational talent is often
to help them update their skills due to the constant technological changes
occurring in service and manufacturing businesses. Human resources
professionals need to ensure the effective implementation of talent
management to increase the resilience of the hospitality industry.
Johnson, Stone, and Lukaszewski (2021) state that digital human
resources and artificial intelligence can help reduce turnover in the industry
and attract, motivate, and retain talented employees in the hospitality and
tourism industry. Wadhwa et al. (2022: 56) state that artificial intelligence
should be essential in assisting human resources in managing talent in the
252 . Aylin Akyol

healthcare industry. The motto of “Right person for the right job” has been
embraced, and the central context within the talent management system
that reflects the talent management construct is commonly acknowledged
as the identification of critical positions and the methodical placement
of talents in these positions based on competency and potential. It is
suggested that empirical research on the theoretical development of talent
management and the definition of the elements of the concept in the field of
application should be increased (Yıldız & Esmer, 2021: 21-22).
De Vos and Nicky Dries (2013: 1816) argue that the talent management
literature can be built on self-awareness reached from the career literature
about the mechanisms of individual career retention and inclusion in a
study in Belgium with human resources managers of 306 firms. By
acknowledging careers as an organizational concern linked to more
comprehensive strategic human resource management methods, the career
management literature can learn from the talent management literature
(cited in De Vos & Nicky Dries, 2013: 1828).
Research conducted in Spain by Benitez-Amado et al. (2015: 207)
has revealed that the firm’s ability to benefit from information technology
infrastructure improves talent management and ensures the implementation
of an environmentally sustainable operation strategy to improve the firm’s
performance. Through information technology, managers and firms
provide beneficial insights from the market on recruiting and onboarding
outstanding talent to design and integrate the talent base. The research
demonstrates to managers how to more effectively utilize information
technology foundation for improving profitability and competitive
position through personnel management and operational environmental
sustainability (Benitez-Amado et al., 2015: 215-216).
Internalizing talent management as a process and not being limited
to a small group of employees are the two most crucial success factors
for the organization’s growth and development. Global consistency is
essential in the talent evaluation processes of a business. Managers must
have confidence in all employees that the same standards are being met.
Positive participation of the employees and providing timely feedback to
the employees ensure an advantage to the company. Developing existing
talents for base positions within the organization and aligning individual
goals with organizational goals and plans ensures that talent management
is welcomed both as policy and practice. The practice of talent management
still has challenges with regard to talent assessment. Every business adopts
appropriate strategies to retain the best talent (Anand, 2011: 29). According
to Altınöz’s (2018: 93-94) research results, it is necessary to pay attention
to the employee’s perceptions of the management of talented employees. In
the study, it was revealed that the perception of talent management is low in
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .253

3-star businesses. The importance of career success and intention to leave

is stated in terms of long-term employment and productivity of talented
employees in the enterprise. It has been found that talent management
practices are more effective in 4-star hotels, and it is easier to reach skilled
employees in 5-star hotels.
According to Sparrow and Makram (2015: 261), it is indicated that
examining talent management only from the perspective of human
capital is narrow-scoped. It is also emerging that talent managers and
talent management designers must acquire considerable skills. Talent
management is described as a research area with high potential.
Creating a talent pool for the career development of determined
employees will be beneficial. In future studies, it is recommended to conduct
research with larger sample groups in different sectors and countries. In
future research, the subject of talent management can be investigated by
utilizing qualitative methods in the form of interviews, and longitudinal
studies can be carried out (Meyers, 2020: 9-10; Sparrow & Makram, 2015:
260). Aytaç (2014: 21) recommends conducting quantitative and qualitative
research to raise awareness about the talent management approach. The
limitation of this study is that it only has a theoretical analysis of talent
management. In this context, it is recommended to conduct empirical
studies.
254 . Aylin Akyol

REFERENCES

Agrawal, S. (2010). Talent management model for business schools: Factor analy-
sis. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 45(3), 481-491. Retrieved from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27768277
Aina, R.A. & Atan, T. (2020). The impact of implementing talent management
practices on sustainable organizational performance. Sustainability, 12,
8372. doi: 10.3390/su12208372
Alayoğlu, N. (2010). İnsan kaynakları yönetiminde yeni dönem: Yetenek yöneti-
mi. Ticaret ve Turizm Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 1, 68-97.
Altınöz, M. (2018). Yetenek yönetiminin algılanması üzerine karşılaştırmalı bir
araştırma. Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 39, 82-95.
Altunoğlu, A.E., Atay, H. & Terlemez, B. (2015). İnsan kaynakları bakış açısından
yetenek yönetimi: Bankacılık sektörü uygulama örneği. Marmara Üniver-
sitesi İ.İ.B. Dergisi, 37(1), 47-70. doi: 10.14780/iibd.43915
Altuntuğ, N. (2009). Rekabet üstünlüğünün sürdürülmesinde yeteneklerin rolü:
Yetenek yönetimi yaklaşımı. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi İktisadi ve
İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 14(3), 445-460.
Alziari, L. (2017). A chief HR officer’s perspective on talent management. Journal
of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 4(4), 379-383.
doi: 10.1108/JOEPP-05-2017-0047
Anand, P. (2011). Talent development and strategy at telecom major Bharti Airtel.
Strategic HR Review, 10(6), 25-30. doi: 10.1108/14754391111172797
Ashton, C. & Morton, L. (2005). Managing talent for competitive advantage: Ta-
king a systemic approach to talent management. Strategic HR Review, 4(5),
28-31. doi: 10.1108/14754390580000819
Ayashree, P., Tchantchane, A. & Lee, B.S. (2013). The effect of autonomy, training
opportunities, age, and salaries on job satisfaction in the Southeast Asian
retail petroleum industry. International Journal of Human Resource Mana-
gement, 24(21), 3980-4007. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2013.829517
Basco, R., Bassetti, T., Dal Maso, L. & Lattanzi, N. (2021). Why and when do
family firms invest less in talent management? The suppressor effect of risk
aversion. Journal of Management and Governance. doi: 10.1007/s10997-
021-09599-1
Becker, G.S. (1964). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis with
special reference to education. New York: Colombia University Press.
Benitez-Amado, J., Llorens-Montes, J.F., Fernandez-Perez, V. (2015). IT impact
on talent management and operational environmental sustainability. Infor-
mation Technology and Management, 16, 207-220. doi: 10.1007/s10799-
015-0226-4
Claus, L. (2019). HR disruption-Time already to reinvent talent management. Bu-
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .255

siness Research Quarterly, 22, 207-215. doi: 10.1016/j.brq.2019.04.002

Collings, D.G. & Mellahi, K. (2009). Strategic talent management: A review and
research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 19(4), 304-313.
doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.04.001
Collings, D.G., Mellahi, K. & Cascio, W.F. (2018). Global talent management and
performance in multinational enterprises: A multilevel perspective. Journal
of Management, 45(2), 540-566. doi: 10.1177/0149206318757018
Coulson-Thomas, C. (2012). Talent management and building high performance
organisations. Industrial and Commercial Training, 44(7), 429-436. doi:
10.1108/00197851211268027
Crane, B. & Hartwell, C.J. (2019). Global talent management: A life cycle view of
the interaction between human and social capital. Journal of World Busi-
ness, 54, 82-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jwb.2018.11.002
Çelik, M. & Zaim, A. (2011). Yetenek yönetimi yaklaşımı. İstanbul Ticaret Üni-
versitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, 10(20), 33-38.
Davies, B. & Davies, B.J. (2010). Talent management in academies. In-
ternational Journal of Educational Management 24(5), 52. doi:
10.1108/09513541080000452
De Vos, A. & Dries, N. (2013). Applying a talent management lens to care-
er management: The role of human capital composition and continuity.
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(9). doi:
10.1080/09585192.2013.777537
Doğan, S. & Demiral, Ö. (2008). İnsan kaynakları yönetiminde çalışanların ken-
dilerine doğru yolculuk yöntemi: Yetenek yönetimi. Ç.Ü. Sosyal Bilimler
Enstitüsü Dergisi, 17(3), 145-166.
Dries, N. (2013). The psychology of talent management: A review and resear-
ch agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 23, 272-285. doi:
10.1016/j.hrmr.2013.05.001
Durai, K. & Viji, R. (2022). Impact of talent management practices on organi-
zational engagement in start-ups in India. Polish Journal of Management
Studies, 25(2), 138-156. doi: 10.17512/pjms.2022.25.2.09
Edeh, F.O. & Dialoke, I. (2016). Talent management strategies and workers’ effec-
tiveness. A study of selected hotels in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. International
Journal of Knowledge Management and Practices, 5(2), 32-44. Retrieved
from http://www.publishingindia.com
Ewerlin, D. (2013). The influence of global talent management on employer att-
ractiveness: An experimental study. German Journal of Research in Hu-
man Resource Management, 27(3), 279-304. doi: 10.1688/1862-0000_
ZfP_2013_03_Ewerlin
Froese, F.J., Shen, J., Sekiguchi, T. & Davies, S. (2020). Liability of Asianness?
Global talent management challenges of Chinese, Japanese and Kore-
256 . Aylin Akyol

an multinationals. Human Resource Management Review, 30, 1-13. doi:

10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100776
Gajda, D. (2022). Implications of talent management: Impact of development pra-
ctices on the work engagement of talented employees. Scientific Papers of
Silesian University of Technology, Organization and Management Series
No. 159, 91-104. doi: 10.29119/1641-3466.2022.159.7
Gallardo-Gallardo, E. & Thunnissen, M. (2015). Standing on the shoulders of gi-
ants? A critical review of empirical talent management research. Employee
Relations, 38(1), 31-56. doi: 10.1108/ER-10-2015-0194
Gallardo-Gallardo, E., Thunnissen, M. & Scullion, H. (2020). Talent management:
Context matters. The International Journal of Human Resource Manage-
ment, 31(4), 457-473. doi:10.1080/09585192.2019.1642645
Harsch, K. & Festing, M. (2020). Dynamic talent management capabilities and
organizational agility-A qualitative exploration. Human Resource Mana-
gement, 59(1), 43-61. doi: 10.1002/hrm.21972
Ingram, T. & Glod, W. (2016). Talent management in healthcare organizations-Qu-
alitative research results. Procedia Economics and Finance, 39, 339-346.
doi: 10.1016/S2212-5671(16)30333-1
Johnson, R.D., Stone, D.L. & Lukaszewski, K.M. (2021). The benefits of eHRM
and AI for talent acquisition. Journal of Tourism Futures, 7(1), 40-52. doi:
10.1108/JTF-02-2020-0013
Kaliannan, M., Darmalinggam, D., Dorasamy, M. & Abraham, M. (2023). Inclu-
sive talent development as a key talent management approach: A systema-
tic literature review. Human Resource Management Review, 33, 1-23. doi:
10.1016/j.hrmr.2022.100926
King, K.A. & Vaiman, V. (2019). Enabling effective talent management through a
macro-contingent approach: A framework for research and practice. Busi-
ness Research Quarterly, 22, 194-206. doi: 10.1016/j.brq.2019.04.005
Latukha, M., Kriklivetc, A. & Podgainyi, F. (2022). Generation diverse ta-
lent management practices: Main determinants and its influence on
firm performance. Journal of East-West Business, 28(4), 291-322. doi:
10.1080/10669868.2022.2074186
Liu, Y., Vrontis, D., Visser, M., Stokes, P., Smith, S., Moore, N., Thrassou, A. &
Ashta, A. (2021). Talent management and the HR function in cross-cultural
mergers and acquisitions: The role and impact of bi-cultural identity. Human
Resource Management Review, 31, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100744
Makarem, Y., Metcalfe, B.D. & Afiouni, F. (2019). A feminist poststructuralist
critique of talent management: Toward a more gender sensitive body of
knowledge. Business Research Quarterly, 22, 181-193. doi: 10.1016/j.
brq.2019.04.004
Makarius, E.E. & Srinivasan, M. (2017). Addressing skills mismatch: Utilizing
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .257

talent supply chain management to enhance collaboration between compa-

nies and talent suppliers. Business Horizons, 60, 495-505. doi: 10.1016/j.
bushor.2017.03.007
Meyers, M.C. (2020). The neglected role of talent proactivity: Integrating proacti-
ve behavior into talent-management theorizing. Human Resource Manage-
ment Review, 30, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100703
Michaels, E., Handfield-Jones, H. & Axelrod, B. (2001). The war for talent. Bos-
ton: Harvard Business School Press.
Nijs, S., Gallardo-Gallardo, E., Dries, N. & Sels, L. (2014). A multidisciplinary
review into the definition, operationalization, and measurement of talent.
Journal of World Business, 49(2), 180-191. doi: 10.1016/j.jwb.2013.11.002.
Orel, M., Mayerhoffer, M., Fratricova, J., Pilkova, A., Starnawska, M. & Horvath,
D. (2022). Coworking spaces as talent hubs: The imperative for commu-
nity building in the changing context of new work. Review of Managerial
Science, 16, 1503-1531. doi: 10.1007/s11846-021-00487-4
Omotunde, O.I. & Alegbeleye, G.O. (2021). Talent management practices and job
performance of librarians in university libraries in Nigeria. The Journal of
Academic Librarianship, 47, 1-3. Doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2021.102319
Pagan-Castano, E., Ballester-Miquel, J.C., Sanchez-Garcia, J. & Guijarro-Garcia,
M. (2022). What’s next in talent management? Journal of Business Resear-
ch, 141, 528-535. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.11.052
Ruse, D.H. & Jansen, K.E. (2008). Stay in front of the talent curve. Research Te-
chnology Management, 51(6), 38-43.
Saurombe, M.D. & Barkhuizen, E.N. (2022). Talent management practices and
work-related outcomes for South African academic staff. Journal of Psy-
chology in Africa, 32(1), 1-6. doi: 10.1080/14330237.2021.2002033
Scullion, H., Collings, D. & Caligiuri, P. (2010). Global talent management. Jour-
nal of World Business, 45(2), 105-108.
Setia, B.I., Yuniarsih, T., Gaffar, M.F., Suryadi, E., Affandi, A. & Rohmawati, T.
(2022). Job satisfaction as a mediator in improving employee performance
through talent and knowledge management. Journal of Eastern and Cent-
ral Asian Research, 9(5), 749-762. doi: 10.15549/jeecar.v9i5.1060
Sparrow, P.R. & Makram, H. (2015). What is the value of talent management?
Building value-driven processes within a talent management architectu-
re. Human Resource Management Review, 25, 249-263. doi:10.1016/j.
hrmr.2015.04.002
Tamaş, I.C. (2022). Talent management in a post-pandemic reality. The annals
of the University of Oradea. Economic Sciences TOM, 31(1), 472-483.
Retrieved from https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vi-
d=0&sid=16593de1-a7e8-4bf5-ba90-c00107a78fec%40redis
Tansley, C. (2011). What do we mean by the term ‘talent’ in talent mana-
258 . Aylin Akyol

gement? Industrial and Commercial Training, 43(5), 266-274. doi:

10.1108/00197851111145853
Tarique, I. & Schuler, R.S. (2010). Global talent management: Literature review,
integrative framework, and suggestions for future research. Journal of
World Business, 45, 122-133. doi: 10.1016/j.jwb.2009.09.019
Tatoğlu, E., Glaister, A.J., Demirbağ, M. (2016). Talent management motives
and practices in an emerging market: A comparison between MNEs and
local firms. Journal of World Business, 51(2), 278-293. doi: 10.1016/j.
jwb.2015.11.001
Ugboego, C.A., Edeh, F.O., Amarachi, O., Ikechukwu, O.C. & Adama, L. (2022).
Talent management and resilience of hospitality industries amid post-Co-
vid 19. Journal of Strategic Human Resource Management, 11(2), 28-37.
http://publishingindia.com/jshrm/
Valverde, M., Scullion, H. & Ryan, G. (2013). Talent management in Spanish me-
dium-sized organisations. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 24(9), 1832-1852. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2013.777545
Wadhwa, S., Gujrati, R. & Uygun, H. (2022). Talent management amidst the Co-
vid-19 pandemic with the role of AI in the health industry. International
Management Review, 18, 51-58.Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/365362434_Talent_Management_amidst_the_Covid-19_
Pandemic_with_the_Role_of_AI_in_the_Health_Industry
Wright, P.M. & Kehoe, R.R. (2008). Human resource practices and organizational
commitment: A deeper examination. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Re-
sources, 46(1), 6-20. doi: 10.1177/10384111070865
Yazıcıoğlu, S. (2006). Yetenek yönetiminde bir uygulama: Üst düzey yönetici ye-
dekleme amaçlı geliştirme programı. (Yayınlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi).
Marmara Üniversitesi, İstanbul.
Yıldız, R.Ö. & Esmer, S. (2021). Talent management related concepts and debates
in container shipping industry by an emerging market perspective. Journal
of Shipping and Trade, 6(6), 1-30. doi: 10.1186/s41072-021-00090-6
Yumurtacı, A. (2014). Küreselleşen emek piyasalarında yeni bir olgu: Yetenek yö-
netimi. Yalova Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Nisan-Ekim, 187-212.
Zhang, S. & Bright, D. (2012). Talent definition and talent management recogniti-
on in Chinese private-owned enterprises. Journal of Chinese Entrepreneur-
ship, 4(2), 143-163. doi: 10.1108/17561391211242753
 CHAPTER 13
SMART GASTRONOMY TOURISM
APPLICATIONS

Mahmut BARAKAZI1

1  Asst. Prof., Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, School of

Tourism and Hotel Management, Harran University, Şanlıurfa, Türkiye
260 . Mahmut Barakazı

1. Introduction
As a result of the development of technology in all areas of human
life, its increasing importance is increasing in all sectors, especially in the
service sector. Individuals, who started to have more free time and labor
rights after the industrial revolution, are also interested in technological
opportunities that make their lives easier. Technological developments,
which were used in mass production and defense industry in the beginning,
have managed to enter public spaces and private houses over time. With
the widespread use of small household appliances and electronic devices,
the relationship between behavior and informatics continues to strengthen
(Bhattacherjee, 2001).
Meeting the need for communication, which is one of the most
important innovations brought by technology, has brought great benefits
to information and communication. In addition, by equipping the
infrastructures with technological devices in the field of transportation,
it has made it possible to go beyond national borders and facilitate global
travel. This situation has led to very positive developments for sectors that
require high competition and physical facilities such as tourism in the
services sector (Li et al., 2017).
With the continuous growth of the relationship between tourism and
technology, the concept of smart tourism applications has emerged. In
this process, sub-tourism applications such as accommodation services,
travel services, recreation services, food and beverage services, which are
managed with a traditional approach, have started to move to innovative
and smart tourism applications by establishing a close relationship with
technology. All the possibilities of technology are used, especially in the
modernization of the vehicles used in travel and the renewal of the facilities
involved in hospitality services. In addition, the use of smart tourism
applications is becoming widespread in recreational activities carried
out to provide entertainment, meeting and leisure experience. Similarly,
technological developments are observed in gastronomic tourism activities,
which include food and beverage services (Hall & Mitchell, 2003).
Technology-based smart applications used within the scope of
gastronomic tourism faced a significant prejudice in the early periods
and the changes in the preference of traditional methods were viewed
negatively. The reason for this can be shown as the attachment to the
culinary culture and the habits experienced in eating and drinking habits.
However, as in every service sector, it is not possible to avoid technological
developments and to stand against innovations in the field of gastronomy
tourism (Camisón & Monfort-Mir, 2012). Because, in order to provide up-
to-date services for human demands and to provide customer satisfaction,
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .261

expectations must be met and competitors must not be lagged behind.

For example, it can be quite natural for a food and beverage business that
does not receive payment by credit card to have a negative perception on
its customers. Again, it is thought that the dining experience will not be
welcomed by the customers if the gastronomy centers do not have internet
network facilities in their places or do not care about the physical elements
that will meet their electricity needs.
Although the technological changes used in gastronomic tourism
started on comfortable transportation by means of transportation, they
started to appear in all areas of restaurants and cafes over time. With
the smart menu, product and price information, which can be updated
continuously, can be accurately transferred to customers. With the Wi-fi
service provided during the dining experience, customers can benefit from
an uninterrupted internet environment. With smart robots serving in the
kitchen or in the service area, tasks can be performed without the need
for manpower. By learning the reservation and evaluation scores through
the websites, it can be determined whether the companies providing
gastronomy services will be preferred. These smart applications, which
are one of the most effective decision-making reasons in the selection
process of destinations with gastronomic tourism potential, can offer
very important ideas to the consumer about the general structure of the
business. In addition, attractiveness and awareness are increased through
social media posts made in gastronomic tourism destinations with a high
level of global competition (Manimont et al, 2022). In this respect, attention
is drawn to the importance of shares produced in digital environments
in terms of gastronomy tourism, and this research also emphasizes how
valuable smart applications are for sustainable gastronomy tourism. As a
matter of fact, in today’s life, smart applications, in which every individual
comes into contact with different technological tools, are becoming more
and more widespread in terms of gastronomy tourism in recent years and
are defined as one of the determining roles of the dining experience. In this
context, it is aimed to contribute to the field of smart gastronomy tourism
applications, which have not yet been scientifically revealed in the relevant
literature.
1.1. Gastonomy tourism with smart applications
Gastronomy tourism accepts the tourism activities in which the
complaints with the travel food experience show their participation.
During this experience, the foodies, who make evaluations throughout the
process they serve, want to enjoy all stages, especially the presentation,
taste and quality of the food. Gastronomy tourism activity started with
travels to destinations with vineyards produced for wine production. The
next examples are the interest in the products of branded restaurants and
262 . Mahmut Barakazı

the consumption of food with a cultural identity with a traditional cuisine

understanding, with the motivation of visiting the consumer. From the 21st
century, in addition to all these, there is a demand for gastronomic products
that can be produced with the limitation of technological tools such as
kitchens. These cuisine types are based on minimal dishes and a wide
variety. In the field of molecular cuisine, the entire preparation process
of the food is possible with technological assets and almost laboratory
features are required (De Jong et al, 2018).
The need for smart applications in gastronomic tourism develops as
a result of a natural need, as in other sectors. In other words, gastronomy
tourism businesses that want to maintain their current capacity and
continue their existence in the future cannot act independently from these
practices. Smart practices in gastronomic tourism are not limited to food
and beverage businesses, but continue before, during and after travel. For
example, an individual with the motivation to participate in gastronomic
tourism checks the destination he/she decides to go to before the trip with
digital devices with smart applications and decides according to the results.
While experiencing the spatial design, service vehicles, product quality
and price-benefit balance of the business it receives service during travel,
it also tests the comfort of gastronomic experience with smart applications
during the service. Because, smart applications arouse positive emotions
in user perception by providing ease of use and the opportunity to benefit
more from services during the gastronomic experience. In this context,
digital reservation applications, routing kiosks, tablet menus, service
robots and other technological devices and smart applications, especially
web-based sites, are used more frequently in gastronomy tourism day by
day (Bayram, 2020).
The expansion of the areas where smart applications are used within
the scope of gastronomy tourism can be explained by the technology
habits of consumers and the increasing involvement of information
devices in human life. In addition, the development of the out-of-business
service network for the consumption of ready meals and the willingness
to pay without contact due to epidemics also increase the capacity of
smart applications used in the field of gastronomy. Considering the roles
and impact rates of digital tools in recent years in terms of gastronomic
tourism marketing, it is unthinkable for high competition to be successful
without smart applications. As a matter of fact, regardless of small or
large-capacity gastronomy businesses, every business has social media
accounts and advertising and promotional activities are carried out.
Gastronomic tourism businesses that want to reach their target audiences
with these applications aim to attract demand and want to announce their
awareness to large masses (Görgényi et al., 2017). However, there are
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .263

some negative consequences brought by smart applications and the use of

high technology. These; exclusion of businesses operating with traditional
cooking and serving; forcing businesses that offer local products to
populist and trendy menus; It can be seen that due to the proliferation of
places with a similar restaurant design instead of architecturally original
cultural architecture and technological dependency, there are negativities
such as family members or groups of friends not communicating without
chatting even during meals (Radesky et al., 2014).
Smart applications used within the scope of gastronomic tourism are
examined under 3 headings: before, during and after the experience;
Before Gastronomy Tourism Experience
Individuals or groups who want to participate in gastronomic tourism
conduct research on target destinations in order to realize their travel
motivation. They want to understand whether the gastronomic products
they want to experience are in the destination or whether the dining
experience meets the expectations. On the other hand, it is considered as
one of the decision-making stages by making evaluations about the distance
and accessibility of the target destination from the tourist residence area.
The comparison of the experience planned to be purchased for cost and
service, which is one of the most important factors in the destination
selection process, takes place at this stage. During this whole process, if
the different criteria handled by the tourists are positive, participation in
gastronomy tourism takes place (Kivela & Crotts, 2006).
Before the experience, tourists take a look at the digital posts that
include the current capacity of the destination and service evaluations.
In the light of the data obtained from here, they show a positive or
negative trend towards destinations with gastronomic tourism potential.
Digital experience evaluations used within the scope of gastronomic
tourism are made by many organizations, especially TripAdvisor. These
organizations, which evaluate global food and beverage businesses,
provide extensive information about gastronomy tourism businesses in
the destination (Buhalis et al, 2022). Restaurant customer satisfaction
research through reviews in online media such as TripAdvisor is one of
the digital tools frequently used by tourists. Generally speaking, restaurant
customer satisfaction interprets many variables such as product data,
nutritional values and pricing (Laksono et al., 2019). According to the
research conducted at the end of 2016, Tripadvisor, which is accepted as
the world’s largest travel site, is stated to be established to help visitors
make their decisions about finding a place to eat. In this digital platform,
which generally includes opinions based on the experiences of the visitors,
the ratings of the businesses that provide services for gastronomy tourism
264 . Mahmut Barakazı

are presented (Eren & Çelik, 2017). An example of the application of

TripAdvisor, which plays an important role in travel planning before the
gastronomic tourism experience, is as follows (Figure 1);

Figure 1: Food and Beverage Ratings in TripAdvisor

(1a)(Description on Website) (1b)(Comments on Website)

Source: TripAdvisor, 2023.
As can be seen in Figure 1a, there are map applications indicating the
location as well as product pictures, average evaluation scores, concept
and menu information of food and beverage businesses that provide
gastronomic tourism services. In Figure 1b, the special comments of the
people who have experienced gastronomy are shown in detail. However,
considering the fact that there are both positive and negative comments for
the same business, it is thought that these evaluations should be addressed.
Another smart application used before the experience in gastronomic
tourism is the mobile or web-based transportation applications created
during the travel planning process. SmartTravelling application, which
is one of the applications used by individuals who want to participate in
tourism mobility, helps tourists to reach satisfactory information in the
planning of smart travel. Within the scope of this application, there is a lot
of information such as the physical infrastructures, technology equipment
and user experience comments of the institutions serving according to the
preferred transportation type (Irmanti et al., 2017).
During Gastronomy Tourism Experience
In this section, which is considered to be the most intense part of
the experience, tourists can experience the service they have purchased.
In this process, tourists participating in gastronomic tourism are satisfied
or dissatisfied by comparing their predetermined expectations with the
perception of service quality received. In this context, they are aware of
the fact that the experience process is very important for the organizations
providing services for gastronomy tourism, and in this respect, they aim to
make a quality presentation in a complete manner. As a matter of fact, they
invest at a high level in technological facilities and smart applications that
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .265

provide comfort and ease of use to tourists (Tavitiyaman et al., 2022). When
we look at the smart applications used during the gastronomic tourism
experience, first of all, internet connection (Wi-fi) and smart menus (tablet,
mobile and desktop menus, etc.) that serve in food and beverage businesses
come. These technological tools are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Smart Menu & Digital Process

(Digital Process in Gastronomy

(Smart Menu)
Experience)
Source: Quickorders, 2023.
As can be seen in Figure 2, orders can be placed free of charge with
a wi-fi connection and technological uses can be made use of thanks to
smart menus. On the other hand, in the light of current developments,
the information on the menus can be changed rapidly, providing the
most accurate information to customers. With visual details, more
understandable ideas about the gastronomic product are obtained. In
addition, the nutritional information of the ordered products is transferred
to the tourists thanks to these smart applications.
Other smart applications used during the gastronomy tourism
experience are provided by robotic tools with the highest level of
technology. In this context, many smart devices such as robotic waiter,
bartender, cleaning staff, cook and welcoming staff provide service in food
and beverage businesses. These smart applications come into prominence
more and more especially for tourists who prefer to receive service from
robotic vehicles rather than humans during service. In this context, smart
robotic tools used by businesses involved in gastronomy tourism activities
are shown as follows (Figure 3).
266 . Mahmut Barakazı

Figure 3: Robotic Smart Devices

(Robot Waiter) (Robot Cleaner)

(Robot Cooker) (Robot Bartender)

Source: Lovemoney, 2023.

As can be seen in Figure 3, it is seen that food and beverage businesses

provide services over smart phones with robotic devices in every area,
especially in the kitchen and service area. For gastrotourists who want to
have a dining experience in the future as well, Yediler offers services from
these businesses that have technology limits. In parallel with the current
developments in the past, updating and developing the service units of
food and beverage businesses with smart applications will provide great
benefits in terms of competitive advantage.
Gastronomy Tourism After Experience
After the gastronomy experience, the most needed smart applications
are the technological tools used in payment systems. In recent years,
tourists who do not want to carry cash with them often prefer options
such as credit card, debit card, NFC method or crypto payment (Figure
4a). The main reasons for this can be counted as the fact that tourists
see digital payments in different countries where they will feel more
secure, take precautions against the threat of counterfeit money, and have
a more secure security system against theft (Hasan & Gupta, 2020). In
addition, the fact that the savings based on points obtained from different
shopping can be easily spent in food and beverage businesses is another
reason that improves the relationship between gastronomy and technology
(Asrihapsari & Setiawan, 2020).
The role of smart applications is also important in terms of giving
ideas to other people by transferring the evaluation to be made after the
gastronomy experience in digital environments. The fact that tourists
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .267

transfer their experiences and share their satisfaction levels to those who
will visit the destination after them can also give them psychological
pleasure. On the other hand, they raise awareness by pointing out their
complaints and service failures through smart applications and by drawing
attention to their ability to solve the problems of the business. Tourists
can also show an indirect advertising and promotional activity by sharing
the experience they have gained during the whole process of participating
in gastronomic tourism on their social media accounts. They can share
various ideas about the dining experience through social media tools such
as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Whatsapp (Figure 4b).
Figure 4: Online Payment & Sharing Media

(4a) (Online Payment) (4b) (Share on Social Media)

Source: Blinkco, 2023.
Conscious consumers are needed in order for smart applications
planned to be used in gastronomic tourism to be realized and applied in
practice. In this context, it is expected that tourists who want to participate
in gastronomy-oriented tourism activities will have a perception of
technological acceptability for smart applications. In other words, there
should be smart tourists who want to experience technology-based
applications in the gastronomic tourism process. Smart tourists are
people who spread or benefit from the smart technological applications
they use by interacting with digital sharing channels (Bahar et al., 2019).
The smart tourist, who has a high level of technology literacy and ability
to use digital devices, exhibits an active behavior by frequently using
smart applications during the travel period. From this point of view, it is
possible to define smart tourists who participate in gastronomic tourism
as individuals who interact with technology continuously throughout the
dining experience. In every process from the decision-making stage of the
gastronomic experience to the time of return, smart tourists do not want to
go to destinations with insufficient technological infrastructure as well as
wanting to benefit from these applications. In addition to the smart tourist,
with the increase in technology awareness in recent years, smart cities and
destinations have started to be discussed scientifically (Balasaraswathi et
al., 2020; Tang et al., 2022).
268 . Mahmut Barakazı

Smart cities or smart destinations are also considered as a management

approach that emerges with the active use of processes, various
technological devices or systems. In this process. The most basic mission
of the region, which is called a smart city or destination, is to produce
solutions quickly with smart applications against any problem that may
arise (Nabban et al., 2016). As a matter of fact, as a result of the widespread
use of smart destinations, the tendency of tourists towards technology-
based innovative applications is increasing (Soares, et al, 2022). The fact
that smart technologies gradually transform into human behaviors and
affect their lifestyles has also had a significant impact on the travel habits
of tourists visiting the destination. The use of tourism and technological
relationship in cities has led to the emergence of smart tourism destinations
(Erdem, 2022).
Smart tourists within the scope of gastronomic tourism want to use
smart applications in many types of services, from reservation systems to
service applications. In addition, it is seen that they do not act independently
of technology by frequently using digital banking activities in payment
systems and order preferences. From this point of view, it is understood
that the technological acceptance level of the tourists participating in
gastronomic tourism is high. In cases where the smart applications service
is not included in the food and beverage businesses, it is thought that the
service will affect the repurchase demand by creating a negative perception
on the tourists (Yeo et al., 2021). In the light of all these approaches, smart
tourists participating in gastronomic tourism;
• Checks the food and beverage business from evaluation sites
(TripAdvisor, Booking, opentable, etc.),
• Uses mobile devices for food reservations and orders,
• Cares whether the food and beverage business has wi-fi service,
• Controls the smart menu options used in the food and beverage
business,
• Closely follows the technological tools used in the process from the
preparation of the meal to the serving,
• Prefers the use of robotic tools beyond human labor,
• Enjoys the presence of audio and video systems in the food and
beverage business,
• Receives information from the digital platforms used by the food and
beverage business for promotion, marketing and communication purposes,
• Usually uses digital payment systems,
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .269

• After the dining experience, it conveys its opinions and complaints

to the business through smart applications.
The convenience and usage opportunities of technology in human life
arouse similar positive feelings among tourists who want to experience
gastronomy. It feels a better quality experience perception by taking
advantage of the possibilities of technology in every process of the dining
experience, especially in communication and information. In addition, it
can reach the food products in the current menus of the food and beverage
businesses it prefers in the digital environment information and make a
choice according to their expectations and wishes.
There are many useful services offered by smart applications brought
by technology in gastronomy tourism. First of all, the tourist can do the
price research for the touristic product he/she intends to buy from web-
based devices. In this way, by comparing other gastronomy tourism
businesses that offer similar services, they can purchase the most reasonable
option in terms of price and benefit. Then, it can test the suitability by
examining the demographic variables, cultural characteristics and local
culinary heritage of the destination area that it intends to arrive at through
digital platforms. In addition, it can also find the transportation distance
and types of transportation vehicles from the area of residence to the
destination by means of technological tools. After deciding to purchase
the gastronomic touristic service, it can make the payment and reservation
via mobile devices or communication tools. It uses advanced travel tools
during the transportation period and can benefit from technological
opportunities such as wireless headphones, portable devices and display
systems during the journey. Thanks to the smart applications in the
businesses providing service within the scope of gastronomic tourism,
barcode scanning, digital menu and robotic tools can be used to achieve
the comfort and convenience of experience. After the experience, he can
make his payments with mobile banking or contactless credit cards, as
well as with crypto payment options, the use of which has been increasing
rapidly in recent times. Finally, they can provide feedback information
by sharing their post-experience evaluations with social media or related
websites.
There are negative approaches brought by technological developments
on gastronomic tourism. The tourist, who is a part of social communities
called family, group or society, has difficulty in communicating with
other people if he/she uses technological tools intensively and excessively
(Kuzucanlı, 2018). When this situation cannot be prevented, it can cause
problems such as loneliness and exclusion from society. As a matter of fact,
in the process of gastronomic tourism experience, group members may
experience communication problems during eating and drinking due to
270 . Mahmut Barakazı

technological addiction. However, gastronomic tourism experience, which

is accepted as a recreational activity as a social activity, cannot show the
desired benefit as a result of digital use turning into addiction. On the
other hand, the taste, taste and presentation quality of the products offered
within the scope of gastronomy cannot be fully understood. In this context,
it is seen that the smart applications offered by technological tools can
create negative effects on the tourists participating in gastronomy tourism
when they are not used correctly and in a planned way. There is also the
possibility that unnecessary purchasing activities may take place due to
the excessive impact of the shares spread from social media or other mass
media on tourists. The positive and negative effects of technologically-
based smart applications in gastronomy tourism are summarized in Table
1 (Egger et al., 2020).

Table 1: Smart Applications Effects

Positive Effects Negative Effects
During the trip, they can spend their free He cannot grasp what is going on around
time fun with smart applications. him during the trip. Their senses can
often be off.
Can obtain useful information from social It can also be exposed to the effects of
media tools. disinformation from social media posts.
Smart apps can help them rest and relax May cause eye strain and stress.
during their holidays.
Can plan the meal experience program with The quality of the dining experience can
smart applications. be significantly reduced.
It can follow food options and product It may cause the destination to miss its
contents on digital platforms. cultural and environmental beauties.
He can easily follow up the current job. It can deprive you of real-time awareness.
It can reach people or businesses that have May miss opportunities to meet and
had food experience. communicate with different people.
It can compare food delivery and other It may overlook the presentation of the
services with previous data. food.
It can create a memory by recording the He may not be able to focus on the taste
dining experience. of the food.
Thanks to smart applications, the menu, It can reduce the quality of the
price and product content can be accessed in gastronomic experience by giving mental
a short time. and emotional fatigue.
With digital payment systems, it can perform In particular, the theory of attention
its transactions without carrying cash. restoration (ART) can undermine the
gastronomic experience activity.
Smart applications used in gastronomy tourism destinations emerge
with three different technology approaches: three different cloud computing,
internet-connected things and end-user internet service systems. Within
the scope of cloud computing, services are provided to access data storage,
storage and processing areas in the easiest way through digital networks.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .271

Intelligent applications used in this system can reduce technological

expenses and operate at a certain fixed cost. Internet-connected things are
a network definition that connects anything at any time to identify, locate,
manage and monitor smart objects. The end-user internet system, which is
the final consumption, is defined as the support services that emerge with
the combination of cloud computing and internet-connected things (Çelik
& Topsakal, 2017). Thanks to these systems used during gastronomic
tourism activities, the purchased touristic service provides very useful
information on storing, analyzing, developing, controlling and producing
solutions.
Conclusion
With the increasing prevalence of technology-based products and
devices in human life, tourist behavior has also started to show a trend
in this direction. Tourists often benefit from technology through mobile
devices and web-based services, especially smart applications, during
their travels to their destination. In the light of these developments,
when we look at the tourism activities in general, it is seen that it is not
possible to manage them independently from technology. Similarly, in the
gastronomic tourism activity, where the eating and drinking experience
takes place, smart applications are often preferred by tourists today.
While technological intermediation takes place in the production process
of the food product or the flow of the service offered, smart menu and
free information support are also offered to the tourists. This situation can
explain the intensity and mutual interaction of the relationship between
gastronomy and technology.
If the tourists are satisfied with the food and beverage business they
have experienced, they can share their opinions in a positive way, and after
the experience they are not satisfied with, they can convey the situation to
their followers with severe criticism (Endri et al., 2020). In this respect,
gastronomy experience can reach large masses through smart applications
as a reality of today’s conditions, either positively or negatively. Smart
applications continue to exist as an important tool at the point of
communication and information as well as technological convenience
(Faheem et al., 2018).
While it is observed that the smart applications used within the scope
of gastronomy tourism take place in every stage of the travel from the
beginning to the end, it is understood that the current technological usage
habits continue during the gastronomy experience process. In line with
current technological developments, it is predicted that human-based labor
service will be provided with robotic tools over time, and it is expected
that more options for gastronomy will emerge in the digital platforms
272 . Mahmut Barakazı

of the future. Considering that smart applications will provide data to

businesses, especially at the point of information acquisition, it is estimated
that significant advantages will be gained in menu and service planning.
On the other hand, it will be able to benefit from technology to prevent the
waste of food products that are left on the plates and seen as waste during
the production phase. However, strategic planning should be done by
considering the possibility of negative factors such as loss of employment
and lack of emotion. Again, in the relevant literature, attention is drawn
to the results of the positive and negative effects of smart applications on
gastronomy tourism.
As the concepts of smart tourist, city or destination are increasingly
being the subject of scientific studies, the tourism dimension of technology
has started to attract attention. However, the lack of a scientific study on
the relationship between gastronomy tourism, which is one of the most
important types of tourism, and the use of technology has revealed the
necessity of this research. On the other hand, in terms of the development
of rapidly growing gastronomy tourism, being able to comprehend what
technologically-based smart applications are is also seen as an opportunity
for sustainable growth. As a matter of fact, in this research, the relationship
between gastronomy, tourism and smart applications is revealed in a multi-
faceted way by making an in-depth examination of the subject. It is aimed
that this research, which has been prepared in order to be a source among
the studies planned to be done in the future, will benefit the scientific field.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .273

REFERENCES

Asrihapsari, A., & Setiawan, D. (2020). The use of information technology by

restaurants in Joglosemar, the mainstay city of Indonesian culinary. Jurnal
Manajemen dan Pemasaran Jasa, 13(2), 181-198.
Bahar, M., Yüzbaşıoğlu, N., & Topsakal, Y. (2019). Akıllı Turizm ve Süper Akıllı
Turist Kavramları Işığında Geleceğin Turizm Rehberliğine Bakış. Journal
of Travel and Tourism Research, (14), 72-93.
Balasaraswathi, M., Srinivasan, K., Udayakumar, L., Sivasakthiselvan, S., & Su-
mithra, M. G. (2020). Big data analytic of contexts and cascading tourism
for smart city. Materials Today: Proceedings.
Bayram, G. E. (2020). Impact of information technology on tourism. In The eme-
rald handbook of ICT in tourism and hospitality (pp. 243-257). Emerald
Publishing Limited.
Bhattacherjee, A. (2001). An empirical analysis of the antecedents of electronic
commerce service continuance. Decision support systems, 32(2), 201-214.
Blinkco, 2023. https://www.blinkco.io/blog/best-restaurant-social-media-marke-
ting-strategies/. Erişim Tarihi: 23.01.2023.
Buhalis, D., Lin, M. S., & Leung, D. (2022). Metaverse as a driver for customer
experience and value co-creation: implications for hospitality and tourism
management and marketing. International Journal of Contemporary Hos-
pitality Management, 35(2), 701-716.
Camisón, C., & Monfort-Mir, V. M. (2012). Measuring innovation in tourism from
the Schumpeterian and the dynamic-capabilities perspectives. Tourism ma-
nagement, 33(4), 776-789.
Çelik, P., & Topsakal, Y. (2017). Akıllı turizm destinasyonları: Antalya destinas-
yonunun akıllı turizm uygulamalarının incelenmesi. Seyahat ve Otel İşlet-
meciliği Dergisi, 14(3), 149-166.
De Jong, A., Palladino, M., Puig, R. G., Romeo, G., Fava, N., Cafiero, C., ... &
Sjölander-Lindqvist, A. (2018). Gastronomy tourism: An interdisciplinary
literature review of research areas, disciplines, and dynamics. Journal of
Gastronomy and Tourism, 3(2), 131-146.
Egger, I., Lei, S. I., & Wassler, P. (2020). Digital free tourism–An exploratory
study of tourist motivations. Tourism Management, 79, 104098.
Endri, E., Sari, A. K., Budiasih, Y., Yuliantini, T., & Kasmir, K. (2020). Determi-
nants of profit growth in food and beverage companies in Indonesia. The
Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(12), 739-748.
Erdem, A. (2022). Akıllı şehirler gerçekten akıllı turizm destinasyonları mı? Saf-
ran Kültür ve Turizm Araştırmaları Dergisi, 5(1), 5-26.
274 . Mahmut Barakazı

Eren, R. & Çelik, M. (2017). Çevrimiçi gastronomi imajı: Türkiye restoranları-

nın tripadvisor yorumlarının içerik analizi. Turizm Akademik Dergisi, 4(2),
121-138.
Faheem, M., Shah, S. B. H., Butt, R. A., Raza, B., Anwar, M., Ashraf, M. W.,
... & Gungor, V. C. (2018). Smart grid communication and information
technologies in the perspective of Industry 4.0: Opportunities and challen-
ges. Computer Science Review, 30, 1-30.
Görgényi, É. H., Máté, B., Vafaei, S. A., & Fekete, M. F. (2017). The role of social
media in gastronomy industry. Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Com-
merce, 11(3-4), 95-103.
Hall, M., & Mitchell, R. (2003). Tourism as a force for gastronomic globalization
and localization. In Tourism and gastronomy (pp. 85-102). Routledge.
Hasan, A., & Gupta, S. K. (2020). Exploring tourists’ behavioural intentions towar-
ds use of select mobile wallets for digital payments. Paradigm, 24(2), 177-
194.
Irmanti, D., Hidayat, M. R., Amalina, N. V., & Suryani, D. (2017). Mobile smart
travelling application for indonesia tourism. Procedia computer science,
116, 556-563.
Kivela, J., & Crotts, J. C. (2006). Tourism and gastronomy: Gastronomy’s inf-
luence on how tourists experience a destination. Journal of hospitality &
tourism research, 30(3), 354-377.
Kuzucanlı, G. (2018). Sosyal medya kavramının ürün satın alma bağlamında de-
ğerlendirilmesi: Harran Üniversitesi öğrencileri örneği.  İdil Sanat ve Dil
Dergisi, 7(52), 1521-1529.
Laksono, R. A., Sungkono, K. R., Sarno, R., & Wahyuni, C. S. (2019, July). Sen-
timent analysis of restaurant customer reviews on tripadvisor using naïve
bayes. In 2019 12th international conference on information & communi-
cation technology and system (ICTS) (pp. 49-54). IEEE.
Li, Y., Hu, C., Huang, C., & Duan, L. (2017). The concept of smart tourism in the
context of tourism information services.  Tourism management,  58, 293-
300.
Lovemoney, 2023. https://www.lovemoney.com/galleryextended/53569/the-hu-
man-jobs-that-robots-are-already-replacing?page=11. Erişim Tarihi:
14.01.2023.
Manimont, G., Pike, S., Beatson, A., & Tuzovic, S. (2022). Culinary destination
consumer-based brand equity: exploring the influence of tourist gaze in
relation to FoodPorn on social media. Tourism Recreation Research, 47(3),
221-240.
Nabben, A., Wetzel, E., Oldani, E., Huyeng, J., Boel, M. ve Fan, Z. (2016). Smart
Technologies in Tourism: Case study on the influence of iBeacons on cus-
tomer experience during the 2015 SAIL Amsterdam event. NHTV Breda
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .275

University of Applied Sciences.

Radesky, J. S., Kistin, C. J., Zuckerman, B., Nitzberg, K., Gross, J., Kaplan-Sa-
noff, M., ... & Silverstein, M. (2014). Patterns of mobile device use by
caregivers and children during meals in fast food restaurants.  Pediatri-
cs, 133(4), e843-e849.
Soares, J. C., Domareski Ruiz, T. C., & Ivars Baidal, J. A. (2022). Smart des-
tinations: a new planning and management approach?.  Current Issues in
Tourism, 25(17), 2717-2732.
Tang, J., Wan, L., Schooling, J., Zhao, P., Chen, J., & Wei, S. (2022). Automatic
number plate recognition (ANPR) in smart cities: A systematic review on
technological advancements and application cases. Cities, 129, 103833.
Tavitiyaman, P., Zhang, X., & Tsang, W. Y. (2022). How tourists perceive the
usefulness of technology adoption in hotels: Interaction effect of past ex-
perience and education level. Journal of China Tourism Research, 18(1),
64-87.
TripAdvisor, 2023. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g186338-
d3639543-Reviews-Steak_and_Company_Covent_Garden-London_Eng-
land.html Erişim Tarihi: 06.01.2023.
Quickorders, 2023. https://quickorders.net/. Erişim Tarihi: 09.01.2023.
 CHAPTER 14
RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANIES’
RECENT OUTLOOK ON BORSA
ISTANBUL WITH MOORA AND
MABAC METHODS

Orhan Emre ELMA1

1  Assist. Prof., Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Applied

Sciences, Accounting & Finance Department, Türkiye, ORCID: 0000-
0002-3521-3677.
278 . Orhan Emre Elma

1. Introduction
The process of examining, measuring and evaluating the relationships 
between the items in the financial statements is called financial analysis. 
With financial performance, the position of companies in  a given sector 
can be determined. In this way, financial stakeholders can observe in which 
areas  a  company  has  advantages  and  disadvantages  compared  to  its 
competitors.  Different  approaches  can  be  preferred  for  performance 
analyses using financial ratios that provide important information about the 
financial  health  of  the  company.  In  recent  years,  especially  with  the 
development of the internet and increased interaction between countries, it 
has  become  possible  to  access  more  information  more  readily.  In 
performance  analyses,  where  statistical  methods  were  mostly  preferred 
before,  techniques  such  as  big  data  analysis  and  machine  learning  have 
started  to  be  used  at  an  increasing  rate.  In  performance  analyses,  which 
essentially  involve  multiple  criteria,  multi-criteria  decision-making 
analyses (MCDA) are also increasingly preferred in the finance literature. 
Capital markets are financial institutions shaped by the behavior and 
decisions of millions of investors. The dot-com crisis in 2000, the global 
financial crisis in 2008 and the pandemic that spread around the world in 
2020 have significantly affected capital markets. In times of such increased 
volatility,  investor  behavior  also  changes  and  as  a  result,  financial 
stakeholders may make less rational decisions. For this purpose, financial 
performance  analyses,  which  can  help  to  make  the  right  investment 
decisions, are more needed in such processes.
The  renewable  energy  sector  has  accelerated  its  development 
especially after the concept of sustainability term entered the agenda of the 
countries following the global warming problem was faced after the new 
millennium. In 2015, 17 sustainable growth targets were approved at the 
United  Nations  (UN)  General  Assembly  with  the  participation  of  193 
countries.  The  seventh  of  these  goals  is  affordable  and  cheap  energy. 
Electric  power  generation  is  the  fastest  attracting  investment  among 
renewable  energy  alternatives.  Changing  trends  have  also  changed  the 
automobile preferences of consumers, and the number of electric vehicles 
sold  worldwide  exceeded  1  million  in 2017  (Justus,  2018).  In 2022,  the 
number of electric vehicle sales exceeded 6.6 million (Bibra et al., 2022). 
In the new millennium, the Turkish energy market has attracted more than 
$60 billion in investments. In 2018, a $10.9 billion energy investment plan 
was announced to be realized over a 5-year period (Bayraktar, 2018). 
In  this  study,  the  financial  performance  of  12  renewable  energy 
companies  traded  in  Borsa  Istanbul  will  be  analyzed  with  MOORA  and 
MABAC methods. The 7 periods covering from the beginning of 2021 to 
the last quarter of 2022 will be analyzed with 6 criteria. Return on assets 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .279

(ROA), earnings per share (EPS), market-to-book (MB) ratio, debt ratio, 
net  sales  growth (NSG) and  market  value  added  (MVA)  are  used  as 
criteria.
The outline of the study is as follows. In the second section, previous 
studies on financial performance  literature will be  analyzed. In the third 
section, MOORA and MABAC methods and CRITIC weighting technique 
used in this study will be explained thoroughly. In the fourth section, the 
findings  of  the  study  will  be  explained,  and  the  conclusion  will  be 
discussed in the fifth and final section.
2. Literature Review
Making the right investment decisions in capital markets depends on 
the  ability  to  evaluate  many  criteria  in  a  timely  and  appropriate  manner 
with  the  right  methods.  In  this  sense,  MCDA  methods  have  been 
increasingly  used  in  financial  performance  studies  especially  since  the 
early 2000s (Zavadskas et al., 2004).
Although  the  renewable  energy  sector  has  shown  a  significant 
development in the last quarter century, it is clear that renewable energy 
sources  should be  used  more  widely,  considering  the  problems  such  as 
global warming caused by the uncontrolled increase in mass production in 
the same period. Experts in this field state that the energy transition will 
not be efficient unless global barriers are overcome and visionary strategies 
are put forward (Cozzi, 2014).
In  a  study  analyzing  the  10-year  performance  of  9  foreign  banks 
operating in Turkey between 2005 and 2014, MOORA method was used 
and performance rankings were made for each period accordingly (Özbek,
2015).
In another study, the performance of 10 deposit banks traded in Borsa 
Istanbul and 2 other banks operating in Turkey were analyzed for 9 periods 
between 2007 and 2016 with the MOORA method (Altunöz, 2017). Banks
were evaluated according to their calculated annual performance rankings, 
based on the financial ratios taken from their financial tables. 
In a study analyzing the factors that should be implemented in order 
to  increase  performance  and  efficiency  of  production  in  manufacturing 
companies,  MOORA  method  was  preferred  (Jain,  2018).  In  the  study 
where 6 performance factors were measured and ranked, productivity was 
calculated as the most important factor.
In  a  study  examining  supplier  selection  in  creating  a  green  supply 
chain which is aiming to increase sustainability in India, MOORA method 
was preferred when ranking the potential suppliers (Chand et al., 2018). In 
280 . Orhan Emre Elma

another  supplier  selection  analysis  conducted  in  Iran,  MOORA  method 

was also implemented (Arabsheybani, 2018).
An electric vehicle preference analysis in India was conducted with 
the MABAC method (Sonar & Kulkarni, 2021). Based on 6 criteria, the 
study  investigated  the  best  electric  vehicle  and  AHP  was  used  as  the 
weighting  technique.  Based  on  18  expert  opinions,  Hyundai  Kona  was 
calculated as the best electric vehicle as a result of the analysis, among the 
alternatives analyzed.
In a study on the evaluation and selection of renewable energy power 
generation  projects,  the  MABAC  method  was  preferred  (Zhang  et  al., 
2020).  The  MABAC  method  was  used  again  in  the  analysis  of  another 
study on the selection of the best university among 7 universities in China, 
according to the teaching criteria determined (Gong et al., 2020).
In a study where the performance of 40 railway stations was evaluated 
on  9  criteria,  the  MABAC  method  was  preferred  and  all  stations  were 
ranked according to their performance scores (Sharma et al., 2018).
In  a  study  evaluating  the  web  pages  of  15  different  faculties  of  a 
university in Bosnia and Herzegovina, MABAC was used as an analysis 
method  (Pamucar  et  al.,  2018).  At  the  end  of  the  study,  the  rankings 
produced by the MABAC method were compared with methods such as 
VIKOR, TOPSIS, COPRAS and the results produced by this method were 
found consistent.
In a study where the importance of 8 risk factors that may overshadow 
the success of energy saving-oriented projects in China was investigated 
based on 4 criteria, the MABAC method was again preferred (Wang et al., 
2018).  At  the  end  of  the  study,  market  risk  was  identified  as  the  most 
important risk. Policy risk ranked second, while financial risk ranked third.
In a study where the risk of making a renewable energy project was 
measured in a sample of 20 countries, the performance of renewable energy 
types was analyzed with MABAC, GRA and COPRAS (Hashemizadeh et 
al., 2021). For 20 countries, including Turkey, wind is the most suitable
energy type to invest  in according  to the 5  risk  factors determined. It  is 
followed by water and biomass energy, respectively.
In a study where 7 potential renewable energy types were evaluated 
based on 14 criteria in Malaysia, MABAC was used as an analysis method 
(Rahim,  2020).  Geothermal  energy  stood  out  as  the  most  suitable 
renewable  energy  type  to  invest  in  the  analyzed  geographical  setting, 
among the other 6 alternatives.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .281

A study analyzed the potential financial performance of an investment 
bank in China for 4 internet companies that it can invest in (Peng et al., 
2016). In this study, the performance ranking of the companies was carried 
out with the MABAC method
3. Methodology
The  performance  criteria  to  be  selected  in  the  calculation  of  the 
financial performance of the companies undertake a pivotal role since they 
affect the final results and thus the firm rankings. For this reason, ratios 
that  can  reflect  the  sector  to  be  analyzed  in  general  should  be selected. 
ROA is one of the most popular ratios preferred in financial performance 
analyses and shows how much each unit of invested money is converted 
into return (Palepu et al., 2020). MVA is defined as the difference between 
the market value of the company and its invested capital (Akalu & Turner, 
2002). It is integrated into the analysis as a valuation-based ratio in order 
to show how much value the company created. The ratio that measures a 
company's indebtedness compared to its capital is the debt ratio (Shim & 
Siegel, 2022). It is used in financial performance studies on energy (Makki 
&  Alqahtani,  2023).  EPS  is  obtained  by  dividing  all  the  returns  that  a 
company has achieved in the relevant period by all its shares in circulation 
(Siew  et  al.,  2018). In  a  study  calculating  the  financial  performance  of 
construction companies, EPS was among the criteria implemented (Lam et 
al., 2021). The MB ratio is a parameter that shows the extent to which the 
company has improved its market value compared to the capital invested 
(Ghosh,  2021).  In  a  study  measuring  118  companies'  corporate  social 
responsibility, MB as a performance metric was included in the criteria of
the  analysis  (Bilbao-Terol  et  al.,  2019).  Since  among  one  of  the  most 
important  activity  of  companies  in  generating  positive  income  is  sales, 
sales growth is also the focus of attention in performance calculations. In 
a  study  analyzing  the  financial  performance  of  cement  companies 
operating  in  Iran,  NSG  was  included  among  the  calculated  criteria 
(Moghimi & Anvari, 2014).
The MCDA methods and weighting technique used in this study will 
be explained in detail below together with the application steps.

3.1. Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis

(MOORA)
It is a method based on the logic of evaluating complex alternatives 
through  a  ratio  system  (Brauers  &  Zavadskas,  2006).  This  method  is 
preferred  because  it  is  user-friendly,  can  be  used  in  changing  decision 
problems and has a simple mathematical background (Chakraborty, 2011). 
The application stages of this method are briefly described below.
282 . Orhan Emre Elma

At this method first and foremost, vector normalization is used with 
the equation (1) in order to create a normalized objective matrix.
𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = (1)
2
√∑𝑚𝑚
𝑘𝑘=1 𝑓𝑓𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

Right after that, with the help of equation (2) a weighted normalized 
objective matrix is obtained.
𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 × 𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 (2)

Last  but  not  least, the  performance  (𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖 )  scores  of  alternatives  are 
computed with the equation (3):
𝑔𝑔
𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑗𝑗=1 𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − ∑𝑛𝑛𝑗𝑗=𝑔𝑔+1 𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖 ∈ {1,2, … , 𝑚𝑚} (3)

3.2. Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison

(MABAC)
MABAC is a relatively new method based on the boundary approach 
(Pamucar & Cirovic, 2015). This method is preferred due to its simplicity, 
practicality,  ability  to  produce  comprehensive  results  and  usability in 
combination with other methods and techniques (Büyüközkan et al., 2021). 
The stages of this method are briefly shown below.
Like  in  every  other  method,  at  first  a  decision  matrix  should  be 
created, which is suitable to the problem at hand. Afterwards, for benefit-
based  metrics, normalization procedure is applied  with the equation  (4). 
On  the  other  hand,  this  procedure  is  integrated  with  the  formula  (5) for
cost-based metrics. And as a result, normalized decision matrix is created. 
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖−
𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = (4)
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖+ −𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖−

𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 − 𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖+
𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = (5)
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖− −𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖+

The calculated weights are applied to the normalized decision matrix 
with the equation (6), in order to create weighted and normalized decision 
matrix. 
𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑤𝑤𝑘𝑘 (𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 1) (6)
Right  after  that,  the  boundary  approximation  area  should  be 
determined. And this can be calculated with the equations (7) and (8). 
𝑔𝑔𝑘𝑘 = (∏𝑚𝑚
𝑖𝑖=1 𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 )
1/𝑚𝑚
(7)
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .283

𝐺𝐺 = [𝑔𝑔1 , 𝑔𝑔2 , … , 𝑔𝑔𝑛𝑛 ] (8)

Afterwards the distance to the boundary approximation area should be 
computed with the equation (9), with the constraints of (10), where G+ has
the most ideal alternatives. 
𝑣𝑣11 ⋯ 𝑣𝑣1𝑛𝑛 𝑔𝑔1 ⋯ 𝑔𝑔𝑛𝑛
𝑄𝑄 = 𝑉𝑉 − 𝐺𝐺 = [ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ]−[ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ]=
𝑣𝑣𝑚𝑚1 ⋯ 𝑣𝑣𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑔𝑔1 ⋯ 𝑔𝑔𝑛𝑛
𝑞𝑞11 ⋯ 𝑞𝑞1𝑛𝑛
[ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ] (9)
𝑞𝑞𝑚𝑚1 ⋯ 𝑞𝑞𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝐺𝐺 + 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 > 0
𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖 ∈ { 𝐺𝐺 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 0 (10)
𝐺𝐺 − 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 < 0
Ultimately  the  distance  scores  calculated  above  are  summed  up, in 
order to reach final Si results, with the equation (11). Rankings are done 
with these scores, from highest to the lowest. 
𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖 = ∑𝑛𝑛𝑘𝑘=1 𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖 = 1,2,3, … , 𝑚𝑚 (11)

3.3. Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation

(CRITIC)
CRITIC,  which  has  an  important  place  among  objective  weighting 
techniques, calculates the weights to be used in the analyses according to 
the  correlation  and  standard  deviation  calculations  between  the  criteria 
(Diakoulaki et al., 1995). It is preferred in MCDA analyses since it does 
not  involve  any  subjective  opinion  and  is  based  purely  only  on 
mathematical  calculations.  The  steps  of  this  technique  are  briefly 
summarized below.
Initially, the normalization process is applied with the equation (12). 
And after this process, normalized decision matrix is obtained. 
𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 −𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = (12)                     
𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Afterwards, correlation density is calculated with the formula (13).
𝐶𝐶𝑗𝑗 = 𝜎𝜎𝑗𝑗 ∑𝑚𝑚
𝑖𝑖=1(1 − 𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ) (13)

Ultimately  correlation  density  is  normalized,  and  weights  for  every 

criterion is calculated with the formula (14). 
284 . Orhan Emre Elma

𝐶𝐶𝑗𝑗
𝑤𝑤𝑗𝑗 = ∑𝑚𝑚 (14)
𝑖𝑖=1 𝐶𝐶𝑖𝑖

4. Findings and Results

For the financial performance analysis of 12 companies operating in 
the  renewable  energy  sector  and  traded  in  Borsa  Istanbul,  companies' 
financial statement  data were obtained from FINNET  package  software.
Afterwards, dynamic calculations were made for all 6 criteria and decision 
matrices were formed to be used in MOORA and MABAC  methods. In 
Table 1 below, the dynamic criteria values calculated for each period and 
all decision matrices are given.

Table 1. Decision matrices consisting of 6 criteria obtained by dynamic 
calculations for all periods
ROA Debt EPS MB NSG MVA
AKSEN -0.58042 -0.12119 -0.56649 0.419989 -0.45629 6.222565
AKSUE -0.53773 -0.43504 -0.71741 -0.53776 -0.5725 -0.20265
AYDEM -1.04069 0.202313 -1.04109 -0.05875 -3.26105 0.584823
AYEN -1.11353 -0.03663 -1.12186 0.311487 11.74799 0.825871
CANTE -5.26671 0.370348 -5.29977 0.091705 -176.048 0.144458
ENJSA -0.52413 0.132594 -0.5109 -0.08234 -0.83961 -0.21057 2021/I
NATEN 2.029369 -0.08696 4.773133 -0.40797 -0.67455 -0.49878
NTGAZ -0.99268 -0.36068 -0.99048 -0.01711 8.98144 -0.02106
ODAS -0.22777 0.440706 -0.21528 0.169828 9.745042 -0.04369
PAMEL -0.71688 -0.17128 -0.46655 -0.28828 -9.51592 0.374177
ZEDUR -7.51692 -0.67138 -5.80879 -0.40615 -2.85833 0.015781
ZOREN -1.87617 0.307995 -1.90127 0.033371 0.588619 -0.14479
AKSEN 0.87622 0.275122 1.294957 -0.07485 1.324343 -0.15258
AKSUE -0.04118 -0.04567 -0.06255 0.160784 0.137515 0.197626
AYDEM 1.519529 -0.02982 1.443585 -0.06621 -0.11368 0.399966
AYEN 2.398464 -0.06961 2.531109 -0.49237 -0.01341 -0.80462
CANTE 0.087427 -0.34136 0.102005 -0.15571 -0.35381 -0.36057
ENJSA 0.861569 -0.10188 0.822705 -0.09318 3.077022 -0.15036 2021/II
NATEN 0.009868 -0.02288 0.032074 -0.15659 1.399359 -0.64451
NTGAZ 6.73207 -0.13861 5.827251 -0.01967 -0.41977 -0.023
ODAS 0.091614 -0.42214 0.131392 -0.75387 -0.40273 -1.09989
PAMEL 1.405252 -0.05174 0.338673 1.066872 -0.45859 1.327482
ZEDUR 0.769037 -0.84828 0.042801 -0.64374 -0.64972 -0.5836
ZOREN 0.168471 0.187123 0.272688 -0.22263 2.449522 -0.43115
AKSEN 0.56482 0.009451 0.683578 -0.44557 0.549674 -1.54011
AKSUE -0.83541 -0.16262 -0.83527 0.489397 0.224521 0.749697
AYDEM -0.86181 0.180104 -0.85188 0.183606 -0.21145 -0.73535
AYEN 0.919951 -0.04935 0.939133 0.025733 0.053095 0.177112
CANTE -0.32897 -0.04285 -0.30883 0.354281 0.638617 0.585998
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .285

ENJSA 0.443729 0.001357 0.551133 -0.06204 1.654792 -0.08587 2021/III

NATEN -0.13406 -0.26239 0.146914 -0.2606 -0.61075 -3.10753
NTGAZ 2.088963 0.336768 2.5354 -0.07828 -0.09994 -0.0866
ODAS -0.3474 -0.49691 -0.68629 0.33877 0.731726 -2.53049
PAMEL 0.069227 0.036365 0.088438 0.347973 0.88528 0.381086
ZEDUR -0.59623 1.943648 -0.00207 -0.36771 -2.43666 -0.15867
ZOREN 1.041579 -0.25273 0.571687 -0.08883 0.402376 0.0086
AKSEN 0.228536 -0.2025 -0.0183 0.611757 0.587548 -3.2938
AKSUE 26.51725 2.006259 25.51645 4.017763 0.264477 1.262577
AYDEM -9.43032 -0.15502 -15.5083 -0.5473 -0.60734 18.82971
AYEN 0.043195 -0.13846 0.554691 -0.05628 0.248322 0.247187
CANTE -0.22771 -0.47534 0.479297 -0.67393 0.019892 -0.58076
ENJSA 0.292079 -0.0578 0.517475 0.009054 0.964932 0.254202 2021/IV
NATEN -0.14684 -0.07494 0.485653 -0.2557 7.656091 2.802092
NTGAZ -0.21098 -0.10918 0.263744 -0.45008 1.230963 -0.60602
ODAS -0.99201 -0.3456 -0.98616 -0.54818 0.11038 -8.91749
PAMEL -0.66756 -0.31685 -0.4027 -0.15854 2.664266 0.684938
ZEDUR -0.05547 -0.38058 0.178015 -0.62758 0.516026 -1.07234
ZOREN 0.206161 -0.48884 0.851752 -0.60345 0.777785 -2.42271
AKSEN -0.36844 -0.06573 -0.3078 0.263107 0.898565 1.538606
AKSUE -0.84021 0.261488 -0.84713 0.472423 2.677662 0.160275
AYDEM -3.50853 0.123117 -3.56159 0.357216 -31.9328 -0.30033
AYEN 0.84826 -0.17534 0.975361 0.512115 0.260046 3.575078
CANTE -3.07789 -0.01142 -3.28637 0.625276 3.592557 2.035604
ENJSA -0.92741 0.499831 -0.91543 0.35715 3.892987 0.662211 2022/I
NATEN -0.91119 0.115649 -0.91006 0.144142 -0.47578 -0.25458
NTGAZ 0.087705 0.282963 0.249437 -0.0096 4.007412 0.013541
ODAS -197.206 0.029298 -215.389 0.184634 4.936575 -0.14168
PAMEL 0.055587 -0.03503 0.067162 0.104281 8.582014 0.133992
ZEDUR -0.99877 0.11416 -0.99871 -0.09045 -5.55476 1.201978
ZOREN -1.40552 0.23574 -1.45897 0.175688 3.145733 -0.37198
AKSEN 0.807945 -0.06368 1.088353 0.388693 0.657562 1.415123
AKSUE -1.09725 0.334392 -1.16484 -0.25433 0.247038 -0.02477
AYDEM 1.289841 0.166423 1.379027 0.259163 -0.02999 -0.39386
AYEN 1.15527 -0.13097 1.461551 -0.18557 0.30394 -0.25532
CANTE 1.161114 -0.18026 1.213349 0.695942 0.055289 1.431847
ENJSA 4.167952 0.068915 5.088879 -0.19337 0.021092 -0.27707 2022/II
NATEN 1.575289 0.080873 1.707782 0.279177 0.396493 -0.63327
NTGAZ 3.180252 0.346962 4.567833 -0.0031 0.609413 0.163387
ODAS 1.150612 -0.10157 1.418322 0.472067 0.194339 -0.68406
PAMEL 3.975184 -0.14392 4.70486 0.207009 0.227165 0.453168
ZEDUR 17.14634 0.04386 16.96246 0.027345 0.933188 -0.17385
ZOREN -0.97155 -0.31694 -0.96439 -0.3944 0.08878 3.017652
AKSEN 0.456155 0.055784 0.608271 0.970929 0.053596 1.973755
AKSUE 10.40779 -0.2976 10.27743 0.161752 0.120432 0.571829
AYDEM 0.22198 0.107754 0.235728 1.838947 0.03687 -4.79144
AYEN 0.717912 -0.1543 1.033696 1.497444 0.335702 6.131078
286 . Orhan Emre Elma

CANTE 0.638758 -0.16843 0.822802 1.761296 -0.02623 2.984947

ENJSA 0.830754 -0.00072 1.021621 0.786181 -0.02471 2.08592 2022/III
NATEN 0.707047 0.027237 0.740327 1.85571 -0.04186 -16.3065
NTGAZ 1.196049 -0.35115 1.76388 2.38919 0.14583 15.10479
ODAS 0.861903 -0.12455 1.287061 2.149512 0.098293 -22.7047
PAMEL 0.384268 0.499549 0.643546 0.309827 0.073685 0.407248
ZEDUR 0.975799 0.039386 0.971689 2.629857 -0.67339 -17.0666
ZOREN 7.924643 0.172783 8.622026 3.731456 0.039593 -3.16635
As mentioned above, criteria weights need to be calculated to be used 
in  method  calculations.  Some  studies  may  determine  subjective  criteria 
weights  based  on  expert  opinion.  In  this  study,  CRITIC,  an  objective 
criterion  weighting  technique  that  is  based  on  pure  mathematics  is 
preferred. The criteria weights calculated for each period according to this 
technique are given in Table 2. Although different criteria received higher 
scores for each period, when all 7 periods are analyzed, it is seen that the 
MB ratio and the MVA ratio received the highest scores. In this case, it can 
be  said  that  the  ratios  related  to  market  capitalization  make  a  great 
difference in financial performance calculations for the period and sector 
analyzed. It is also noteworthy that MVA, the only valuation-based ratio 
in the study, is among the highest scoring ratios according to CRITIC.

Table 2. Criteria weights calculated according to CRITIC technique 
for each period
2021/I 2021/II 2021/III 2021/IV 2022/I 2022/II 2022/III
ROA 0.130885 0.13486 0.162274 0.126611 0.158215 0.12752 0.161734
Debt 0.229754 0.202796 0.13963 0.262788 0.174317 0.187637 0.151674
EPS 0.128711 0.147708 0.172656 0.120562 0.158311 0.129876 0.160914
MB 0.216995 0.132692 0.209309 0.150042 0.176379 0.195427 0.212954
NSG 0.138976 0.247614 0.116155 0.169608 0.189307 0.15959 0.140701
MVA 0.154679 0.13433 0.199974 0.170389 0.143471 0.199951 0.172023

The final results for the MOORA method, whose application stages 
are  shown  in  the  equations  (1)  to  (3)  above,  are  given  in  Table  3.  The 
highest  performing  companies  are  shown  in  italics  in  the  table  below. 
According  to  this  method,  Aksa  Energy  (AKSEN)  was  the  highest 
performing company in the first period analyzed. Afterwards, Natürelgaz
(NTGAZ)  in  the  second  and  third  periods,  Naturel  Renewable  Energy 
(NATEN) in the fourth period, Ayen Energy (AYEN) in the fifth period, 
Zedur Energy (ZEDUR) in the sixth period, and Aksu Energy (AKSUE) in 
the seventh and last period became the highest performers, respectively.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .287

Table 3. Final MOORA performance results calculated for each 
period
2021/I 2021/II 2021/III 2021/IV 2022/I 2022/II 2022/III
AKSEN 0.250359 0.049681 -0.07385 0.031946 0.108248 0.242885 0.050962
AKSUE -0.04993 0.039449 0.061622 0.14033 0.028695 -0.125 0.3353
AYDEM -0.06929 0.076788 -0.10729 0.031209 -0.1627 -0.00817 0.026725
AYEN 0.073627 0.020798 0.118657 0.023807 0.234273 0.042926 0.187173
CANTE -0.33016 0.01363 0.08879 0.029372 0.176843 0.264684 0.116052
ENJSA -0.06387 0.204741 0.094155 0.032124 -0.02401 -0.00112 0.052367
NATEN 0.008138 0.029979 -0.19466 0.178774 -0.01723 0.057669 -0.01201
NTGAZ 0.048884 0.24793 0.203611 0.017523 -0.04659 0.031738 0.276807
ODAS -0.05149 -0.06799 -0.04092 -0.05511 -0.27244 0.110966 0.031314
PAMEL -0.04146 0.186639 0.124508 0.086731 0.075388 0.182578 -0.06283
ZEDUR -0.13162 0.049021 -0.329 0.025532 -0.03582 0.318069 -0.09972
ZOREN -0.10816 0.063717 0.100458 0.037651 -0.02577 0.175879 0.273417

The final results for the MABAC method, whose application stages 
are  shown  above  with  the  formulas (4)  to  (11),  are  given  in  Table  4. 
According to the MABAC method, AKSEN was the highest performing 
company  in  the  first  period.  Afterwards,  NTGAZ,  NTGAZ,  NATEN, 
AYEN, ZEDUR companies showed the highest performance, just like they 
did  in  the  MOORA  method.  However,  for  the  MABAC  method,  the 
company with the highest performance in the last period differed from the 
MOORA method and became Zorlu Enerji (ZOREN).

Table 4. Final MABAC performance results calculated for each 
period
2021/I 2021/II 2021/III 2021/IV 2022/I 2022/II 2022/III
AKSEN 0.313121 0.010435 -0.07094 0.009043 0.13909 0.185124 -0.05374
AKSUE 0.011768 -0.02627 0.103273 0.074319 0.063632 -0.21789 0.276897
AYDEM -0.00608 0.01768 -0.07646 -0.00124 -0.11161 -0.10931 -0.05402
AYEN 0.141841 -0.02142 0.145421 -0.00325 0.301704 -0.04251 0.084353
CANTE -0.25445 -0.0528 0.124127 0.001527 0.240629 0.177619 0.033195
ENJSA -2.1E-06 0.181596 0.108741 0.00586 -0.00251 -0.10139 -0.05252
NATEN 0.064351 -0.01289 -0.19397 0.150542 -0.00953 -0.01946 -0.08625
NTGAZ 0.116057 0.210688 0.227682 -0.00575 -0.05828 -0.03524 0.206292
ODAS 0.012807 -0.12516 -0.03255 -0.06445 -0.26161 0.025395 -0.04
PAMEL 0.021051 0.10264 0.15671 0.059223 0.077482 0.100014 -0.1772
288 . Orhan Emre Elma

ZEDUR -0.06387 -0.01678 -0.27613 -8.6E-05 -0.03788 0.277739 -0.12577

ZOREN -0.0429 0.035165 0.120549 0.01207 -0.02091 0.08152 0.311749

The ranking results obtained according to both methods are presented 
comparatively in Table 5. Although the company rankings are very close 
to each other for both methods, they change only 2 or 3 times on average, 
in a total of 7 periods. 

Table 5. Company rankings according to the final MOORA (MO) 
and MABAC (MA) performance results for each period
2021/I 2021/II 2021/III 2021/IV 2022/I 2022/II 2022/III

MO MA MO MA MO MA MO MA MO MA MO MA MO MA

AKSEN 1 1 6 6 9 9 6 5 3 3 3 2 7 8

AKSUE 6 7 8 10 7 7 2 2 5 5 12 12 1 2

AYDEM 9 9 4 5 10 10 7 9 11 11 11 11 9 9

AYEN 2 2 10 9 3 3 10 10 1 1 8 9 4 4

CANTE 12 12 11 11 6 4 8 7 2 2 2 3 5 5

ENJSA 8 8 2 2 5 6 5 6 7 6 10 10 6 7

NATEN 4 4 9 7 11 11 1 1 6 7 7 7 10 10

NTGAZ 3 3 1 1 1 1 11 11 10 10 9 8 2 3

ODAS 7 6 12 12 8 8 12 12 12 12 6 6 8 6

PAMEL 5 5 3 3 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 11 12

ZEDUR 11 11 7 8 12 12 9 8 9 9 1 1 12 11

ZOREN 10 10 5 4 4 5 4 4 8 8 5 5 3 1

Enerjisa  (ENJSA)  showed  the  highest  standard  deviation  with  a 

ranking difference of 4 periods. Pamel Renewable Electricity (PAMEL), 
on the other hand, has been the most stable company in the performance 
ranking when both methods are considered, with a ranking difference of 
only 1 period.

5. Discussion and Conclusion

Making  the  right  decisions  is  of  vital  importance  for  financial 
stakeholders  who  follow  the  conditions  in  capital  markets  where 
competition  among  companies  is  constantly  increasing.  Since  capital 
markets  are  volatile,  especially  in  developing  countries,  it  is  even  more 
difficult to make sound investment decisions. Performance analyses, which 
also  indicate  the  financial  health  of  companies,  come  into  play  in  this 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .289

respect  and  help  financial  decision  makers  to  determine  an  optimum 
investment route.
The renewable energy sector has also accelerated its development as 
sustainability-oriented production has become widespread. In particular, it 
has  been  determined  that  the  energy  sector  affects  the  greenhouse  gas 
emissions of the European Union by more than 75%. For this purpose, a 
40% reduction is planned for 2030 compared to the greenhouse gas level 
in  1990.  The  realization  of  this  depends  on  the  more  intensive  use  of 
renewable energy sources (Prada et al., 2020).
The renewable energy sector in Turkey continues to develop in line 
with  the  global  developments.  The  target  to  become  among  the  top  10 
countries in the world in renewable energy production by 2027 shows the 
potential of this sector (IEA, 2022). In Turkey, companies operating in the 
relevant  sector  realize  their  investments  mostly  through  energy-oriented 
power  plants.  Especially  in  the  last  2  years,  the  number  of  these  power 
plants  has  increased  rapidly  and  the  share  of  renewable  energy  in  total 
power has increased significantly.
In this study, the financial performance analysis of 12 firms traded in 
Borsa Istanbul, an emerging market, and operating in the renewable energy 
sector, which is also  an  emerging  sector,  was carried out with MOORA 
and  MABAC  methods.  The  analyses  conducted  for  7  quarterly  periods 
covering the pandemic process, which has a high level of uncertainty and 
volatility,  have  produced  consistent  results.  In  6  out  of  the  7  periods 
analyzed, both  methods  have  produced  the  same  companies  as  the  top 
performers. For this purpose, both methods are recommended as a decision 
support  system  for  financial  decisions  to  be  taken  by  financial 
stakeholders.
The first limitation of the study is that it only analyses companies in 
the  Turkish  renewable  energy  sector.  Secondly,  two  important  MCDA 
methods are used in this study. Thirdly, the analysis only focuses on the 
financial  performance  during  the  pandemic period.  In  future  studies, 
comprehensive and comparative analyses can be carried out by examining 
more countries, with more methods and over a longer time period, which 
includes pre-pandemic period.
290 . Orhan Emre Elma

REFERENCES
Akalu,  M.,  &  Turner,  R.  (2002). Adding  Shareholder  Value  through  Project 
Performance  Measurement,  Monitoring  &  Control,  Erasmus Research
Institute of Management. http://hdl.handle.net/1765/191.
Altunöz, U. (2017). Bankaların finansal performanslarının bulanık MOORA ve
bulanık AHP yöntemleri ile analizi: Türk bankaları deneyimi. Route
Educational and Social Science Journal, 4(4), 116-132.
Arabsheybani,  A.,  Paydar,  M.  M.,  &  Safaei,  A.  S.  (2018).  An  integrated  fuzzy 
MOORA  method  and  FMEA technique  for  sustainable  supplier  selection 
considering  quantity  discounts  and  supplier's  risk. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 190, 577-591. 
Bayraktar,  A.  (2018).  Energy  transition  in  Turkey. Turkish Policy
Quarterly, 17(3), 19-26. 
Bibra, E. M., Connelly, E., Dhir, S., Drtil, M., Henriot, P., Hwang, I., ... & Teter, 
J. (2022). Global EV Outlook 2022: Securing supplies for an electric future, 
International Energy Agency, 1-221, Paris, France. 
Bilbao-Terol,  A.,  Arenas-Parra,  M.,  Alvarez-Otero,  S.,  &  Canal-Fernandez,  V. 
(2019).  Integrating  corporate  social  responsibility  and  financial 
performance. Management Decision, 57(2), 324-348.
Brauers,  W.  K.,  &  Zavadskas,  E.  K.  (2006).  The  MOORA  method  and  its 
application  to  privatization  in  a  transition  economy. Control and
Cybernetics, 35(2), 445-469. 
Büyüközkan, G., Mukul, E., & Kongar, E. (2021). Health tourism strategy
selection via SWOT analysis and integrated hesitant fuzzy linguistic AHP-
MABAC approach. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 74, 100929. 
Chakraborty, S. (2011). Applications of the MOORA method for decision making 
in  manufacturing  environment. The International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, 54, 1155-1166.  
Chand, M., Bhatia, N., & Singh, R. K. (2018). ANP-MOORA-based approach for
the  analysis  of  selected  issues  of  green  supply  chain 
management. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Cozzi,  L.  (2014).  Africa  energy  outlook:  a  focus  on  energy  prospects  in  sub-
Saharan  Africa.  In Sustainable Energy Policy and Strategies for Europe,
14th IAEE European Conference, October 28-31.
Diakoulaki, D., Mavrotas, G., & Papayannakis, L. (1995). Determining objective 
weights  in  multiple  criteria  problems:  The  critic  method. Computers &
Operations Research, 22(7), 763-770.
Ghosh, S. (2021). Application of a New Hybrid MCDM Technique Combining 
Grey  Relational  Analysis  with  AHP-TOPSIS  in  Ranking  of  Stocks  in  the 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .291

Indian  IT  Sector.  In Computational Intelligence in Communications and

Business Analytics: Third International Conference, CICBA 2021,
Santiniketan, India, January 7–8, 133-149.  Springer  International 
Publishing.
Gong, J. W., Li, Q., Yin, L., & Liu, H. C. (2020). Undergraduate teaching audit 
and evaluation using an extended MABAC method under q‐rung orthopair
fuzzy  environment. International Journal of Intelligent Systems, 35(12), 
1912-1933.
Hashemizadeh, A., Ju, Y., Bamakan, S. M. H., & Le, H. P. (2021). Renewable 
energy investment risk assessment in belt and road initiative countries under 
uncertainty conditions. Energy, 214, 118923.
IEA. (2022).  Renewables  2022, Analysis  and  Forecast  to  2027,  International 
Energy Agency.
Jain, V. (2018). Application of combined MADM methods as MOORA and PSI 
for  ranking  of  FMS  performance  factors. Benchmarking: An International
Journal, 25(6), 1903-1920. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-04-2017-0056.
Justus,  D.  (2018).  Global  EV  Outlook  2018:  Towards  cross-modal 
electrification. International Energy Agency, 1-141. Paris, France. 
Lam,  W.  S.,  Lam,  W.  H.,  Jaaman,  S.  H.,  &  Liew,  K.  F.  (2021).  Performance 
evaluation  of  construction  companies  using  integrated  entropy–fuzzy 
VIKOR model. Entropy, 23(3), 320.
Makki, A. A., & Alqahtani, A. Y. (2023). Capturing the Effect of the COVID-19
Pandemic Outbreak on the Financial Performance Disparities in the Energy 
Sector:  A  Hybrid  MCDM-Based  Evaluation  Approach. Economies, 11(2), 
61.
Moghimi,  R.,  &  Anvari,  A.  (2014).  An  integrated  fuzzy  MCDM  approach  and 
analysis  to  evaluate  the  financial  performance  of  Iranian  cement 
companies. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing
Technology, 71(1-4), 685-698.
Özbek, A. (2015). Efficiency analysis of foreign-capital  banks  in  Turkey  by 
OCRA and MOORA. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 6(13), 
21-30. 
Palepu,  K.  G.,  Healy,  P.  M.,  Wright,  S.,  Bradbury,  M.,  &  Coulton,  J. 
(2020). Business analysis and valuation: Using financial statements.
Cengage AU.
Pamucar,  D.,  &  Cirovic,  G.  (2015).  The  selection  of  transport  and  handling 
resources in logistics centers using Multi-Attributive Border Approximation 
area Comparison (MABAC). Expert Systems with Applications, 42(6), 3016-
3028. 
292 . Orhan Emre Elma

Pamucar, D., Stevic, Z., & Zavadskas, E. K. (2018). Integration of interval rough 
AHP  and  interval  rough  MABAC  methods  for  evaluating  university  web 
pages. Applied Soft Computing, 67, 141-163.
Peng, X., & Yang, Y. (2016). Pythagorean fuzzy Choquet integral based MABAC 
method for multiple attribute group decision making. International Journal
of Intelligent Systems, 31(10), 989-1020.
Prada,  M.,  Prada,  I.  F.,  Cristea,  M.,  Popescu,  D.  E.,  Bungau,  C.,  Aleya,  L.,  & 
Bungau,  C.  C.  (2020).  New  solutions  to  reduce  greenhouse  gas  emissions 
through  energy  efficiency  of  buildings  of  special  importance–
Hospitals. Science of the Total Environment, 718, 137446.
Rahim,  N.,  Abdullah,  L.,  &  Yusoff,  B.  (2020).  A  border  approximation  area 
approach considering bipolar neutrosophic linguistic variable for sustainable 
energy selection. Sustainability, 12(10), 3971.
Sharma,  H.  K.,  Roy,  J.,  Kar,  S.,  &  Prentkovskis,  O.  (2018).  Multi  criteria 
evaluation framework for prioritizing indian railway stations using modified 
rough  ahp-mabac  method. Transport and Telecommunication
Journal, 19(2), 113-127. 
Shi, H., Liu, H. C., Li, P., & Xu, X. G. (2017). An integrated  decision-making 
approach  for  assessing  healthcare  waste  treatment  technologies  from  a 
multiple stakeholder. Waste Management, 59, 508-517.
Shim, J. K., & Siegel, J. G. (2022). Financial Management. Professor of Finance 
and Accounting Queens College City University of New York.
Siew, L. W., Fai, L. K., & Hoe, L. W. (2018). An optimal control on the efficiency 
of  technology  companies  in  Malaysia  with  Data  Envelopment  Analysis 
model. Journal of Telecommunication, Electronic and Computer
Engineering (JTEC), 10(1), 107-111.
Sonar, H. C., & Kulkarni, S. D. (2021). An integrated AHP-MABAC approach for 
electric  vehicle  selection. Research in Transportation Business &
Management, 41, 100665. 
Wang,  L.,  Peng,  J.  J.,  &  Wang,  J.  Q.  (2018).  A  multi-criteria  decision-making 
framework for risk ranking of energy performance contracting project under 
picture fuzzy environment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 191, 105-118.
Zavadskas,  E.  K.,  Ustinovichius,  L.,  &  Stasiulionis,  A.  (2004).  Multicriteria 
valuation  of  commercial  construction  projects  for  investment 
purposes. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 10(2), 151-166.
Zhang,  S.,  Wei,  G.,  Alsaadi,  F.  E.,  Hayat,  T.,  Wei,  C.,  &  Zhang,  Z.  (2020). 
MABAC method for multiple attribute group decision making under picture 
2-tuple linguistic environment. Soft Computing, 24, 5819-5829. 
 CHAPTER 15
APPROACHES TO
COMPETITIVENESS AND PORTER
DIAMOND MODEL1

Ayhan KULOĞLU 2

1  This study is derived from the doctoral thesis titled “Porter Model
Analysis Of Competitiveness: Kayseri City Industrial Measurement
and Structural Equaion Modeling Approach” prepared by Ayhan
KULOĞLU in April 2016 at Erciyes University Institute of Social
Sciences (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Faik BILGILI).
2  Ayhan KULOĞLU, Asst. Prof., Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli
University, Orcid ID: 0000-0003-0027-2893
294 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

Introduction
In a globalized world, countries are striving to increase their levels of
prosperity through economic, technological, and sociological interactions.
With the advent of technology, globalization, changes in trade patterns, and
modes of production have all had an impact on countries’ trade structures.
As a result, changes have occurred in the competitive advantages that
countries have over each other. Nowadays, a country’s competitive
advantage is closely related to the activities of the industries and firms in
which it excels.
The concept of “Absolute Advantage Theory” was introduced
by Adam Smith in his 1776 work “The Wealth of Nations” to explain
countries’ competitive advantages. This labor-value approach suggests
that a country should specialize in producing goods in which it is more
efficient than others and purchase goods it cannot produce from other
countries. The theory posits that differences in labor productivity lead
to competitive advantages among countries. In today’s globalized world,
with the involvement of various factors such as trade patterns, this theory
has become a complex structure.
The rapid changes in technology have led to significant shifts in
workforce, capital, and production methods, posing a challenge for
countries to establish and maintain sustainable international competitive
advantages. In today’s rapidly evolving economic landscape, a country’s
competitive advantage cannot be explained by factors such as resource
superiority or differences in labor productivity alone. Instead, a multitude
of factors such as institutions, infrastructure, innovation, market size,
work culture, technological adaptation, financial market development,
macroeconomic environment, health and basic education, efficiency of
goods and labor markets, and higher education all play a critical role in
determining a country’s competitive position in the world, as highlighted
in “Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015” by World Economic
Forum (2015).
Michael Porter conducted a three-year study on over 100 sectors in
10 countries to investigate how nations achieve competitive advantage
in his 1990 work, “The Competitive Advantage of Nations”. In Porter’s
“Diamond Model”, countries’ competitive advantages are evaluated based
on the competition of the industries they possess, and are connected to
six factors, four of which are internal and two of which are external, that
encompass the factors mentioned above. The internal factors include
demand conditions, input conditions, related and supporting industries,
and firm strategy and structure, while external factors such as the role of
the state and chance are evaluated for their indirect impact on a country’s
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .295

competitive advantage. Porter (1990a) suggests that countries can sustain

competitive advantage by developing these factors and their interactions
within their industries.
Porter (1990a) emphasized that in a globalized world, a country’s unique
characteristics can provide an advantage in gaining competitive advantage.
In addition, he stated that continuing to specialize in industries in which
a country has a competitive advantage can contribute significantly to its
international competitiveness. Diamond Model investigates competition
of countries at the industry level, and it emphasizes the importance of
industrial clustering, where industries gather in a particular location, in
creating a competitive advantage. Today, countries’ economic superiority
is primarily based on the industrial clusters they possess. For example,
Silicon Valley and Hollywood in the United States, the digital media city
in South Korea, and the banking sector in London in the UK are among
the leading industrial clusters.
Porter (1990a) asserts that the competitive advantage of an industry is
determined by the degree of interaction among the factors included in the
Diamond Model. An industry identified as competitive by four variables
in Diamond Model should be supported at the local or national level. The
model suggests that policies aimed at creating a cluster of all actors in
a specific geographical area to support the industry in question would
significantly contribute to the country’s competitive advantage.
Countries conduct studies on the competitive advantages of their own
industries. These studies aim to reveal the capabilities, opportunities,
strengths, and weaknesses of sectors, and to determine whether they can
potentially contribute to a country’s international competitive advantage.
Based on the fundamental economic theory of efficient use of scarce
resources, if industries possess sufficient competitive advantages, they
can achieve international competitive advantage with the resources and
support they receive. The main objective of our study is to examine the
Porter diamond model both theoretically and empirically within the scope
of theoretical approaches to competitiveness.
1. The Concept of Competition and Competition Power and Its
Historical Development
In the broadest sense, competition can be defined as a game played
by multiple players within a framework of specific rules and limitations
that guarantee fundamental freedoms and human rights, and where no
privilege exists, with the aim of sharing a scarce resource or obtaining
a reward.1 Since there is no agreed-upon definition of the concept of
competition, interdisciplinary or research-specific definitions may vary.
1  www.rekabetdernegi.org, Date of Access: 22.11.2014
296 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

Other definitions of competition are presented below. In the Law on

Protection of Competition, competition is defined as “competition that
allows businesses to make economic decisions freely in the markets for
goods and services.” 2 Another definition states that competition is the
totality of competitive activities carried out against competitors with the
aim of achieving superiority.3  In the Turkish Language Association’s Great
Turkish Dictionary, competition is defined as “a contest, competition,
or race between people who have the same goal.” 4 From a business
perspective, the concept of competition is defined as “the efforts of two or
more businesses to gain superiority over their competitors by targeting a
specific group of consumers and increasing efficiency and productivity in
a specific production or service area.” 5
In the field of economics, Adam Smith was among the first to delve into
the concept of competition as a fundamental element of the market system
on a scientific level. Smith defined the concept of competition, which he saw
as the “invisible hand” of the best regulator, as “inter-business warfare.”
According to this definition, success in the classical approach means that
some businesses win while others lose (Smith, 1776). Classical economists
argue that competition can arise in an environment where market information
is transparent and there are no market barriers. Therefore, they have noted
that competition serves as a dynamic process that continually encourages
businesses to innovate and outperform one another. Outperforming
others is not only about price, but also includes developing new products,
differentiation, and improving quality (Timuçin, 2010).
While the classical economists viewed competition as a tool in the
market process to achieve equilibrium, the neoclassicists considered it as
a market structure. According to neoclassical economists, competition
is a static state that determines where the equilibrium should be and
prevents deviation from it (Timuçin, 2010; Doğan, 2011). Although
indexes have been developed at the firm, industry, or country level to
measure competitiveness, it remains a controversial and challenging issue.
The complexity of the subject arises from the difficulty of objectively
measuring the factors that affect competition, such as product quality,
innovation, and the ability to respond to demand, among others. Moreover,
due to the involvement of various disciplines, a theoretical foundation for
the concept of competitiveness has yet to be established (Adıgüzel, 2013).
Many calculation methods are used at micro and macro level related to the
calculation of competitive power. The macro competitiveness indices used
by international organizations are given below.
2  It is the definition of competition in the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition.
3  www.wikipedi.org, Date of Access: 22.11.2014
4  www.tdk.com, Date of Access: 22.11.2014
5  http://business.yourdictionary.com/competition, Date of Access: 22.11.2014
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .297

1.1. World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index

World Economic Forum (WEF) has been publishing annual rankings
of countries’ competitiveness since 1979. To determine the competitiveness
level of countries, WEF uses the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). The
GCI index has a structure that analyzes both micro and macro aspects
related to competitiveness (World Economic Forum, 2015). The GCI
index is a combination of the Growth Competitiveness Index (GCI), which
focuses on economic growth and Porter’s Business Competitiveness Index
(BCI), which analyzes the business environment (Adıgüzel, 2013).

Table 1: Global Competitiveness Sub-Indices

Basic Requirements (%36)
Institutional Structure
Infrastructure Production Factors Oriented Indicators
Macroeconomic Stability
Health and Basic Education
Activity Enhancers (%50)
Higher Education and In-Service Training
Effectiveness of Product Markets Productivity-Oriented Indicators
Efficiency of Labor Markets
Development of Financial Markets
Technological Infrastructure
Market Size
Innovation and Diversity Factors
Level of Sophistication of the Business World Innovation Oriented Indicators
Innovation

Source: World Economic Forum, “Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015”,

Geneva.

As shown in Table 1, the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) is

composed of sub-components of basic requirements (institutional framework,
infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education)
with a share of 36%, efficiency enhancers (higher education and training,
market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market development,
technological readiness, and market size) with a share of 50%, and innovation
and sophistication factors (business sophistication and innovation) with a share
of 14% (World Economic Forum, 2015). Moreover, the shares of variables that
determine a country’s competitiveness vary according to the level of economic
development of the country. This is because competitiveness is determined by
a large number of indicators, and different indicators have varying levels of
effectiveness for each country. For example, the ways in which South Africa
and Norway can improve their competitiveness are not the same, as they are in
different stages of development.
298 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

1.2. World Competitiveness Annual Index

The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) has
been publishing the World Competitiveness Yearbook Index annually,
since 1989.6 According to IMD, since companies cannot determine their
competitiveness on their own, variables that affect competitiveness are
identified and measured. These analyses rank countries according to their
ability to create value and the competitiveness of their firms. In this annual
report, the abilities of countries to create and sustain an environment that
enhances the international competitiveness of businesses are analyzed
(Adıgüzel, 2013). The analyses examine primary and sub-factors to
identify the weak and strong points of countries in their competitiveness
(International Institute for Management, 2015).
The International Institute for Management (IMD) measures the
competitiveness of countries by taking into account eight factors. These
factors include economic performance (subcomponents: value added,
investments, final consumption, sector performance, cost of living,
savings, economic forecasts, compliance and overall competitiveness),
globalization (subcomponents: trade performance, current account
balance, exports of goods and services, imports of goods and services,
exchange rate, portfolio investments, foreign direct investment, national
protectionism openness, and overall competitiveness), science and
technology (subcomponents: R&D resources, R&D components,
scientific infrastructure, intellectual property, patents, technology
management, scientific environment, and scientific research), government
(subcomponents: national debt, government spending, government
efficiency, government economic activity, fiscal policies, justice and
security, and overall competitiveness), finance (subcomponents:
cost of capital, financing opportunities, financing services, banking
sector efficiency, availability of capital, and overall competitiveness),
infrastructure (subcomponents: self-sufficiency in energy, business
infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, environment, technological
infrastructure, basic infrastructure, health infrastructure, and overall
competitiveness), firm management (subcomponents: productivity, labor
costs, firm performance, management efficiency, corporate culture, and
overall competitiveness), and human capital (subcomponents: population
characteristics, labor force characteristics, employment, unemployment,
education infrastructure, quality of life, traditions and values, and overall
competitiveness) (Türkiye Kalkınma Bankası, 2001).
In the report published by IMD in 2015, Turkey was ranked 38th
among the 60 evaluated countries in 2012. However, in 2015, Turkey

6  http://www.imd.org/wcc/news-wcy-ranking/, Date of Access:10.10.2015

International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .299

dropped two places to 40th with a score of 60.501 out of 100 in the scoring
system. IMD determines this evaluation based on 331 variables, which are
related to the subcomponents mentioned above (International Institute for
Management, 2015).
1.3. Competitive Industrial Performance Index
The Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) Index is published
annually by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) since 2005. In the 2009 report, the CIP index was created based
on four indicators, which are industrial capacity measured by the value
added in manufacturing, export capacity measured by manufacturing
exports, industrialization intensity measured by the share of medium
and high technology activities in manufacturing value added, and export
structure measured by the share of medium-high technology products
in manufacturing exports (Çelik, 2011; United Nations Industrial
Development Organization, 2014).
UNIDO stated that our country experienced an increase in regional
concentration and cooperation among middle-income countries across 116
countries, in published report at 2014. The report also indicates that Turkey
has a dynamic economy and ranks among the top 16 countries. However,
the added value created by the industry is lower than that of the service
sector. Furthermore, Turkey’s share of medium-high technology sectors
in the manufacturing industry is lower compared to developed countries,
although it has been increasing. The CIP Index values for 2013 show that
Turkey ranks 30th among 133 countries and ranks second in the Middle
East region after Israel. It is also ranked 5th in the middle-upper income
group and among developing industries for industrial competitiveness.
The competitiveness can be measured with a single indicator or a
composite indicator, such as the Global Competitiveness Index, which
combines multiple indicators for firms, industries, and countries. For
instance, in the “Global Competitiveness Index 2014-2015” report
published by the World Bank, our country (Turkey) ranked 45th with a
value of 4.46, down one spot from the previous year’s ranking of 44th with
a value of 4.45, among 144 countries. In addition to the general index, sub-
indices (institutional framework, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability,
health and primary education) have been created. The most widely used
method for measuring multi-dimensional micro-level competitiveness is
Diamond Model proposed by Porter (1990b). Similarly, OECD and IMF
also develop competitiveness indicators. OECD examines competitiveness
indicators under three headings: production market indicators, sector
indicators, and regulatory indicators.
300 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

The competitiveness indices mentioned above are methods widely

used at the macro level and accepted by international organizations. In
addition to these, there are indices that measure competitiveness at the
micro level. These include the Revealed Comparative Advantage Index,
Relative Export Advantage Index, Relative Import Penetration Index,
Relative Trade Advantage Index, Revealed Competitiveness Index, Export
Specialization Index, Export Similarity Index, Export and Import Shares
Index, Net Export Index, Export/Import Ratio Index, Export Market Share
Index, Intra-industry Trade Grubel and Lloyd Index, Comparative Export
Performance Index, and Real Exchange Rate Index.
2. Theoretical Approaches to Competitiveness
2.1. Competitiveness Approaches in Classical Theories
According to classical theorists, national competitive advantage
would be achieved by shifting from low-yield industries to high-yield
ones. Modern theories, on the other hand, argue that national competitive
advantage is not an inherited concept but a produced one, and therefore,
governments should actively pursue a competitive strategy. Thus, there are
significant differences between the two views (Ahmadov, 2010). Before
presenting comprehensive theories on competition, classical, new, and
modern theories, along with their assumptions, are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: Assumptions on Competitiveness in Classical and Modern Approaches

Classics Assumptions Modernists Assumptions
Classical Division of labor, Porter Cost, quality, product
School of specialization, absolute Approach differentiation, new product,
Economics superiority in foreign trade, technological differences,
cost advantage and cost economies of scale and market
efficiency, fixed income, structures, new inventions,
optimal distribution of labor productivity and efficiency,
and labor productivity, structural differences of the national
abundant means of economy, differences in value
production, technological judgments, cultural differences,
development. institutional differences and
historical differences
Neo Classical Perfect competition Dunning Multinational companies, foreign
Approach market structure, total and Rugman direct investments, international
utility, opportunity cost, Approach activities
homogeneous goods
Post Keynesian Capital accumulation, price Krugman Comparison of productivity
Approach and profit, rule-based policy Approach performance, foreign trade balance,
standard of living
The Austrian Free market, product Cho Physical factors, human factor,
School differentiation, knowledge, Approach external factors
Approach entrepreneurship
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .301

Chicago School Wealth maximization, social TOWS Strengths and weaknesses, potential
Approach values, efficiency Approach threats and opportunities, internal
and external factors
Harvard School Marginality, viable Orthodox Domestic characteristics of national
Approach competition, characteristic of Approach economies, performance of national
industry environment industries, international competitive
equilibrium diversification and
concentration based on export
structure.
Karl Marx’s Negative power, cheaper National Technology innovation, learning
Approach production of goods, falling Innovation new technologies, innovation
profit rate System ability
Approach
Functional differentiation, price, Robert Reich Qualification structure of people,
Approach quality, increasing sales, Approach knowledge, knowledge generation
cost reduction, poor market
conditions
Fordist Poor quality production Institutional Competitiveness indices created
Approach of homogeneous goods, Approaches by WEF and IMD and updated
stockpiling, post-production annually
quality control, source-
directed production vertical
integration, small traditional
production
Schumpeterian New production methods, New Foreign Free trade, price strategy, skilled
Approach new forms of industrial Trade labor, economies of scale, product
organization, new market, Approaches cycles, technology gap
new transportation methods,
social policies, creative
destruction technology
development

Source: Derived from Ahmadov (2010) study “Azerbaijan’s National

Competitiveness: A Tows and Diamond Model Approach”.

Adam Smith stated a framework based on the theory of “Absolute

Advantage” which centers on the superiority of countries in his work “The
Wealth of Nations” published in 1776. According to the theory, countries
should specialize in the production of goods in which they are more efficient
in terms of labor value, that is, they can produce the product at a lower cost
compared to other countries. In this way, by effectively utilizing resources,
there is an opportunity to increase output levels, and therefore, the welfare
level of countries can also be increased (Altay, 2008). Smith notes that “if
a foreign country can provide us with goods cheaper than we ourselves
can produce them, it is more advantageous to purchase from them by
giving them a portion of our industrial product in exchange” highlighting
the potential benefits of specialization and competition in areas where a
country has a strong advantage (Smith, 1776). According to this theory, a
country’s competitiveness is expressed as the production it can generate
by utilizing its resources. The theory highlights labor productivity and
asserts that through international division of labor, every country can
302 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

produce goods and services at an appropriate cost and trade them with
other countries. In this process, consumers will benefit from both more
affordable and higher-quality products, leading to an increase in societal
welfare level (Yücel, 2012). It is suggested that this increase in welfare
is a result of the relationship between division of labor, productivity, and
technological development (Arıç, 2013).
The theory of comparative advantage explains the trade that occurs
when a country has an advantage in producing two products. According
to this theory, in a situation of free trade, countries should specialize in
producing the product in which they have a comparative advantage, i.e., the
product that they can produce at a lower opportunity cost (Ricardo, 1819).
The classic example of this theory involves England and Portugal. England
needs 100 units of labor to produce cloth for its domestic consumption and
120 units of labor to produce wine. Portugal, on the other hand, needs 90
units of labor to produce cloth for its domestic consumption and 80 units
of labor to produce wine. Portugal has an absolute advantage in producing
both goods. According to Smith, in this case, trade would not take place.
However, Ricardo argued that when comparing the relative advantage
of Portugal in producing wine compared to cloth, Portugal should
specialize in wine production (Arıç, 2013). In this way, the country should
continue to produce the good in which it has a comparative advantage
while purchasing the good in which it has a comparative disadvantage.
Therefore, countries can increase the welfare of consumers and contribute
to global prosperity by effectively utilizing their resources through free
trade channels (İyibozkurt, 2001).
The theory, also known as the Heckscher-Ohlin theory, posits that the
reason for international trade is due to differences in factor endowments
between countries resulting in differences in factor prices (Yücel, 2012).
According to the theory, two countries with different factor endowments,
two goods with different factor intensities (one capital-intensive and one
labor-intensive), and constant returns to scale assumptions are valid.
Under these assumptions, countries have a comparative advantage in
producing goods that contain relatively abundant production factors.
Therefore, countries should specialize in these goods and export them.
Scarce factor-dependent products can be imported at a lower cost (Ohlin,
1963). If a country is labor-intensive, it should produce labor-intensive
goods, whereas if a country is capital-intensive, it should produce capital-
intensive goods (Arıç, 2013).
In the theory of comparative advantage, while labor is the only
production factor taken into account, capital is also included here.
Although Ricardo stated that international differences in labor productivity
cause cost differences, he could not explain where the differences in labor
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .303

productivity come from. Heckscher-Ohlin has pointed out that the theory
assumes that countries have different factor endowments, some countries
have labor-intensive and some countries have capital-intensive resource
endowments. Another assumption of the theory is that the production
of goods varies in terms of factor intensity. That is, the production of
some products requires more capital than labor, or vice versa (Utkulu,
2005). In this theory, competitiveness will enable countries to gain a
competitive advantage by producing products that are appropriate for their
factor intensity and factor endowments, thereby providing cost and price
superiority to countries.
While the concept of competition in classical economists is expressed
as a dynamic process used to achieve equilibrium in the economy,
neoclassical economists consider it as a “market structure” (Aktaş, 2003).
Supporters of this theory show that there is no institutional competition
because firms cannot influence market prices and accept the prices that
occur in the market. Therefore, it is stated that there is no price competition
due to the validity of assumptions belonging to a perfectly competitive
market (Swan, 1956). Similarly, it is argued that there is no advertising
and service competition because products are homogeneous and there
is symmetric information about products (Solow, 1956). Neoclassical
economics is essentially based on the assumptions of homo economicus,
market mechanism, atomized society, and perfect competition in markets.
In theory, the fundamental reason for markets to be in perfect competition
is efficiency and productivity. Therefore, the theory has argued that perfect
competition brings efficiency and productivity (Swan, 1956). However,
due to excessive abstractions made in theory when markets are in perfect
competition, firms have expressed that there is no competition since they
are price-takers and products are homogeneous (Altay, 2006).
The Post Keynesian approach emerged as a response to the Neo
Classical approach. While the Neo Classical approach views competition
statically, this approach considers competition as a dynamic structure.
The foundation of this approach is that firms exist in the market with the
motive of making profits, and if they cannot make profits, they will have to
withdraw from the market. Therefore, the firms that remain in the market
continually seek ways to reduce their costs to remain competitive (Altay,
2006). The way to reduce costs is to introduce new inventions into the
market through R&D. Firms argue that financing for R&D should come
from profits that are not distributed or from the firm’s capital, emphasizing
that competition is a dynamic process (Eichner & Kregel, 1975). The
Post Keynesian approach argues that competition is not only about price
competition but also about production, investment, and institutional
aspects. In this way, firms strive to achieve cost advantage through
304 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

R&D activities to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors

through innovation and constant investment (Davidson, 2011). The Post
Keynesian school considers competition as a dynamic and holistic process
that takes into account both price and non-price aspects. According to the
supporters of this view, perfect competition conditions may not always be
valid (Ahmadov, 2010). According to this approach, the way to measure
competition is not by the number of firms in the market but by the advantage
that firms gain through innovation and technological advancements that
they can reflect in their prices, indicating a dynamic competition process
(Davidson, 2011). In this approach, the ratio of R&D expenditures to
investments is used as a measure of dynamic competition. As this ratio
increases, the measure of competition increases. Conversely, if the value of
firms’ R&D investments is low, it indicates a lack of competitive structures
(Çolak, 2006).
The Austrian School of Economics has a perspective that opposes
the neoclassical concept of competition as a static process and argues that
it does not involve competition. This idea is advocated by theorists such
as Menger, Mises, and Hayek (Aktaş, 2003). According to Hayek (1945),
market competition refers to firms distinguishing their own products from
others through various methods and processes. Hayek notes that in the real
world, firms do not possess complete knowledge for production, but they
can acquire it over time and experience. However, when firms focus on
making their products better than those of their competitors, consumers
will also become knowledgeable about the market (Akiş, 2008). The school
considers competition primarily as a process of discovery, so they state that
knowledge is a fact that can be learned through experience (Hayek, 1945).
According to Hayek (1945), the competition process leads firms to open up
the way for monopolistic structures and to move towards monopoly. After
the competition process, firms that have gained a monopolistic position
must be more effective than their competitors in order to maintain their
position. Although efficiency is low because production is carried out by
a monopoly, the monopoly firm will act with the motivation to protect its
position. Therefore, as a result of competition, it is observed that a producer
produces at a more favorable cost and higher quality than another producer
(Aktaş, 2003).
Karl Marx’s thoughts on competition were examined in the third
volume of Capital, which was published after his death. Marx stated that
as a result of competition between firms and the struggle between capital
and labor, the mechanism will speed up and as a result, profit rates will
tend to decline. Under conditions of perfect competition, individuals can
increase their capitalist profit by lowering wages, extending working hours,
making labor unskilled, and intensifying work. However, each of these
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .305

methods has both biological and legal limits (Altay, 2006). At the same
time, competition among the bourgeoisie will result in commercial crises
and fluctuations in workers’ wages. Faster growing mechanization will
make workers’ lives more unstable, and conflict between the bourgeoisie
and women will become more pronounced. Therefore, workers will try to
establish unions and defend their rights to protect their wage rates (Marx,
1848).
2.2. Modern Approaches to Competitiveness Theories
Since the 1990s, the concept of competitiveness, pioneered by Michael
Porter, has been analyzed at the firm and industry levels to evaluate
national and international competition. Classical approaches based on cost
superiority have been replaced by a competitiveness understanding that
is based on skilled labor, technological advancement, and productivity
improvements (Ayaş, 2002).
Dunning’s work, which focuses on researching the sources of
national competitive advantages, suggests that the Porter Diamond Model
is insufficient and needs to be more comprehensive. The model ignores
multinational corporations (MNCs) and considers the state as an internal
variable. While Porter’s model rejects state intervention, he adds it as an
external variable to his Diamond Model. According to Dunning, the state
affects the factors that create the business environment, and thus, should be
considered an integral part of the diamond (Dunning, 1992). In his work,
Dunning argues that Porter’s model does not provide any new insights,
and that there are other scholars who have conducted more comprehensive
studies on the sources of national competitive advantage. Dunning
points out that these studies not only focus on the four determinants of
competitiveness, but also take into account the concepts of investment
and entrepreneurship, which Porter’s work overlooks (Dunning, 1992).
Additionally, Dunning notes that there is no econometric study that proves
the accuracy of Porter’s model in his work (Rugman & D’Cruz, 1993).
“Double Diamond Model” developed by Rugman and D’Cruz was
successful for countries such as Canada but failed for countries like
Korea and Singapore. At this point, Moon, Rugman, and Verbeke (1998)
showed in their study that the “Diamond Model” was inadequate for small
economies such as Singapore and Korea because multinational corporations
were not included, and they demonstrated the validity of their developed
“Generalized Double Diamond Model” in their econometric analysis.
This model is different from the “Porter Diamond Model” in that it
involves both domestic and international firms in creating competitiveness
and emphasizes the importance of the government in the model (Baltaci,
Burgazoglu, & Kilic, 2012).
306 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

One of the theories that attempts to explain countries’ competitive

advantages is the nine-factor model proposed by Cho (1994). In his study,
he argued that the factors he proposed would elevate countries from the
underdeveloped or developing country class to a higher class. When
examining the Korean example over the past 30 years, Cho demonstrated
their importance in the country’s economic development and contribution
to its competitiveness. He argued that the skilled labor force not only
provided a competitive advantage but also elevated the country to a higher
level of development. If the Porter model is considered in the Korean
example, Cho (1994) divides resources into two categories: physical and
human resources. Natural resources, business environment, relevant and
supportive organizations are expressed as physical factors, while workers,
politicians and bureaucrats, entrepreneurs, professional managers, and
engineers are expressed as human factors. Cho (1994) suggests that his model
is more comprehensive and dynamic than Porter’s model. (Cho & Moon,
2005). Cho’s nine-factor model developed to explain countries competitive
advantage shows similarities with Porter’s model. The common factors
in both models are natural resources, related and supporting industries,
domestic demand, and chance factors. However, in Cho’s model, the state
factor that Porter counts as an external variable is included as the main
determinant represented by politicians and bureaucrats. In addition that,
Cho places special emphasis on the human factor and adds entrepreneurs,
professional managers, and engineers as additional factors (Çivi et al.,
2008). Altay (2006) notes that Cho’s model is more comprehensive and
dynamic than Porter’s model due to its inclusion of the state and human
factors.
Krugman (1991) expressed competitiveness as primarily growth
in productivity among the country’s internal factors. He stated that for
a country that has opened up to international trade, competitiveness is
actually the country’s productivity. He also pointed out that there will be
no competition between countries and that it will occur through firms.
He emphasized that competitiveness is a concept related to firms and
is a dangerous and obsessive situation that is meaningless for countries
(Krugman, 1991). The fundamental concept that forms Krugman’s
approach to international competitiveness is productivity (Yücel, 2012).
He does not think that countries compete like businesses. Regarding his
approach to competitiveness, he emphasized that the most important
thing is the increase in productivity, and there is no such thing as global
competitiveness. Therefore, he suggests that countries should be compared
in terms of productivity rather than competitiveness (Timuçin, 2010).
According to Krugman, productivity is an important factor for firms
to achieve competitive advantage, but it is an unnecessary concept for
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .307

countries to have a competitive advantage. Therefore, he argues that it

is wrong for governments to focus on productivity growth (Timuçin,
2010). Krugman also states that although certain products or firms may
have superior competitive abilities compared to their counterparts in other
countries, firms can go bankrupt in commercial life while countries cannot.
For example, Coca Cola and Pepsi are competitors and an improvement in
one company’s situation can put the other in a difficult position. However,
this does not apply to countries competing against each other. Furthermore,
Krugman argues that international trade is not a zero-sum game and that
protectionist policies by countries are unnecessary (Krugman, 1991).
Robert Reich, building on the shortcomings of Porter’s theory,
developed the Knowledge-Based Approach theory. In this model,
knowledge is considered a fundamental production factor that plays a
crucial role in economic development. It is argued that knowledge, when
embodied in firm employees and concrete organizational structures,
can assist firms in gaining competitive advantage (Başkılıç, 2006). The
critique that the model brings to Porter’s theory is that it emphasizes the
importance of country-specific characteristics based on organizational
superiority in creating global competitive advantage and takes the national
nature of firms into the global dimension (Reich, 2010).
According to the knowledge-based approach model, there will not
be national firms or national products in the future. It is stated that the
economies that will emerge in the future will be high-value economies
rather than high-volume economies. Therefore, Reich states that countries
producing high-value products through global networks and communication
that will emerge in the future will gain competitive advantage, and this
will be achieved through “knowledge” (Reich, 2010). According to Reich,
knowledge materializes through individuals working in the company
and contributes to the strengthening of companies. Although knowledge
is referred to as patents and intellectual property rights, the knowledge
in companies is informal (Timuçin, 2010). International organizations
such as “World Economic Forum (WEF)” and “International Institute
for Management Development (IMD)” are considered as references in the
academic literature for measuring international competitiveness. These
organizations publish countries’ competitiveness indices on an industry
basis every year with their classification, category, and competitiveness
calculation models (Timuçin, 2010).
“Global Competitiveness Report” published by “World Economic
Forum” publishes the competitiveness of countries and industries through
“Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)” created by them. According to
the report of this institution, competitiveness is defined as “the economic
power necessary for increasing a country’s economic prosperity and
308 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

quality of life” (World Economic Forum, 2015). When preparing the

Global Competitiveness Index, countries are evaluated under 12 categories
(institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary
education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor
market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness,
market size, business sophistication, and innovation) (World Economic
Forum, 2015).
3. Porter Diamond Model
Porter has tested the model that he created to analyze competitiveness
at the firm and industry level on more than 100 sectors in the United
States, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom,
South Korea, and Singapore. In his work “The Competitive Advantage
of Nations” (Porter, 1990a), Porter investigates how nations achieve
competitive advantage.
Classical economic theories have stated in their studies on competitive
advantage that relative advantages such as natural resources, production
factors, and land are determinative. However, Porter has pointed out that
macro variables and government policies alone are insufficient for countries
to achieve competitive advantage. In order to reach a more valid paradigm
today, Porter has suggested that qualified workforce, technological
advancement, and accumulation of knowledge on an industry-specific
basis can come together under specific conditions to create a competitive
advantage (Bulu, Eraslan, & Kaya, 2006).
Similar to Krugman, Porter emphasizes in his work that productivity is
the most important concept in national competitiveness. While expressing
national competitiveness as the country’s share in the global market, he
has stated that it is insufficient to link it to macroeconomic variables. The
main purpose of the country is to increase the welfare level of its citizens.
In order to achieve this, he has stated that the country needs to increase
productivity through its labor force and capital (Gökmenoğlu, Akal, &
Altunışık, 2012). In his study, Porter investigates why some nations have
a competitive advantage in certain industries compared to other countries
and attempts to explain the competitiveness relationship with the model
he has constructed (Porter, 1990a). In the model he has established, as
shown in the figure, he refers to four internal and two external factors
that determine the competitiveness of nations. The internal factors that
constitute the four corners of the Diamond Model are “ factor conditions”,
“demand conditions”, “related and supporting industries”, and “strategy,
structure, and rivalry”. While these factors directly affect competitiveness,
the external factors of “government” and “chance” that support the
internal factors indirectly affect competitiveness (Porter, 1990a).
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .309

Figure 1: Porter Diamond Model

Source: Porter (1990a), “The Competitive Advantages of Nations”, Free Press,
New York.
Porter emphasizes the importance of the government’s role in
determining the international competitiveness of an industry, but states that
it does not directly affect the main factors. Rather than trying to achieve
competitive advantage, Porter suggests that the government should support
the four corners of the diamond model. Additionally, the chance factor,
which includes uncontrollable variables such as natural disasters and wars,
is included in the model and is considered as situations that can change
the direction of competitiveness (Koç & Özbozkurt, 2014; Porter, 1990b).
As seen in Figure 1, government factor affects the four factors externally.
While there are twelve internal interactions in the model, there are also
eight external interactions. The degrees of impact and interactions of these
can vary depending on the selected country, industry, or firm. The model
aims to reveal the competitiveness levels of industries by demonstrating
how one variable affects the others (Bulu, Eraslan, & Kaya, 2006).
Porter emphasized the key role of four factors and other external
variables that arise from a country’s own resources in providing companies
with stable and sustainable competitive advantage. In the model, factors
such as technological superiority, economies of scale, market structures,
natural resources, and labor superiority were included as factors that
create competitive advantage, not individually but as a whole, including
their interactions with each other (Gürpınar & Sandıkçı, 2008). In
general, if we evaluate the functioning of the model, it can be seen as a
mechanism of positive and negative effects and interactions that operate
as a whole system. In this process, competitive advantages are subject
to change depending on the speed of innovations. The emergence of a
wide and holistic effect depends on the nature and intensity of the mutual
310 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

interactions in the system. A competitive environment is formed by the

presence of new knowledge, skilled labor, and continuous competition
(Bulu, Eraslan, & Kaya, 2006).
According to Porter’s theory, high intensity local competition provides
nations with competitive advantage, and he states that the diamond model
represents this best. If countries want to gain competitive advantage or
sustain the advantages they have gained, they need to support the factors
outlined in Diamond Model (factor conditions, demand conditions, related
and supporting industries, and firm strategy, structure, and rivalry) as
expressed by Karaaslan and Tuncer (2010). In the Diamond Model, when
analyzing the competitive advantages of nations, Porter emphasizes
that competitive advantages of different industries can be achieved
through different sources. In addition, global companies competing on
a global scale are not affected by domestic exchanges. This is because
companies must develop products, produce innovations, and develop
new technologies. Finally, companies must quickly enter new markets
and try to gain competitive advantage there. In later stages of the model,
it is stated that a country’s competitive advantage in certain sectors can
be classified into one of the following categories based on the country’s
level of development, taking into account the characteristics of the sectors
where the country has competitive advantage (Porter, 1990a):
• The period where competitive advantage is dependent on factor
conditions
• The period where competitive advantage is dependent on investment
• The period where competitive advantage is dependent on innovation
• The period where competitive advantage is dependent on existing
wealth
Porter emphasized the importance of local focus by examining the
impact of close business networks on competitive advantage. This led
to the concept of clustering. Porter (1998) defined clustering as “the
geographic concentration of interconnected companies and institutions
in a particular field, linked by commonalities and complementarities.”
Countries competing on a global level should develop a development
model based on the factor conditions they possess. Factor conditions
refer to the labor, capital, and land factors that countries already have. If
countries have a high number of unskilled workers, they should specialize
in labor-intensive products in the international arena. Conversely, if they
have a highly skilled workforce, they should focus on producing new
technologies, products, or services (Koç & Özbozkurt, 2014).
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .311

If we look at the examples given by Porter as examples of factor

conditions, a hospital in Denmark specializing in diabetes has achieved
a significant market share in the global insulin market by innovating and
developing technology. Similarly, the Netherlands has a significant share
in global exports due to its specialization in the production, collection,
and packaging of flowers and plants (Porter, 1990b). If local demand in a
region can attract producer firms to produce new products or services more
than other regions, it is expected that the region will gain a competitive
advantage. In addition, local demand creates pressure on firms operating
in the region to create new products or services, thus encouraging them to
gain a competitive advantage (Porter, 1990a).
Porter identified the demand conditions factor in the competitiveness
of countries, based on the conscious and strong local demand for the goods
or services produced by firms (Koç & Özbozkurt, 2014). If the demand in
a region is suitable and preferred for the needs of other countries, it can
support the country’s competitive advantage. Thus, specialization in local
demand allows firms operating in the region to differentiate themselves
and expand their market. Therefore, specialized local demand contributes
to the development of local markets through innovation and product
differentiation. Due to the nature of demand, it provides local players
with insights into buyers’ future behavior and acts as a warning system
against potential trends in global markets (Eroğlu, 2013). In this context,
Porter cited the example of Japanese firms becoming major players in the
production of smaller, quieter, and more energy-efficient air conditioners,
as they believed large and noisy air conditioners would not be suitable for
small Japanese homes. Similarly, Danish firms developed effective devices
for monitoring water pollution by considering people’s environmental
awareness. In addition, local businesses in America increased their
competitiveness in the fast food market by catering to the local food
culture, making American-based companies (such as McDonalds, Burger
King, Subway, etc.) the largest players in the world’s fast food market
(Porter, 1990a).
Demand conditions in an industry must involve the presence of
demand for products to be produced and developed. At the global level,
the emergence of existing demand for a sector or product in a country
contributes positively to competitive advantage internationally (Yüncü,
2010).
Porter creates industry clusters by bringing together all relevant and
supporting industries, encompassing all direct and indirect players by
indicating many members of the value chain (Porter, 1990a). Within the
cluster, continuous knowledge exchange occurs due to close proximity and
communication, leading to the generation of new ideas and innovation,
312 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

providing competitive advantage to firms. In Porter’s studies, the

aggregation of local related sectors in a certain region enables firms to
develop new skills, leading to the formation of new ventures. For example,
the relationship between Switzerland’s success in the pharmaceutical
industry and its previous success in the paint sector can be demonstrated
(Porter, 1998).
Relevant and supportive organizations assist firms in gaining a
competitive advantage in the international market in the following ways:
first, by providing quick, timely, efficient, and cost-effective services;
second, by assisting firms in innovation and product development activities.
Finally, the dynamic structure among supportive firms contributes to
the competitive advantage of firms and industries. Furthermore, it is not
necessary for a firm to have a competitive advantage in all input conditions
to gain international competitiveness. Firms can procure some inputs
through imports without adversely affecting product performance and
innovation levels (Uzunkaya, 2013).
Porter states that the last component of Diamond Model, which is firm
structure, strategy, and the competitive element, does not have a specific
management scheme that affects competitive advantage, as conditions
differ in each country, region, and industry (Porter, 1990a). According to
Porter, the strategies, organizational models, and production organizations
that firms apply to achieve their objectives help them to gain competitive
advantage. In this context, the work environment that managers create
with employees aiming for the same goal during the stage of developing,
implementing, and improving technological innovations is an important
factor that significantly increases productivity (Porter, 1990a). Moreover,
even if firms have a high degree of “operational” success, it is not sufficient
for businesses to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. It is necessary
for businesses to develop new strategies that differentiate themselves from
their competitors (Porter, 1998).
3. Literature Summary on Competitiveness
The first theoretical work on countries’ international competitive
advantages was introduced by Adam Smith in 1776 with his book “The
Wealth of Nations” and his theory of “Absolute Advantage”. The theory
established trade between two countries and two products based on the
absolute advantages that each country possesses. Since then, the theory
has been subjected to many changes and criticisms, and the search for the
answer to the same question continues to this day.
Porter conducted a study titled “The Competitive Advantage of
Nations” in which he examined how nations achieve competitive advantage
(Porter, 1990a). The study, which lasted for three years, aimed to analyze
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .313

competitiveness at the firm and industry levels using a model that he

developed himself. Porter applied this model to 10 countries (the United
States, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom,
South Korea, and Singapore) and over 100 sectors. As a result of his study,
Porter identified “ factor conditions,” “demand conditions,” “related and
supporting industries,” and “firm strategy, structure, and rivalry” as
factors that directly affect competitiveness. In addition that, he identified
“government” and “chance” factors as external factors that indirectly
affect competitiveness by supporting these internal factors (Porter, 1990a).
Following this study, research continued to use the “Diamond Model” to
investigate the competitive advantages of industries and firms in countries
and to test the model.
Rugman and D’Cruz (1993) found that when they applied Porter’s
model to the Canadian economy, the diamond could not fully explain
Canada’s success. They proposed Double Diamond Model, which includes
the most important trading partner in addition to the original diamond
factors. Hodgetts (1993) applied the Double Diamond Model to Mexico
and found that it had a competitive advantage in the petrochemical and
automotive sectors. Similarly, Cartwrigth (1993) applied the model to
export-oriented industries in New Zealand and found that the results
supported the model.
Eickelpasch, Lejpras & Stephan (2007) applied the structural equation
model using the Porter model on 2100 companies in East Germany
and found that local level collaboration increased firms’ competitive
advantage. Herciu (2013) attempted to analyze Romania’s international
competitiveness according to the Porter model and stated that Romania
had competitive disadvantages within the EU. Zuhuang (2014) developed
the “Dynamic Diamond Model” on cultural trade in China using the
Diamond Model and stated that cultural trade was weak in international
competition in China and that the dynamic model had a significant impact
on competition in the short term. Sledge (2005) researched the validity of
the Diamond Model in the global automotive industry and demonstrated
the validity of the model by comparing 50 automotive companies in
eight different countries (Sledge, 2005). Rugman and Oh (2008) applied
Rugman’s regional matrix model on Asian companies listed in Fortune
Global 500 and stated that Asian companies had more regional competitive
powers rather than global ones. Wonglimpiyarat (2006) researched the
impact of government programs on competitive advantage in high-tech
industries in Silicon Valley in the United States using the Porter model and
stated that venture capital provided by the government had a positive effect
on competitive advantage. Mann and Byun (2011) applied the Porter model
on the clothing retail industry after the liberalization of retail trade in
314 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

India in 2006 and identified the challenges and opportunities of the sector.
Sterns and Spreen (2010) applied the Diamond Model comparatively on the
processed citrus industry in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Florida, United States
and revealed that although they used the same production techniques, they
applied different company management strategies.
Oz (2002) applied Porter’s model to Turkey and stated that the results
confirmed the model. However, He also mentioned that the hypotheses
of the model were not supported regarding internal competition and the
role of the government. Ulengin et al. (2014) conducted on the Turkish
automotive industry using the competitiveness indicators of the World
Economic Forum (WEF) and the Bayesian Causality methodology, it
was stated that Turkey’s automotive industry has a competitive structure
among developing countries. Karacaoglu (2009) applied Porter’s model
using YEM model on ISO 500 and stated that the manufacturing industry’s
competitive advantage comes from new entrants to the industry and
substitute products. Aric (2012) applied the Diamond Model on Kayseri
furniture sector and stated that the sector met the factors of the model
and had a positive effect on competitiveness. Eraslan, Bakan, and Kuyucu
(2008) stated in their study on the international competitiveness analysis
of the Turkish textile and ready-to-wear industry that the industry has
sustainable competitive power. Bulu, Eraslan, and Kaya (2006) analyzed
the competitiveness of the electronics sector in Turkey using Porter’s
model and suggested that R&D investments should be prioritized as
the competitiveness potential is strong. Bulu, Eraslan, and Sahin (2004)
conducted a competition analysis of the informatics cluster in Ankara using
Porter’s model and stated that the competitiveness level was weak, and the
sector continued with government support. Policy recommendations were
listed to address the sector’s shortcomings and gain sustainable competitive
advantage. Aricioglu, Gokce, and Koras (2013) collected data from 175
companies in Konya casting cluster and conducted Porter’s competition
analysis. They stated that the sector would increase innovation and gain
long-term competitive advantage by involving relevant and supporting
organizations. Keskin (2013) analyzed the Western Mediterranean forest
products sector using Porter’s model and found that it had strong factor
conditions, moderate firm strategy and competition, moderate demand
conditions, and low competitiveness in relevant and supporting industries.
Conclusion
The fundamental condition for the economic development of countries
and the increase of their welfare level is to specialize in the production
of relatively superior goods and services. Michael Porter introduced
“Diamond Model” in the early 1990s, focusing on the competitive
advantages of countries. In developing this model, Porter drew upon other
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .315

theories that attempted to explain the competitive advantages of countries.

These theories can generally be categorized as classical trade theories and
new trade theories.
In classical trade theories, the production factors of labor, capital, and
land represent a static situation. In his work, Porter noted that the concepts
explaining competition in classical trade theory were evaluated statically,
but today countries need to take into account dynamic production factors
such as technological developments, human capital, innovation, and R&D.
In new trade theories, countries’ international competitive advantages
are shaped according to their technological capabilities, and when a
technological development emerges in a country, it is eventually transferred
to other countries through imitation, neutralizing the competitive
advantage of the country that originated the invention. Porter argues
that countries can maintain their competitive advantages by constantly
producing new technologies. Through new technologies and production
methods, countries continue to maintain their competitive advantages over
other countries. Porter suggests that a more valid paradigm can be achieved
today by bringing together skilled labor, technological advancement, and
knowledge accumulation factors in specific conditions within an industry,
creating a competitive advantage.
Building upon his criticisms of classical trade theories and the
principles of new trade theories, Porter associated countries’ competitive
advantages with the industries in which they have a comparative advantage.
He argued that countries need to specialize in industries in which they have
a competitive advantage and develop clustering policies accordingly. In
this context, Porter examined how nations achieve competitive advantage
in his 1990 work “The Competitive Advantage of Nations”. To analyze
competitiveness at the firm and industry levels, Porter developed a model
and applied it to 10 countries (the United States, Germany, Japan, Denmark,
Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Singapore) and
over 100 sectors. Porter (1990a) investigates why certain nations have a
competitive advantage in certain industries compared to other countries
and attempts to explain the competitiveness relationship through his
established model. As shown in the figure, he mentions four internal and
two external factors that determine a nation’s competitive power in the
model he established. The internal factors that form the four corners of the
Diamond Model are “ factor conditions”, “demand conditions”, “related
and supporting industries”, and “strategy, structure, and rivalry”, which
directly affect competitiveness. The external factors that support these
main internal factors are “government” and “chance” factors, which
indirectly affect competitiveness.
316 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

Porter emphasizes the importance of the role of the government in

determining the international competitiveness of an industry, although it
does not directly affect the main factors of the diamond model. According
to Porter, rather than trying to achieve competitive advantage, the
government should support the four factors that make up the diamond
model. In addition, the model includes the factor of chance, which represents
uncontrollable variables that can change the direction of competitiveness
(such as natural disasters or wars). In his theory, Porter lists the necessary
abilities and resources for nations to create competitive advantage in their
industries, including sufficient knowledge of the production field in terms
of opportunities, abilities, and resources, awareness of competition among
capitalists, managers, and workers, and the presence of an investment- and
innovation-oriented business environment. In later works, Porter focused
on the impact of nearby business environments on competitive advantage,
highlighting the importance of local focuses. This led to the concept of
clustering, which Porter (1998) defines as “the concentration of competing
and collaborating firms, specialized suppliers, service providers, and
associated institutions and organizations in the same geographic area”.
In general, if we evaluate the functioning of the model, the system
emerges as a mechanism in which positive and negative effects and
interactions occur as a whole. In this process, competitive advantages
change depending on the speed of renewal and innovation. The emergence
of a broad and comprehensive impact depends on the nature and intensity
of mutual interactions as a whole system, and a process that involves new
knowledge, qualified workforce, and continuous presence of competitors
creates a competitive environment. Overall, the Porter Diamond Model
suggests that policies aimed at improving factor conditions, demand
conditions, related and supporting industries, and firm strategy, structure,
and rivalry can help to enhance a country’s competitive advantage in a
particular industry. The policy recommendations of the diamond model
are given below, similar to the results of the empirical study conducted by
Kuloğlu (2016).
1.Factor Conditions:
• Invest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) education to develop a skilled workforce and encourage
innovation.
• Provide tax incentives or grants for businesses that invest in
research and development.
• Implement policies that promote the use of renewable energy
and reduce carbon emissions, which can attract companies looking for
environmentally sustainable practices.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .317

2.Demand Conditions:
• Implement policies that support domestic consumption, such as
subsidies for low-income households or investment in public infrastructure
projects.
• Encourage the creation of new markets for products and services,
such as through trade agreements, strategic partnerships with other
countries, and market research.
• Provide training and support for small and medium-sized
enterprises to help them enter new markets and expand their customer
base.
3.Related and Supporting Industries:
• Encourage the formation of industry clusters that bring together
companies, suppliers, and research institutions, which can promote
innovation, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.
• Provide access to financing and resources for startups and small
businesses, which can help to catalyze new industries and support job
growth.
• Establish partnerships between universities and businesses to
foster research and development, which can lead to new innovations and
business opportunities.
4.Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry:
• Encourage competition and prevent monopolies by enforcing
antitrust laws and promoting fair competition.
• Support entrepreneurship and innovation by providing incubators,
accelerators, and mentorship programs for startups and small businesses.
• Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing among firms to
promote learning and the exchange of best practices.
Overall, policies that support innovation, investment, and collaboration
can help to strengthen the factors that make up the Porter Diamond Model
and enhance a country’s competitiveness in a particular industry. It
is important to consider the unique circumstances of each country and
industry when developing policy recommendations.
318 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

REFERENCES
Adıgüzel, M. (2013). Rekabet Gücünün Ölçülmesi ve Türkiye Bağlamında Bir
Değerlendirme. Akademik Bakış Dergisi(37), 1-21.
Ahmadov, F. (2010). Azerbeycan’ın Ulusal Rekabet Gücü: Tows ve Elmas Modelli
Bir Yaklaşım. Sakarya: Sakarya Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
Akiş, E. (2008). Küreselleşme Sürecinde Türkiye’nin Uluslarası Rekabet Gücü:
Türk Beyaz Eşya Sanayii İçin Bir Uygulama. İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversite-
si Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi.
Aktaş, C. (2003). Gelişmekte olan Ülkelerde Rekabet Politikası: Bir Çerçeve Ça-
lışması. Ankara: Rekabet Kurumu.
Altay, B. (2006). Avrupa Birliği’inde Rekabet Politikaları, Türkiye ve Avrupa Bir-
liği’nin İhracatta Rekabet Gücünün Ölçülmesi. Afyonkarahisar: Afyonka-
rahisar Kocatepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü .
Altay, H. (2008). Karşılaştırmalı Üstünlükler Teorisi Kapsamında Türk Endüsrti-
lerinin Avrupa Birliği (15) Pazarındaki Rekabet Gücü Düzeylerinin İnce-
lenmesi: 1995-2007. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü,
215-240.
Arıcıoğlu, M. A., Gökçe, Ş., & Koraş, M. (2013). Kümelenme ve Rekabet Analizi
İçin Bir Uygulama . Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi
, 1-18 .
Arıç, H. (2012). Ulusal ve Uluslararası Rekabetin Geliştirilmesinde Kümelenme
Politikası: Kayseri Mobilya Sektöründe Bir Uygulama. Erciyes Üniversite-
si Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 133-157.
Arıç, H. (2013). Yeni Bir Dış Ticaret Teorisi Olarak Porter’in Rekabetçi Üstün-
lükler Teorisi’nin Yapısı. Kafkas Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fa-
kültesi, 4(5), 81-97.
Ayaş, N. (2002). Bölgesel Rekabet Gücünün Geliştirilmesinde Verimliliğin Rolü.
Muğla Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, 1-24.
Baltacı, A., Burgazoğlu, H., & Kılıç, S. (2012). Türkiye’nin Rekabetçi Sektörleri
ve Trakya Bölgesi’nin Payı. Çankırı Karatekin Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İda-
ri Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 1-19.
Başkılıç, E. (2006). Türkiye’nin Uluslararası Rekabet Gücü: Bazı AB Ülkeleri ile
Kıyaslama. Adana: Çukurova Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
Bulu, M., Eraslan, H., & Kaya, H. (2006). Türk Elektronik Sektörünün Rekabet-
çilik Analizi. İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi , 49-66.
Bulu, M., Eraslan, İ. H., & Şahin, Ö. (2004). Elmas Modeli ile Ankara Bilişim
Kümelenmesi Rekabet Analizi. 3.Ulusal Bilgi, Ekonomi ve Yönetim Kong-
resi (s. 1-23). Eskişehir: Osmangazi Üniversitesi. İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler
Fakültesi.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .319

Cartwright, W. R. (1993). Multiple linked” diamonds” and the international com-

petitiveness of export-dependent industries: The New Zealand experien-
ce. MIR: Management International Review, 55-70.
Cho, D.-S. (1994). A Dynamic Approach to International Competitiveness: The
Case of Korea. Asia Pacific Business Review, 17-36.
Cho, D.-S., & Moon, H.-C. (2005). National Competitiveness:Implications for
Different Groups and Strategies. National Competitiveness:Implications
for Different Groups and Strategies, 1-11.
Çelik, N. (2011). Türkiye’nin Endüstriyel Performans Göstergeleri ve İnovasyon
Faaliyetleri. Marmara Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 1(1), 1-16.
Çivi, E., Erol, İ., İnanlı, T., & Erol, E. (2008). Uluslararası Rekabet Gücüne Farklı
Yaklaşımlar. Ekonomik ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi,, 4(1), 1-22.
Çolak, M. (2006). Şirket Birleşmeleri ve Rekabet Etkileri. Kahramanmaraş: Kah-
ramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
Davidson, P. (2011). Post Keynesian macroeconomic theory. New York: Edward
Elgar Publishing.
Doğan, İ. F. (2011). Stratejik Rekabet Aracı Olarak Porter’in Elmas Modeli ve Bir
Alan Çalışması. Kahramanmaraş: Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversi-
tesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
Dunning, J. H. (1992). The Competitive Advantage of Countries and The Activi-
ties of Transnational Corporations. Transnational Corporations, 135-168.
Eichner, A. S., & Kregel, J. A. (1975). An Essay on Post-Keynesian Theory: A
New Paradigm in Economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 1293-1314.
Eickelpasch, A., Lejpras, A., & Stephan, A. (2007). Hard and Soft Locational Fa-
ctors, Innovativeness and Firm Performance: An Empirical Test of Porter’s
Diamond Model at the Micro-Level. German Institute for Economic Rese-
arch, 1-22.
Eraslan, İ. H., Bakan, İ., & Kuyucu, A. D. (2008). Türk Tekstil ve Hazır Giyim
Sektörünün Uluslararası Rekabetçilik Düzeyinin Analizi. Istanbul Ticaret
Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 265-300 .
Eroğlu, O. (2013). Kent Rekabetçiliğinde Kümelenme Stratejisinin Olumlu Etkisi
ve Kümelerin Kent Rekabetçiliği Algısı: Kent Rekabetçiliği ve Diyarbakır
Mermer Kümesi Örneği. Adana: Çukurova Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler
Enstitüsü .
Gökmenoğlu, S. M., Akal, M., & Altunışık, R. (2012). Ulusal Rekabet Gücünü
Belirleyen Faktörler Üzerine Değerlendirmeler. Rekabet Dergisi, 3-43.
Gürpınar, K., & Sandıkçı, M. (2008). Uluslararası Rekabetçilik Analizinde Micha-
el E. Porter’in Elmas Modeli Yaklaşımı: Türkiye’deki Bazı Endüstrilerde-
ki Uygulanabilirliğinin ve Sonuçlarının Araştırılması. Selçuk Üniversitesi
İİBF Sosyal ve Ekonomik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 105-125.
320 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

Hayek, F. A. (1945). The use of knowledge in society. American Economic Re-

view, 519-530 .
Herciu, M. (2013). Measuring International Competitiveness of Romania by
Using Porter’s Diamond and Revealed Comparative Advantage. Procedia
Economics and Finance, 273 – 279.
Hodgetts, R. M. (1993). Porter’s diamond framework in a Mexican context. MIR:
Management International Review, 41-54.
International Institute for Management. (2015). IMD World Competitiveness Year-
book 2015. Switzerland: IMD World Competitiveness Center .
İyibozkurt, E. (2001). Uluslararası İktisat: Teori Politika ve Uygulama. Ankara:
Ezgi Kitabevi.
Karaaslan, A., & Tuncer, G. (2010). Uluslararası Rekabet Gücünün Artırılmasında
Temel Devlet Politikaları. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Ensti-
tüsü(26), 1-22.
Karacaoğlu, K. (2009). Rekabet Üstünlüğünü Etkileyen Unsurların Yapısal Eşitlik
Modeli ile Belirlenmesi: ISO 500 Büyük Sanayi İşletmesi Örneği. Erciyes
Üniversitesi ktisadi ve dari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 165-187.
Keskin, H. (2013). Batı Akdeniz Bölgesi Orman Ürünleri Sektörünün Rekabet
Gücünün Porter’ın Karo Modeli Çerçevesinde İncelenmesi. Uluslararası
Alanya İşletme Fakültesi Dergisi, 51-66.
Koç, M., & Özbozkurt, O. B. (2014). Ulusların Rekabet Üstünlüğü ve Elmas Mo-
deli Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme. İşletme ve İktisat Çalışmaları Dergisi, 85-
91.
Krugman, P. (1991). Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession. Foreign Affairs.,
1-19.
Kuloğlu, A. (2016). Porter Modeli Rekabetçilik Analizi: Kayseri İli Sektörel Öl-
çüm ve Yapısal Eşitlik Modelleri Yaklaşımı. Kayseri: Erciyes Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü .
Mann, M., & Byun, S.E. (2011). Accessing opportunities in apparel retail sectors
in India: Porter’s diamond approach. Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management: An International Journal, 194 - 210.
Marx, K. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. Moskow: Progress Publishers.
Ohlin, B. (1963). Interregional And International Trade. Cambridge: Harward
University Press.
Öz, Ö. (2002). Assessing Porter’s framework for national advantage: the case of
Turkey. Journal of Business Research, 509-515.
Porter, M. (1990b). The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Harvard Business
Review, 73-91.
Porter, M. (1998a). Cluster and the New Economics of Competition. Harvard Bu-
siness Review, 77-90.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .321

Porter, M. (1998b). The Competitive Advantages of Nations. New York: Free Press.
Porter, M. E. (1990a). The Competitive Advantage of Nations. New York: Free
Press.
Reich, D. (2010). Türkiye’de Kobi’ lerin Rekabet Gücü Ve Rekabet Üstünlüğü
Sağlamada Kümelenmenin Etkisi. İstanbul Üniversitesi, İktisat Anabilim
Dalı. İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
Reich, R. B. (2010). The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century
Capitalis. New York: Vintage.
Rugman, A. M., & D’Cruz, J. R. (1993). The “Double Diamond” Model of Inter-
national Competitiveness: The Canadian Experience. MIR: Management
International Review, 17-39.
Rugman, A. M., & Oh, C. H. (2008). The international competitiveness of Asian
firms. Journal of Strategy and Management, 57 - 71.
Sledge, S. (2005). Does Porter’s Diamond Hold in The Global Automotive In-
dustry? Advances in Competitiveness Research, 22-32.
Smith, A. (1776). The Wealth of Nations. New York, 1991: Prometheus Books.
Solow, R. M. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. The
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 65-94.
Sterns, J. A., & Spreen, T. H. (2010). Evaluating sustainable competitive advan-
tages in Brazilian and US processed citrus supply chains: an application of
porter’s diamond framework. International Journal on Food System Dyna-
mics, 1(1012-2016-81105), 167-173.
Swan, T. (1956). Economic growth and capital accumulation. Economic Record,
334–361.
Türkiye Kalkınma Bankası . (2001). Dünya Rekabet Gücü İçerisinde Türkiye’nin
Yeri. Ankara: Türkiye Kalkınma Bankası Araştırma Müdürlüğü.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). (2013). World
Manufacturing Production Statistics for Quarter IV. Vienna: United Nati-
ons Industrial Development Organization.
Utkulu, U. (2005). Türkiye’nin Dış Ticareti ve Değişen Mukayeseli Üstünlükler.
İzmir: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Yayınları.
Uzunkaya, M. (2013). Uluslararası Rekabet Edebilirlik Çerçevesinde Türk İnşaat
Sektörünün Yapısal Analizi. Ankara: T.C. Kalkınma Bakanlığı .
Ülengin, F., Önsel, Ş., Aktaş, E., Kabak, Ö., & Özaydın, Ö. (2014). A decision
support methodology to enhance the competitiveness of the Turkish auto-
motive industry. european Journal of Operational Research, 789-801.
Wonglimpiyarat, J. (2006). The dynamic economic engine at Silicon Valley and
US Government programmes in financing innovations. Technovation,
1081–1089.
322 . Ayhan Kuloğlu

World Economic Forum. (2015). The Global Competitiveness Report 2014 - 2015
. Switzerland: World Economic Forum.
Yücel, Y. (2012). Küreselleşme Sürecinde Türk Tekstil ve Hazır Giyim Sektörünün
Rekabet Gücü. İstanbul: Marmara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü .
Yüncü, H. R. (2010). Şarap Turizmi Bölgelerinin Rekabet Edebilirliğine Yönelik
Bir Model Önerisi: Kapadokya Örneği. Eskişehir: Eskişehir Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi.
Zuhuang, Y. (2014). The trade competitiveness research of China’s cultural based
on dynamic diamond model. Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Re-
search, 2639-2641.
 CHAPTER 16
MAIN MENTAL DISEASES OF
IMMIGRANTS AND ASYLUM
SEEKERS

Candan OZKAN1
Selami Varol ULKER2

1  M.Sc. Candan Özkan ,Student, Üsküdar University, Institute of Social

Sciences, Applied Psychology (with Thesis). E-mail: candanoskan@
hotmail.com
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0199-1057
2  Dr. Öğr. Üyesi, Selami Varol ÜLKER, Üsküdar University, Faculty
of Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology Department, E-mail:
[email protected]
ORCID ID : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6385-6418
324 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

Introduction
In the last ten years, there have been wars in which a large number of
deaths have occurred in Syria. Millions of Syrians had to migrate to other
countries and take shelter in neighboring countries. Because of this, many
material and moral losses were experienced by the Syrian society. People
who leave their countries are classified into two groups: immigrants and
asylum seekers. While immigrants make a councious decision to leave
their countries, for example to improve their wealth, asylum seekers are
obbliged to leave their countries under the danger of war, discrimination
or political and religious reasons. Asylum seekers can be investigated by
the authorities of the host country (Akıncı et al., 2015).
Syrian immigrants experienced psychological issues in relation
to war and consequent migration (Kaya, 2019). Post-traumatic stress
disorder and depression have been documented in the literature. A study
conducted with Syrian migrants shows that the continued hardship has
many effects on the mental health and the psychosocial status of adult and
child migrants (Karataştan, 2021). Other adverse events related to the war
further complicate the stress they experience with migration. (Karataştan,
2021).
In a research conducted on 310 Syrian immigrants in the Reyhanlı
region of Hatay in Turkey, it was stated that around 80% of the migrants
participating in the sample showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder
(Cengiz et al., 2019).
Many migrants face a traumatic situation before and after migration,
which will negatively affect their mental health. Pre-migration risk factors
are linked with difficult economic conditions, poor educational and
professional status, political situations, and deterioration of social relations
(Kirmayer et al., 2011). In this context, many asylum seekers may be
subject to torture, rape, imprisonment, and physical trauma before leaving
their country behind (Lee et al., 2012).
Uncertainty, unemployment, and social status expose migrants to
additional trauma after they move to a different country. At the same time,
language, difficulty to adapt to a different culture adversely affect the
psychological health of migrants (Teodorescu et al., 2012).
Sleep disorder, attention deficit, suicide, claustrophobia,
psychosomatic disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder have
been documented in the literature (Lee et al., 2012).
People diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder have more
disturbing symptoms, such as sleep problems, nightmares, and constant
replay of bad memories. In addition, these people often repeat their past
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .325

negative experiences with restlessness, fear, startle, uncertainty about the

future, inability to plan for the future, estrangement from the environment
and themselves. Depression is also a common disorder. Pathologies that
can be seen after trauma are: inability to enjoy life, depressed mood,
decrease or increase in sleep and appetite (Kaya, 2019).
The types of depression are divided into two: psychotic and neurotic
depression. Depression can sometimes cause hallucinations in people.
In this case, the cognitive processes of individuals detach people from
reality and form destructive beliefs for the person such as discomfort and
guilt and disrupt self-perception. Some of one’s thoughts are exaggerated.
In such a case, the hallucinations that come with depression are also
common. Patients with this type of depression may experience slowing
down in their movements, difficulty in speaking, while at the same time
exaggerated state of movement and rubbing their hands constantly can
also occur. Patients who experience this type of depression and show this
type of symptoms are known as severe depression (Aykut, 2019).
Although it was diagnosed, psychotic depression is not common.
The incidence of nevrotic depressions is higher and remains milder than
psychotic depressions (Aykut, 2019).
In the literature, unipolar and bipolar depression types are described:
major depression is mostly described as unipolar, whereas the type of
depression known as bipolar is defined as bipolar. Unipolar depression
characterizes people who have been diagnosed with depression without
intense depressive behaviours. The bipolar depression is characterized by
symptoms such as exaggerated cheerfulness, the appearance of delusions,
grandiose behavior, enthusiastic behavior, exaggerated movements and
increased speech speed, remarkable decreases in sleep requirement,
exaggerated sexual desire, exaggerated expenditures. This period is called
the manic period. If the person is also experiencing a depressive mood, he
is most likely to have a bipolar disorder (Murray and Lopez, 1997).
Immigrants had problems adapting to the cities they went to, and,
at the same time, they isolated themselves from their long-term lives.
Immigrants who have to adapt to urban life to sustain financially themselves
and their families and, at the same time, are obliged to do illegal work, can
also experience psychological disorders. In general, this disorder is also
considered depression (Bartram, 2015).
The Impact of Wars and Conflicts on Migrants/Asylum Seekers
An “asylum seeker”, as defined in the Geneva Convention of 1951, is
defined as a person who leaves his/her country for reasons like religion,
race, culture or political ideas and who cannot benefit from the security of
326 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

his/her home country or who does not want to benefit from it because of
fear (Lomo, 1951).
Immigrants who migrate voluntarily or for economic reasons leave
their country of citizenship and migrate to another country because they
are in search of a better life for themselves. However, asylum seekers are
mostly forced to leave their country due to the pressure and intimidation.
The most important distinction between immigrants and economic asylum
seekers is that immigrants do not benefit from state protection compared to
economic asylum seekers (Karadağ and Altıntaş, 2010). Refugees who are
affected by conflicts or fights in their countries may have a serious risk of
psychological, physical and religious trauma leading to death (Kaya, 2019).
In the researches, the trauma rate of immigrants varies according to the
type of trauma experienced. Factors such as exposure to torture and loss
of a family member are among the most important factors determining
depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Alpak et al., 2015).
Exposure to torture is the most important factor found with both post-
traumatic stress disorder and depression according to a study conducted
by Steel et al. (2009). Other studies indicate injuries, death and forced
distance from their families as the biggest factors determining post-
traumatic stress disorders.
Psychological Conditions of Immigrants
The psychological conditions, and the challenging events that
immigrants and asylum seekers face, vary according to the stage of
migration they are in. These are pre-migration, during migration, and after
migration (Patricio, 2016).
1- Pre-migration period: death of family members, witnessing
violent one-on-one situations, insufficient livelihoods and loss of personal
properties, stampede in society, unintentional involvment in serious violent
situations.
2- During Migration: Asylum seekers embark on a difficult journey
with uncertainty about the future. Being hosted in refugee camps or
detention centers can cause traumatic stress.
3- After Migration: establishing in resettlement areas in the host
countries, adapting linguistically and culturally to the new country can
cause post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
According to the study conducted by Bhugra (2004), the migration
period consists of three stages: the pre-migration period, the migration
period and the post-migration period. In the pre-migration period, the
traumatizing situations include violence experienced among family
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .327

members, death of one of the family members, financial losses. The

migration period brings with it all type of uncertainties to the immigrants,
and this causes traumatic stress. The post-migration period is the period
in which pathologies are revealed. These include the traumatic stress
experienced in the pre-migration and the period during migration
(Acartürk, 2016).
The Most Common Pathologies in the Mental Health of Migrants/
Asylum Seekers
Migration increases psychological problems along with the reasons
that arise between an individual’s own desire and his/her economic
conditions. However, mental health problems are more common in asylum
seekers who are subjected to pressure and violence than individuals who
migrate voluntarily in order to live in better conditions (Noredam et al.,
2015).
In 2015, the World Federation for Mental Health (WPA) made an
urgent call to action on the psychological health of asylum seekers affected
by conflicts and wars and published it in the Cairo Declaration. In this
declaration, according to the data of the World Health Organization (WPA),
it was stated that eighty million people in the world are still affected by
the conflict in their country, they are refugees, or they are displaced by
moving within their country. 5-10% of these individuals have health
problems that require more urgent treatment, such as depression, and all
States, communities and all mental health organizations have requested
that people engaged in the field of mental health, and humanitarian
organizations, should work on refugees to protect their psychological
wellbeing.
According to the literature, four different types of mental diseases are
found among migrants: schizophrenia, somatization, depression, and post-
traumatic stress disorder.
Schizophrenia. The World Psychiatric Association, founded in
2011, mentions a study conducted by Ödegaar in 1932. Norwegians who
migrated to the United States have been reported to have a higher level of
schizophrenia than people living in their home countries. They reported
that schizophrenia was found to be associated with migration 10-12 years
after it occurred (Bhugra et al., 2011).
Kirkbride et al. (2012) included and systematically reviewed eightythree
of the studies conducted between 1950 and 2009 on schizophrenia and
psychosis in the UK. In this meta-analysis study, it was revealed that
although black people from the Caribbean and Africa were at the top of the
hierarchy, black people had more schizophrenia and psychosis than white
328 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

people. There is little data in the literature on gender differentiation in the

studies on psychosis (Başterzi, 2017).
In 1989, Cochrane and Ball’s study of psychosis among patients
hospitalized in the UK, found that the frequency of schizophrenia and
psychotic conditions of Irish, Indian, Caribbean and Pakistani asylum
seekers was higher than that of British locals; however, psychotic conditions
were observed at a low rate in Pakistani women. At the end of this study,
it was discovered that Pakistani women with psychotic conditions were
sent back to their country. Pakistani men with psychotic conditions were
hospitalized in the UK and continued to receive treatment, which provided
distorted information about gender roles (Başterzi, 2017).
In addition to mental disorders, somatic disorders are also encountered
among refugees. Somatic disorder is all of the physical symptoms that
cause psychological discomfort in the person at the same time that there
are mental conflicts.
According to Grinberg and Grinberg (1999), who analyzed the
migration from a psychoanalytic perspective, the distrust of the asylum
seekers, the anxiety of facing uncertainty and the conflicts that come
with this anxiety are defined as psychological regression. Refugees
are naturally subject to a change in identity; when this happens mental
conflicts, dissociation and complex emotions occur. When the person is
faced with this difficulty and cannot cope with it, the conflicts shift and the
accompanying somatic disturbances arise.
According to a 2015 report by the World Health Organization Office
for the European Region, one out fifteen individuals is diagnosed with
Major Depressive Disorder, and four out of fifteen individuals have varying
degrees of anxiety disorders and depression. The psychological problems
seen in the refugees, and the traumas they were exposed to during the
war while in their own countries, adversely affected their mental health by
the stress that emerged after settling in their new country. Post-traumatic
stress disorder and anxiety disorders have been observed to be over 20%
each (WPA, 2015).
Studies conducted by Still and colleagues in Sweden in 2016 found
that the rate at which asylum seekers faced a traumatic situation was 89%.
47% of the migrants had stress disorder after being clinically diagnosed
trauma and 20% were diagnosed with major depression. This study reveals
that the rate of men experiencing a traumatic situation and being exposed
to many overlapping traumatic events was higher than women. This is
attributed to the fact that men, more than women, are prone to financial
concerns and discrimination (Başterzi, 2017).
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .329

In the research conducted by Haldane and Nickerson (2016) on the

dimensions of trauma, they classified mostly traumas done by human
will, in other words, traumas made by human beings such as harassment,
rape, torture, killing family members and relatives in front of individuals.
Trauma that is not from human will is categorized as non-interpersonal
trauma: not being able to find food, not finding water sources, feeling face
to face with death, death of family members due to scarsity of food or
money. In this study, it was found that male people were in stark contrast
to female people and the incidence of mental problems in the non-
interpersonal trauma category, and especially depressed mood, was higher
in man than women. This study is accepted as an important study on the
extent to which gender roles are affected (Başterzi, 2017).
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a psychological disorder affecting
the physical integrity of an individual creating an unbearable trauma as
a result of an ordinary or unusual event. By threatening the person, this
feeling makes the person feel helpless and terrified. There are behavioral
changes as a result of trauma. Behaviors based on mental processes
such as startle, avoidance, hyperarousal, and flashback occur and cause
deterioration of the functionality of the individual’s life integrity (APA,
2000).
The results of traumatic situations on mental health date back to
ancient times. The concept of “soldier’s heart” is used to better understand
the cognitive and physical exhaustion seen in soldiers in the wars of the
19th century. Later, when the historical dimensions are examined, different
concepts such as “irritability heart”, “nostalgia, cardiac neurosis” have
started to be used. Some psychological symptoms that arise due to the fear
experienced by soldiers who were in cover during World War I and waited
for a long time are also known as “shrapnel shock” (Jones, 2006).
The definitions and designations of post-traumatic stress disorder
began to become more realistic and revealing after the Second World War.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) observed the experiences of
soldiers in World War II and published a first book, DMS-I, in 1952. In this
book, which represents the first diagnostic guide of the disease, such trauma
was named “Major Stress Reaction”. In the subsequent edition, DSM-II,
published in 1968, the trauma was called “Temporary Mental Disorder”.
Increasing in-depth studies in the field of post-traumatic stress disorder in
the aftermath of the Vietnam War are known as an important milestone
in a clearer definition of the disease. As a result of these studies, included
in DSM-III, published in 1980, the trauma was further renamed into “Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder” (Jones, 2006). In subsequent revisions - DSM
330 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

III-R (1987), DSM IV (1994), DSM IV-TR (2000) - the definition was
expanded. In the most recent DSM V (2013), the definition was moved
from the “Anxiety Disorder” category into the newly created “Trauma and
Stress-Related Disorders” category. There are four basic characteristics of
post-traumatic stress disorder, the criteria of which are explained in this
DSM-V book:
1- Seeing and experiencing a certain traumatic event;
2- Having bad dreams and /or re-living symptoms;
3- The desire to avoid the place where a traumatic event is experienced
or to stay away from people who remind of it;
4- Attention disorders, irritability such as overstimulation and sleep
problems.
There are many cırcumstances that lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.
The most important of these are wars and conflicts, natural disasters like
floods, earthquakes, traffic and plane crashes, torture of a person, staying
in the camps of immigrants, or being hostage in the hands of an enemy,
experiences that can be called severe traumatic stress for everyone (Öztürk,
2011). Assisting the injury or the death of a person, having a serious accident,
being involved in a natural disaster or being threathened with weapons are
regarded as the most common trauma that human being are exposed to
(Sareen et al., 2014). Epidemiological studies in the world show that most of
the people in the society have experienced at least one traumatic situation
that can meet the stress level of post-traumatic stress disorder (Keesler,
1995). The National Comorbidity Survey conducted in the United States
also emphasized that 64% of the population had experienced at least one
traumatic event during their lifetime. In another study conducted with 2,181
volunteer participants in the United States, the frequency of experiencing
any trauma during their lives was reported as 89.6% (Breslau et al., 1998).
Although the frequency of experiencing trauma leading to post-traumatic
stress disorder is also very high, sometimes some people are not diagnosed
with the disease. However, in the research, it was found that the rate of post-
traumatic stress disorder was also very high among people who were in a
conflict environment, people who were exposed to sexual assault or similar
traumatic events like natural disasters (Sareen, 2014). In another study
conducted in Europe, it was stated that the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress
disorder by people who experienced trauma was 7.8%.
Depression
When we look at the literature, there are many different definitions
about depression. However, these definitions have something in common.
Depression is known as an emotional disorder that shows symptoms such
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .331

as the individual’s inability to enjoy life, hopelessness, inability to make

decisions, loss of desire and interest, and decrease in self-esteem (Öztürk,
2001).
Depressed mood, also known as depression, is when the individual
feels deeply sad, sometimes parallel to moods such as sadness and
depression. Unusual slowdown in both speech and physiological functions,
being stagnant, as well as feeling mentally worthless and weak. It occurs
after the deterioration of thoughts and emotions, including reluctance and
pessimism in thoughts. It may be due to physical or mental pathologies.
Many other factors are among the triggers of depression (Göğüş, 2007).
The depressed individuals always see the negative side of the events,
and they see themselves as a failure in every task they undertake. At
the same time, they see themselves powerless, useless. They convince
themselves that others think the same way, and their self-confidence drop.
They believe that even when they succeed, it is purely a coincidence. The
depressed persons have low self-esteem and feel guilty about events related
to their past and feel helpless and hopeless about their future. In depressed
individuals, reluctance, loss of interest in the outside world, and inability
to enjoy life are observed. They stay away from interpersonal relations
as much as possible and are distant. They do not communicate with other
people (Köroğlu, 2006).
Prevalence of Depression-PTSD Prevalence in Migrants and
Asylum Seekers
Literature shows that the rate of post-traumatic stress disorder and
depression is high in migrants and asylum seekers, but there are large
differences in the frequencies. In a study conducted by Still et al. (2009),
they reported that the rate of post-traumatic stress disorder varied between
0 and 99% and depression rates varied in the range of 3 and 85%. In another
study conducted with migrants who experienced war trauma, it was found
that the frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder varied between 4.4
and 86% and depression between 2.3 and 80% (Bogic et al., 2015). When
the differences between these studies were examined, it was found that
the diagnostic criteria used in the study were caused by methodological
factors such as sample and width, as well as reasons such as the exposure
of asylum seekers to some torture, their relocation processes, age ranges,
and ethnic group origins (Steel et al., 2009).
In a study conducted using self-rating scales of 534 Bosnian people
staying in refugee camps in Croatia, the incidence of post-traumatic stress
disorder was 26.3% and the rate of depression 39.2% (Mollica et al., 1999).
Ai et al. (2002) in a similar research conducted with the same tecnique
332 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

on Kosovo immigrants found a rate of post-traumatic stress disorder at

60.5%.
Dahl et al. (1998) in another similar study on Bosnian women who
migrated after the war, found a rate of post-traumatic stress disorder at
53.0%.
Acartürk et al. (2018) in a study on 718 individuals in a refugee camp
in Kilis hosting Syrians refugees, the incidence of post-traumatic stress
disorder was 83.4% and the rate of depression was 37.4%. On the other
side, the rate of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression was found
lower in studies conducted with clinical measurement tools.
A short, international neuro-psychiatric interview was conducted with
Yugoslav immigrants who had been living for a long time in the United
Kingdom, Germany, and Italy. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress
disorder in Yugoslav immigrants in this study was 33.1% and the rate of
depression was 15.6% (Bogic et al., 2012).
In 223 Cambodian asylum seekers living in New Zealand, diagnostic
interview with self-rating scales was applied and the post-traumatic stress
disorder was found at 12.1% (Cheung, 1994).
In the United States, a study conducted by using the CIDI interview
to Cambodian asylum seekers living there for 20-22 years found that the
incidence of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder was 51.8%
and 62.0%, respectively. It was stated that the rates of depression and
post-traumatic stress disorder were very high and that the refugee group
participating in the study was exposed to serious trauma (Marshall et al.,
2005).
In two different studies conducted with Syrian refugees in Lebanon,
the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder was 27.2%, and the rate of
depression was 43.9% (Kazour et al., 2017).
In a study using DIS conducted by Alpak et al. (2015) with 304 Syrian
migrants living in tents in Gaziantep, the rate of post-traumatic stress
disorder was 33.5%.
Depression of Immigrants and Asylum Seekers and Factors
Determining PTSD
The factors that determine post-traumatic stress disorder and
depression in immigrants are mainly classified in four sub-areas (Bogic
et al., 2015).
1- Socio-demographic factors
2- Having a mental problem before migration
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .333

3- Factors Related to War (Pre-Migration Factors)

4- Post-migration factors
Socio-Demographic Factors
When gender, age and education status of migrants and asylum seekers
are considered, they are among the demographic factors mostly associated
with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Nearly all studies on
asylum seekers and immigrants have found an association between age
and post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Alpak et al. (2015), in
a study on Syrians hosted in a camp in Gaziantep, also found a strong
correlation between PTSD and occupation, gender and other mental
illnesses, but little correlation with age and education level. In some of the
related researches, children and adolescents emerged as a high-risk group
(Fazel et al., 2005).
A significant part of the literature, noticed that the elderly group is in
the highest risk group (Bogic et al., 2012). As an example, a study conducted
by Eytan at al. (2004) with Kosovo immigrants found that the lowest rate
of post-traumatic stress disorder was 12.6% in the 16 to 24-year-old group,
and the highest rate was 44.4% in the over 65 years old group. It is known
that the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and depression
in the elderly is higher and they are more exposed to wars and, as well as
having more financial problems and cultural and language problems in the
country they migrate to (Perera et al., 2013). Factors such as inability to
find a job, financial hardships and lack of a safe house significantly affect
the psychological health of resettled refugees. Lack of work permits or
under-employment, poor professional and linguistic skills, discrimination
create barriers to many refugees looking for a job (Li SS et al., 2016).
Gender
Although most of the research with immigrants is at the forefront as
a risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression for women
(Alpak et al., 2015), there are also studies that give the opposite results
(Tay et al., 2015).
In some research, it was noticed that there was no relationship between
gender factor and post-traumatic stress disorder or depression (Kazour et
al., 2017). There are also studies in which women are in the risk group for
post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. These two pathologies may
be higher in women, as result of rape, the loss of spouses or children, as
well as the risks of widowhood or abandonment, and being a single parent
(Ai et al., 2002).
334 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

Education Level
As with other socio-demographic factors, the relationship between the
education level of migrants or asylum seekers and post-traumatic stress
disorder and depression is not very clear according to the literature. Studies
in which a low degree of education is correlated to post-traumatic stress
disorder or depression are found in the literature (Bogic et al., 2012). There
are also other studies that show no relationship (Alpak et al., 2015). When
a low level of education is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder
and depression, migrants and asylum seekers have more difficulty to learn
the language in their new country, (Delic-Ovenia et al., 2010).
Having a Mental Problem Before Migration
One of the most important elements determining post-traumatic stress
disorder and depression in migrants and asylum seekers is whether they
have any mental problems themselves or in their family. If they have a
history of illness, this will affect them negatively (Alpak et al., 2015).
5.3 Pre-Migration Factors (Factors Related to War)
War-related traumas before migration have been found to be important
factors in depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Bogic et al., 2015).
In a study on Vietnamese immigrants, Mollica et al. (1998) found
that 90% of those who experienced an average of twelve traumatic events
had PTSD and 49% had depression. On the other side, 79% of those who
experienced an average of 2.6 traumatic events, used as a control group,
had a rate of 15% with PTSD and depression.
In another similar study on 993 Cambodian immigrants, Mollica et al.
(1998) found a significant correlation between the number of traumas and
variables in depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Beiser (2006) found that asylum seekers staying in a refugee camp
were associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
The relationship between the torture experienced by migrants and
post-traumatic stress disorder and depression has been proven in many
similar studies (Basoglu et al., 2005).
Post-Migration Factors
After migration, asylum seekers are now in safer places, but they face
new challenges. Asylum seekers also have concerns about many issues,
such as the cultural barriers, legal rights and legal status in the new the
country; at the same time, problems such as finding a job, meeting their
physiological needs, meeting their security needs are also important stress
factors (Craig and Jajua, 2006). Unemployment, low salary, poverty, not
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .335

knowing the native language of the country they are in, insufficient social
support, not being married, and the period of time spent as an immigrant
are the most discussed factors in the field of post-traumatic stress disorder
and depression. These factors can be grouped under four main categories
(Kaya, 2019):
1- Socio-demographic factors (such as poverty and housing
problems);
2- Inability to use language/Lack of speaking skills;
3- Immigration process and immigration policies;
4- Interpersonal communication and social factors.
Language Skills
In a survey of immigrants in the United States, 77% of immigrants
stated that the stress that affected them the most in their first year in the
United States was not being able to speak English proficiently (Blair, 2000).
Similarly, many studies have found that the lack of language proficiency
is an important stress factor for immigrants and that this is also associated
with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Bhugra, 2004).
Steel et al. (2002) conducted a large sample of 1,413 Vietnamese
immigrants using the CIDI interview and found a significant relationship
between poor English language skills and psychological problems.
Asylum Process and Immigration Policies
With an increasing affluence of refugees in many countries, more
restrictive policies are enforced. These include: increasing mandatory
detention periods, prolonging the asylum process, and issuance of
temporary visa applications instead of permanent ones. Refugees therefore
face greater uncertainty and more complex legal processes (Li et al., 2016).
In a study conducted in Australia, Silo et al. (1998) stated that the
process of admission to the country is an important stress factor for
immigrants. In another study conducted with Iraqi asylum seekers in the
Netherlands, it was stated that the long duration of immigration was also
related to psychiatric disorders (Laban et al., 2004).
Interpersonal Communication and Social Factors
Refugees who migrated from wars and conflicts are in foreign
environments. They have to cope with physical and cultural difficulties.
Lack of family unity, leaving their loved ones, friends and relatives behind,
social withdrawal, loneliness, facing discrimination, and lack of social ties
are among the major problems that immigrants have to deal with (Li et al.,
2016).
336 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

In the studies conducted with immigrants, it was found that factors like
lack of social support, discrimination against immigrants, being away from their
families, loneliness, not being married were the most important post-migration
factors for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression (Perrin et al., 2014).
Research on Immigrants and Asylum Seekers
In a study conducted with asylum seekers, after standardizing according
to age, it was found that immigrants may be ten times more likely to show
PTSD symptoms than in the local population (Fazel et al., 2005).
An epidiomological study conducted in Norway found pathologies of
depression and anxiety as well as physiological signs of somatization in
asylum seekers. It is stated that these complaints are common (Dalgard et
al., 2006). In a similar Finnish study, it was again found that the incidence
of depressed mood and sleep problems was one and a half times to twice
higher in asylum seekers than in the local community (Molsa et al., 2014). In
these cases, migrants seriously need to benefit from mental health services;
however, it has been observed that language and cultural barriers, as well
as lack of institutions providing such services, represent an impediment
for the improvement in refugees’ conditions. For this reason, it is stated
that special studies should be carried out and medical structures should
become a priority (WHO, 2015).
In a study conducted in China, social inequality, poor living conditions,
and discrimination caused by forced migration were identified as factors
increasing the risk of depression and suicidal behavior (Jing et al., 2015).
In China’s Wuhan province, people living in the countryside and people
living in urban areas migrated to urban settlements, and it was found that
women had more stress than men. In another case, it was also seen that men
left their wives in rural areas and migrated to other cities alone. In this case,
the stress factor on the women increases and the tolerance level is low. Male
immigrants work overtime and work with low salaries in jobs that people
are less interested in, such as transporting chemical and sewage wastes
and transporting corpses. In these conditions, individuals feel that they are
discriminated, and this leads to depression (Guo et al., 2016).
Babaoğlu (2013), in studying the psychological problems of Turkish
immigrant women in Germany, reported that immigrant women who have
been in the country for more than 10 years carry a risk depression and
psychosomatic disorders.
Rieceken (2001), in his clinical study on immigrants in Germany,
shows that factors such as loneliness, inadequacy of the support systems,
heavy working conditions, and low wages generate depressive conditions
among immigrants.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .337

Queue Year Researcher Research Name Result

1 2001 Riecken, A Psychiatric disorders in the The level and duration of
process of migration and depressive symptoms of migrants
integration. may vary depending on factors
like loneliness, insufficient support
systems, heavy working conditions,
lower wages, and feeling
discriminated.
2 2005 Fazel M The prevalence of serious Immigrants are 10 times more
et al. mental disorders in 7,000 likely to show PTSD symptoms
refugees resettled in Western than the local population.
countries.
3 2006 Dalgard OS Migration, lack of control In addition to pathologies
et al. and psychological distress: of depression and anxiety,
findings from the Oslo Health physiological symptoms of
Study. somatization were also found in
asylum seekers.
4 2013 Babaoğlu Problem Areas of Migrant Prolonged immigrant status
Turkish Women Living in increases risk of depression and
a Settlement in Germany psychosomatic disorders. The
Determined by Qualitative study focused on Turkish women
Method. International Journal immigrated into Germany for more
of Human Sciences than ten years.
5 2014 Molsa M Mental and somatic health The rate of depressed mood and
et al. among the elderly, and factors sleep problems in asylum seekers is
before and after migration. one and a half and twice as high as
in the local community.
6 2015 Jing Dai Chinese, internal migration, Social inequality, poor living
et al. mental health and suicidal conditions, and discrimination
behaviour among young caused by forced migration are
people in rural China identified as factors increasing
the risk of depression and suicidal
behavior.
7 2016 Guo Y ve The Relationship Between Asylum seekers feel discriminated
ark. Spouse/Child Separation and and suffer depression.
Migration-Related Stress in
a Rural to Urban Sample in
Wuhan, China

Conclusions
The migration process is multidimensional and has become an
important phenomenon in psychology and psychiatry and has also been
supported by national and international studies and multidisciplinary
research. It is known that there are irregular dynamics in communities
where there are already immigrants and asylum seekers. It is seen that
the immigrants migrate to the nearest country or region voluntarily
or compulsorily due to the violence-based events such as war/conflict,
which can change at any time, and the problems related to the level of
security and peace of the societies they belong to. Today, the importance
of psychosocial support professionals such as psychologists, psychiatrists
and social workers working with immigrants has increased considerably
due to the fact that migration is perceived as a significant crisis experience
338 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

and the negative effects of this process on mental health are perceived as a
devastating human experience (Öztürk et al., 2019).
Accordingly, various awareness-raising activities should be
carried out in cooperation with public institutions, non-governmental
organizations and universities on the psychological support immigrants
need. Psychological support services for refugees and asylum seekers
should be expanded. Psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and academics
who are interested in immigration are mainly responsible for immigrants
who are forced to act against their will. It is known that this group is
one of the most exposed and risky groups in terms of diagnoses such as
dissociative disorders, somatic disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and
post-traumatic stress disorder (Bhugra et al., 2014).
In addition, the employment of Syrian health personnel initiated by
the Turkish Ministry of Health, within the framework of SIHHAT, should
be expanded and continued. In Turkey, there is a need for activities that
will increase the health literacy of asylum seekers in all fields, particularly
in the promotion and development of health. Asylum seekers who need
general and mental health services should be better guided. These trainings
can be made through various public services, as well as using printed
material prepared in Arabic such as brochures, posters, etc. that can be
displayed in migrant health centers.
Intervention methods to be adopted by countries are important to treat
the traumas of immigrants and asylum seekers resulting from migration,
as well as facilitating their adaptation to the society and culture that opens
their doors to them (Derin, 2020). Awareness-raising activities can be done
with public announcements on mental health both on television and radio
channels followed by refugees and asylum seekers. In addition, similar
messages can be sent to mobile phones. Awareness-raising activities
should explain what these psychological problems are and how to deal
with them. Policies and strategies followed by many States regarding
immigrants are planned and implemented on the basis of ensuring the
integration of the asylum seeker and immigrant group with the society as
soon as possible and providing them with psychological assistance under
appropriate structures (Derin, 2020). Immigrant Health Centers (GSM)
and Strengthened Migrant Health Centers (GGSM) can be used effectively
to reach refugees and asylum seekers who also need psychological health
services as primary and secondary health care services. Psychological
and social support services for refugees and asylum seekers should be
strengthened by employing psychologists and social workers in the care
centers. On the other hand, when the society accepts the immigration
policies, the immigrants and asylum seekers will be a part of that society
and, eventually, a more understanding social structure will be formed.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .339

REFERENCES

Acartürk C. The Effect of Migration on Mental Health. The Journal of Akademic

Social Science 2016; Number:25 p.137-150
Acartürk C, Cetinkaya M, Senay I, Gulen B, Aker T, Hinton D. Prevalence and
Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress and Depression Symptoms Among Syri-
an Refugees in a Refugee Camp. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2018;206(1):40-5.
Ai AL, Peterson C, Ubelhor D. War-related trauma and symptoms of posttrau-
matic stress disorder among adult Kosovar refugees. J Trauma Stress.
2002;15(2):157-60.
Alpak G, Unal A, Bulbul F, Sagaltici E, Bez Y, Altindag A, et al. Post-traumatic
stress disorder among Syrian refugees in Turkey: a cross-sectional study.
Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract. 2015;19(1):45-50.
AKINCI, B., Nergiz, A., & Gedik, E. (2015). An assessment of the integration
process: Migration and social acceptance.  Journal of Migration Studies,
(2), 58-83.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders. 4th ed., text rev. ed. Washington, DC2000.
American Psychological Association (APA). Diagnostic and statistical manual of
mental disorders (Revised). 5.th ed2013.
Aykut, N. (2019). Investigation of the relationship between life satisfaction and
depression in Syrian children who work and continue their education (Do-
ctoral dissertation, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Institute of Health
Sciences).
Babaoğlu Akdeniz E. Problem Areas of Migrant Turkish Women Living in a Sett-
lement in Germany Determined by Qualitative Method. International Jour-
nal of Human Sciences 2013; 10(2)503-520.
Basoglu M, Livanou M, Crnobaric C, Franciskovic T, Suljic E, Duric D, et al.
Psychiatric and cognitive effects of war in former yugoslavia: associati-
on of lack of redress for trauma and posttraumatic stress reactions. Jama.
2005;294(5):580- 90.
Head Tailor, A. D. (2017). Mental health of refugee, asylum seeker and migrant
women. Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 9(4), 379-387
Bartram, D. (2015). Inverting the logic of economic migration: happiness among
migrants moving from Wealthier to poorer countries in Europe. Journal
of Happiness Studies, 16(5): 1211-1230. doi: 10.1007/s10902-014-9554-z
Beiser M. Longitudinal research to promote effective refugee resettlement. Trans-
cult Psychiatry. 2006;43(1):56-71.
Blair RG. Risk factors associated with PTSD and major depression among Cam-
bodian refugees in Utah. Health Soc Work. 2000;25(1):23-30.
340 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

Bogic M, Ajdukovic D, Bremner S, Franciskovic T, Galeazzi GM, Kucukalic A,

et al. Factors associated with mental disorders in long-settled war refugees:
refugees from the former Yugoslavia in Germany, Italy and the UK. Br J
Psychiatry. 2012;200(3):216-23.
Bogic M, Njoku A, Priebe S (2015) Long-term mental health of war-refugees: a
systematic literature review. BMC Int Health Hum Rights, 28;15:29
BreslauN,KesslerRC,ChilcoatHD,SchultzLR,DavisGC,AndreskiP.Trauma and
posttraumatic stress disorder in the community: the 1996 Detroit Area Sur-
vey of Trauma. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1998;55(7):626-32.
Bhugra D, Gupta S, Bhui K, Craig T, Dogra N, Ingleby JD et al. (2011) WPA
guidance on mental health and mental health care in migrants. World Psy-
chiatry, 10:2-10.
Bhugra, D., Gupta, S., Schouler-Ocak, M., Graeff-Calliess, I., Deakin, N. A., Qu-
reshi, A., ... & Till, A. (2014). EPA guidance mental health care of mig-
rants. European Psychiatry, 29(2), 107- 115.
Bhugra D. Migration and mental health. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2004;109(4):243-
58.
Cengiz, vd. ‘’ The Relationship Between Psychological Resilience and Life Sa-
tisfaction in COPD Patients’’. Journal of Psychiatric Nursing. C. 10, S. 2
(2019): 111-116.
Cheung P. Posttraumatic stress disorder among Cambodian refugees in New Zea-
land. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 1994;40(1):17-26.
Craig T, Jajua P, Warfa N. Mental healthcare needs of refugees. Psychiatry.
2006;5(11):405-8.
Crowell, Judith. ‘’Secure base behavior in adulthood: measurement, links to adult
attachment representations, and relations to couples’ communication skills
and self-reports’’. Developmental Psychology. C. 38, (2002): 679-693.
Dalgard OS, Thapa SB, Hauff E, McCubbin M, Syed HR. Immigration, lack of
control and psychological distress: findings from the Oslo Health Study.
Scand J Psychol. 2006;47(6):551-8.
Dahl S, Mutapcic A, Schei B. Traumatic events and predictive factors for postt-
raumatic symptoms in displaced Bosnian women in a war zone. J Trauma
Stress. 1998;11(1):137-45.
Delic-Ovcina L. The case of adult Bosnian Muslim male refugees in Chicago:
Current health behavior outcomes and PTSD symptomatology [PhD the-
sis]. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; 2010.
Derin, G. (2020). Trauma and migration: A review. Artuklu Journal of Man and
Social Science, 5(2), 46-55.
Fazel M, Wheeler J, Danesh J. Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000
refugees resettled in western countries: a systematic review. The Lancet.
2005;365(9467):1309-14.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .341

Gogus AK. Clinical Symptoms of Depression. Mood Sequence, 1, 2000: 33- 39.
Guo Y, Chen X, Gong J, Li F, Zhu C, Yan Y,et al. Association between Spou-
se/Child Separation and Migration-Related Stress among a Random
Sample of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in Wuhan, China. PLoS ONE 2016;
11(4):e0154252.doi:10.1371.
Hazan, Cindy ve Shaver, Phillip. ‘’Love and work: An attachment-theoretical
perspective’’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. C. 59, S. 2
(1990): 270-280.
Jing Dai, Bao-Liang Zhong, Yu-Tao Xiang, Helen F. K. Chiu, Sandra S. M. Chan,
Xin Yu, Eric D. Cain. Internal migration, mental health and suicidal beha-
viors in young rural Chinese ,China. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
2015; 50:621–631.
JonesE.Historicalapproachestopost-combatdisorders. PhilosTransRSocLond B
Biol Sci. 2006;361(1468):533-42.
Karadağ Ö, Altıntaş H. Refugees and Health. TAF Prev Med Bull. 2010;9(1):55-
62.
Karatastan, D. (2021). The effects of attachment patterns on post-traumatic growth
and psychological resilience in Syrian refugees (Master’s thesis, Istanbul
Sabahattin Zaim University).
Kaya, E. (2019). Determination of Some Mental Problems and Mental Health Ser-
vice Requirements of Syrian Asylum Seekers and the Opinions of Service
Providers and Managers.
KazourF, ZahreddineNR, MaragelMG, AlmustafaMA, SoufiaM, HaddadR, et al.
Post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Compr Psychiatry. 2017; 72:41-7.
Kessler RC, Sonnega A, Bromet E, Hughes M, Nelson CB. Posttraumatic stress
disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry.
1995;52(12):1048-60.
Kirmayer LJ, Narasiah L, Munoz M, ve ark. (2011) Common Mental Health Prob-
lems in Immigrants and Refugees: General Approach in Primary Care.
CMAJ, 183(12): 959-966.
Köroğlu E. What is depression? How to Deal with It?, Ankara, Hekimlar Yayiný
Birliği, 2006.
Laban CJ, Gernaat HB, Komproe IH, Schreuders BA, De Jong JT. Impact of a
long asylum procedure on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Iraqi
asylum seekers in The Netherlands. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2004;192(12):843-
51.
Lee YM, Shin OJ, Lim MH (2012) The Psychological Problems of North Korean
Adolescent Refugees Living in South Korea. Psychiatr Invest, 9: 217-222.
Li SS, Liddell BJ, Nickerson A. The Relationship Between Post-Migration Stress
and Psychological Disorders in Refugees and Asylum Seekers. Curr Psyc-
342 . Candan Ozkan, Selami Varol Ulker

hiatry Rep. 2016;18(9):82.

Lomo ZA. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967
Protocol: A Commentary. J Refug Stud. 2012;25(4):589-90.
Patricio V. Marquez. Mental Health Among Displaced People and Refugees : Ma-
king the Case for Action at the World Bank Group. Washington, DC: World
Bank; 2016 19.12.2016.
Perera S, Gavian M, Frazier P, Johnson D, Spring M, Westermeyer J, et al. A
longitudinal study of demographic factors associated with stressors and
symptoms in African refugees. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2013;83(4):472-82.
Perrin M, Vandeleur CL, Castelao E, Rothen S, Glaus J, Vollenweider P, et al. De-
terminants of the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, in the ge-
neral population. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2014;49(3):447-57.
Riecken, A. (2001). Psychiatric disorders in the migration and integration process.
Editor: Marschalck, P., Wiedl, K.H. Aussiedler in Niedersächsischen Kran-
kenhaus. Universität Verlag, Osnabrück.
Marshall GN, Schell TL, Elliott MN, Berthold SM, Chun CA. Mental health of
Cambodian refugees 2 decades after resettlement in the United States.
Jama. 2005;294(5):571-9.
Mollica RF, McInnes K, Poole C, Tor S. Dose-effect relationships of trauma to
symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among Cambo-
dian survivors of mass violence. Br J Psychiatry. 1998;173:482-8.
Mollica RF, McInnes K, Pham T, Smith Fawzi MC, Murphy E, Lin L. The dose-
effect relationships between torture and psychiatric symptoms in Vietna-
mese ex- political detainees and a comparison group. J Nerv Ment Dis.
1998;186(9):543- 53.
Mollica RF, McInnes K, Sarajlic N, Lavelle J, Sarajlic I, Massagli MP. Disability
associated with psychiatric comorbidity and health status in Bosnian refu-
gees living in Croatia. Jama. 1999;282(5):433-9.
Molsa M, Punamaki RL, Saarni SI, Tiilikainen M, Kuittinen S, Honkasalo ML.
Mental and somatic health and pre- and post-migration factors among older
Somali refugees in Finland. Transcult Psychiatry. 2014;51(4):499-525.
Murray CJL, Lopez AD. Global mortality, disability, and the contribution of risk
factors: Global burden of disease study, Lancet, 1997, 349: 1436- 1442.
Nicholl C. Thompson A (2004) The Psychological Treatment of Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Adult Refugees: A Review of Current State of
Psychological Therapies. J Ment Health,13(4): 351-362.
Norredam M (2015) Migration and health: exploring the role of migrant status
through register-based studies. Dan Med J, 62:B5068.
Öztürk MO, Uluşahin A. Mental health and disorders. Ankara: Nobel Medical
Books; 2011.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .343

Öztürk MO. Mental Health and Disorders, Ankara, Nobel Medical Bookstores,
2001.
Öztürk, E., Erdoğan, B., & Çalıcı, C. (2019). Migrants and Mental Health Mig-
rants and the Migration Process: A Psychotraumatological Assessment.
Immigrant Inclusiveness in Turkey: Proposals for a Transformation from
Problem to Opportunity (Ed. H. Sakız - H. Apak). Ankara: Pegem Aca-
demy. pp. 213-226.
SareenJ.Posttraumaticstressdisorderinadults: impact, comorbidity, riskfactors, and
treatment. Can J Psychiatry. 2014;59(9):460-7.
Silove D, Steel Z, McGorry P, Mohan P. Trauma exposure, postmigration stres-
sors, and symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress in Ta-
mil asylum-seekers: comparison with refugees and immigrants. Acta Psyc-
hiatr Scand. 1998;97(3):175-81.
Steel Z, Silove D, Phan T, Bauman A. Long-term effect of psychological trauma
on the mental health of Vietnamese refugees resettled in Australia: a popu-
lation- based study. Lancet. 2002;360(9339):1056-62.
Tay AK, Rees S, Chan J, Kareth M, Silove D. Examining the broader psychosoci-
al effects of mass conflict on PTSD symptoms and functional impairment
amongst West Papuan refugees resettled in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Soc
Sci Med. 2015; 132:70-8.
Teodorescu DS, Heir T, Hauff E, ve ark. (2012) Mental Health Problems and Post-
Migration Stress among Multi-Traumatized Refugees Attending Outpa-
tient Clinics upon Resettlement to Norway. Scand J Psychol, 53: 316-322.
World Health Organization-WHO. Regional Situation Report, WHO response to
the Syrian crisis [Internet]. 2015 [Erişim Tarihi 25 Kasım 2017]. Erişim
adresi: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/45333
 CHAPTER 17
THE EFFECT OF THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC ON THE BANKING
SECTOR

Zikrullah ZALAND1
Hatice İMAMOĞLU2

1  PhD candidate, Department of Business Administration, Faculty

of Economics, Administrative, and Social Sciences, Cyprus Science
University, Dr Fazıl Küçük Caddesi, Ozanköy, 99320, Kyrenia / TRNC
Mersin 10 – Turkey, Orcid No: 0000-0001-9544-5341, e-mail: zaland15@
mail.ru
2  Associate Professor Doctor, Department of Banking and Finance,
Faculty of Economics, Administrative, and Social Sciences, Cyprus
Science University, Dr Fazıl Küçük Caddesi, Ozanköy, 99320, Kyrenia
/ TRNC Mersin 10 – Turkey, Orcid No: 0000-0002-3299-499, e-mail:
[email protected]
346 . Kemal Özdemir

INTRODUCTION
This paper provides some basic historical information about the
banking sector and its evolution through time. It also investigates the
effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the banking sector. For the first
time, bank-established empires demanded a means to pay for foreign
products and services with a currency that was easily traded, and this is
when banking first developed. Over time, fragile, impermanent paper
bills gave way to coins of various shapes and materials. Roman Empire’s
banking industry; in this empire, skillful founders and managers arranged
banking inside of separate structures and separated it from such temples.
Like loan companies today, moneylenders benefited during that time;
however, the majority of legitimate traders for all of those government
expenditures used an established bank. And finally, European monarchs
understood the significance of the banking sector. Because banks operated
on the kindness, purpose, and specific laws and agreements of the ruling
authority, the royal powers started to accept loans, frequently under the
king’s circumstances, to make up for bad periods at the royal treasury. This
easy funding encouraged kings to invest in unnecessary extravagances,
expensive wars, and arms races with nearby kingdoms, which frequently
resulted in crushing debt. However, Adam Smith explained his inaccessible
hand theories and models when he created the first free-market bank in the
Empire of British in 1776. The government’s involvement in the banking
industry and the economy at huge was confined by money - lenders and
bankers due to their belief in a self-regulating economy. This competitive
banking and free-market capitalism found lucrative regions around the
world, where America would grow. So after that, merchant banks gain
power, and the national banking system handled the majority of these banks’
economic activities. Following that, in the 1800s, J.P. Morgan rescued the
banking sector, which was associated with the global financial center and
had significant political power in America. Through the revolutionary
use of trysts and a disregard for the Sherman antitrust act, he established
American Steel, AT&T, and International Harvester, along with duopolies
and approaches in the train and shipping sectors. During the Second
World War, the banking sector became modern, which saved the banking
sector from destruction. The war demanded financial strategies requiring
billions of dollars for banks and the Federal. This huge financing process
produced firms with huge credit demands, prompting banks to combine
to satisfy the demand. These massive banks had a global market. Despite
this, the banking industry during the 1980s, particularly the 1990s, when
the internet first appeared, was the most significant development time for
the banking industry’s digitalization system. The growing popularity of
smartphones and phone banking speeded up the trend still further. While
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .347

many customers continue to do some of their banking at different places,

based on a J.D. Electric survey taken in 2021, 41% had also moved online.
As the definition of banking is a financial organization that works
with money. Banks take investments and make loans, earning a profit from
the different activities as well as the interest rates paid and charged. The
existence of banks is explained in five theories; the main theories explained
the existence of banks and which is relating the most important role of
banks as “monitors” of borrow, giving borrow to customers who have risk,
and also the bank expertise and efficiency in interpreting data on borrowers’
risks. The second theory is information production it assists the customers
to find the right information on production costs and banks benefit from
the finance of scale and other capabilities in analyzing data about deficit
components. The third theory is liquidity transformation. A crucial function
of many financial facilitators is the production of liquid claims supported
by illiquid assets. The fourth theory is smoothing consumption which is the
method of setting an equilibrium between spending for present necessities
and saving for the future. The goal is to achieve equilibrium among
spending and conserving at different steps of life. Obtaining this balance
is a significant money-planning task for anyone. Finally, the fifth theory
(commitment mechanisms) explains to clarifying how illiquid financial
resources (loans) are funded by demand deposits, which enable clients to
come and require liquidation of those liquid funds.
TYPES OF BANKS
In the 21st century, different types of banking are working in
miscellaneous types of activities. Traditional banking, modern banking,
private or banking accounts (commercial banks, savings banks, cooperative
banks, smaller banks, local banks, and financial services companies),
private banking, investment banking, universal banking, and specialist
banking. Here gives some information regarding traditional versus modern
banking, Over the last 30 years or so, the banking industry has seen a
major shift as banks transition from limited services and activities to full-
service banking. The main activities of traditional banks taking deposits
and lending, which provided a significant percentage of their revenue. The
major factors of bank revenue were net interest margins (the differential
between the interest profit from loaning and interest costs on deposits).
To increase revenues in that situation, the bank attempted to maximize
interest margins while controlling activity costs, staff costs, and other
costs. However, the bank focused strategically on lending and deposit
collection as its primary goals. Several banking industries were highly
restricted, and competition was limited until the 1990s. Until 1986,
banks inside the United Kingdom were banned from performing various
securities and investment banking operations, but later reforms allowed the
348 . Kemal Özdemir

banking industry to acquire stockbroking firms. Till 1992, through Spain

and Italy, there were branching regulations, and the types of business that
banks could engage in were constrained. The second Banking Directive of
the European Union, implemented in 1992, created an official meaning of
what constituted the banking industry throughout the EU, leading to what
became the model of universal banking. The financial industry is generally
defined in the universal banking model as including all aspects of financial
service activity, such as securities, operational processes, insurance,
pensions, leasing, and so on. This intended that beginning in 1992, banks
all through Europe could participate in a huge variety of financial services
activities.
TRADITIONAL BANKS
Traditional banking was founded on the concept of capital creation.
Traditional banks and other financial institutions usually rely on clients
depositing money into banking institutions and then lending such money to
other clients in the form of mortgages and loan agreements. Borrowers pay
interest as well as fees on the funds they borrow, which also creates revenue
and capital for the such bank. The whole process of the traditional bank
such as products and services which is loan and deposits and the income
saucers of the traditional bank are net interest income, the competitive
environment of the traditional bank is restricted, and the strategic focus
is wealth size and growth and that clients emphasis of traditional banks is
supply led.
Traditional Banking
The services and products: which are limited in the traditional bank

 Loans.
 Deposits
The income sources of traditional banks:
 Net Interest income
The competitive environment of traditional banks
 Restricted
The strategic focus of traditional banks:
 Assets size and growth
Source: Introduction to banking by Casu, et al., (2006).

MODERN BANKS
The modern bank; is a modern banking institution, as well referred
to as an electronic banking structure, and is a windows-accessible, full-
featured level on-premise business offering fundamental data processing
approaches, item seize, imaging solutions, and information management
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .349

systems. All of these programs are essential components of the overall

solution. The modern bank included different activities which are; the
products and services of financial services offered by modern banks include
loans, pensions, insurance, securities/investment banking, deposits, and
other financial products Net-interest revenue as well as fee and commission
revenue are the sources of funding for modern banks. Despite the intense
competition, modern banks place a planned emphasis on shareholder
returns and value creation (creating a ROE that is greater than the cost of
capital).

Modern Banking
The services and products: which is universal in modern bank
the following: loans, deposits, banking investments, securities, retirement benefits, and
insurance
The income bases of modern bank

Revenues, net interest, and commission profit and fee

The competitive environment of modern banks:
There is strong competition.
The strategic focus of modern bank:

The formation of value for shareholders and shareholders

The customer focus of modern banks:

Demand and customer value creation

Source: Introduction to banking by Casu, et al., (2006).

LITERATURE REVIEW
The reason for conducting this investigation is to contribute to the
effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the banking industry
by finding banking industry strategies employed throughout health
crises, to demonstrate in the preview research paper as literature the
different kinds of carrying out the study, services, and operations that
have been accomplished in the banking industry during the Coronavirus
crisis. In terms of 2008 and the 1930s, the banking industry was at the
center of the crisis, but each crisis is unique, and this crisis is associated
with health problems (Theo Notteboom, et al. 2021). Banks were viewed
as a contributing factor in the run-up to the crisis, but instead, they are
regarded as part of the solution. The condition of the coronavirus crisis
improves the financial sector’s significance, and the strategies adopted
by banks have an impact on the entire economy. The coronavirus has
altered the worldwide economy and had a major effect on the majority
350 . Kemal Özdemir

of businesses. The banking industry is playing an important role in

the pandemic crisis because it is an essential element from a financial
standpoint. In recent years, the banking system has continuously
adapted—it has indeed been recreated to maintain up with customer
perceptions and the need for cost savings. The COVID-19 pandemic has
speeded up the integration in the banking industry, even though the need
for creativity and digital approaches was essential in banking even before
the pandemic began. This paper also presents an opinion based on a
narrative literature review and an overview of the most critical parts that
redesign the banking system in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic is a new experience for the world,
the literature on the pandemic as well as its implications for the banking
system is still working to develop.
Positive relationship
Hamzeh et al (2021) examined the consequences of COVID-19 on
the banking industry of Saudi Arabia which used the Artificial Neural
Network model. Empirical findings from regression analysis indicate that
oil prices and new cases of Covid-19 had a significant positive effect on
the banking industry. However, a decrease in interest rates had to find
a negative significant effect on the banking industry. Muhammad, et al.
(2022) studied the effect of Coronavirus and support to the banking sector
of Indonesia on Islamic bank revenues. The findings of this research paper
demonstrate, using the ARDL method, that Coronavirus has a negative
long-term association with the profitability of Islamic banks. Although,
in short term, transportation, warehousing, communication, and financing
have positive correlations, which explain the higher profitability, Islamic
Banks are expected to make the appropriate investments in financing
business industries accordingly to maintain their revenues.
Mateev, et al. (2021) researched capital growth, competition, and
developing markets in Coronavirus, with implications for the security of
the banking sector. Both the exploratory and the confirmatory frameworks
were used in the research paper. The study’s results indicate that the
two activities Arab Spring and COVID-19—share some resemblances.
Furthermore, three key factors are recognized: the trust gap, fiscal and
monetary policy, and inherited economic features. The authors suggest that
the banking strategy be changed and significantly structured. Concerning
financial stability, the study on COVID-19’s impacts is limited and
contradictory results. The research paper finds out the effect of Coronavirus
on economic services  improves effectiveness in assisting economically
struggling organizations (large, small, and middle) and households in the
Emirate. The scholars looked at the efficacy of the respite promotion issued
by the National Bank of the Emirate in their analysis and decided that the
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .351

respite promotion would affect the losses experienced by various kinds of

businesses, industries, and households during the time of coronavirus.
Emon, et al. (2022) in this research paper examined the instability of the
American stock market and commercial policy during Coronavirus, which
used the step-by-step regression and vector autoregression approaches. The
finding of this paper shows that markets experience negative cumulative
abnormal returns in answer to the publication of new records of death,
while they experience positive average cumulative returns in response to
the announcement of the banking bailout. The reported number of deaths
and cases of stock index volatility has a negative and significant effect.
It implies that the American equity markets are extremely vulnerable to
COVID-19. economic policy uncertainty greatly reduces volatility in
the US stock market, and instability is cointegrated and proceeds in a
unidirectional manner. The existence of a long-term connection between
the variables is taken into consideration in this research, which suggests
the United States stock market is much more vulnerable to COVID-19
than the world as a whole. Xingjian et al., (2021) investigated the impact
of profit diversification on banking profit and risk, during the COVID-19
pandemic. This study discovered that non-interest profit bases are positive
performances but negatively associated with risk. The study’s outcomes
support a positive diversity effect from banks extending further than
traditional loan revenue sources during the coronavirus. 
Negative relationship
Since the beginning of 2020, a significant number of businesses
worldwide have been impacted by the economic impact of the coronavirus
pandemic (COVID-19). Despite exceptional government actions,
COVID-19 caused the world’s largest economic harm in many years.
According to the 2020 World Bank report (Blake, et al. 2020), Covid-19
has caused a worldwide economic downturn and has pushed 88 million
people into extreme poverty. So according to Bartik et al. (2020), 43
percent of the total small businesses in America have stopped temporarily,
and employment has fallen through 40%. Correspondingly, the coronavirus
has had a serious impact on Businesses in Europe. McKinsey (2020)
and Dimson et al. (2020)  demonstrated that European Businesses have
reported experiencing an unplanned and remarkable drop in profits and
purchases. Nearly all European Businesses (90%) record a decrease in
profit, and 55 percent of respondents have stated they might shut down by
September 2021. Cusmano and Raes (2020) stated a loss of Business profit
and purchases in Japan, Korea, as well as other Asian countries in a revised
OECD report (2020).
352 . Kemal Özdemir

Stiroh (2004) determined that this study has positive effects on

expanding away from activities that consistently generate fee income,
transaction income, and other types of non-interest income in the US
financial sector. evaluated. Net operating income is generally quite volatile
and becomes more and more closely related to net interest income, so a
reduction in the volatility of that income reflects a reduction in volatility.
A greater reliance on non-interest income, especially trading income, is
associated with lower risk-adjusted profits and increased risk at the bank
level. This suggests that there are not many obvious diversification benefits
in the continued shift to interest-free income. Stiroh (2006) examines
the effects of higher non-interest profit on stock market risk and return
estimates for US bank corporative using a portfolio framework. As shown
by his findings, banks that rely on non-interest lines of business make
lower average equity returns and are unstable.
DeYoung, et al. (2013) studied the relationship between non-traditional
bank operations and bank breakdowns at the time of the economic crisis.
They discover that not the whole non-interest bases of profit have a similar
effect on failure probability. Rather, it is discovered that events for instance,
insurance sales, and financial services reduced the possibility of failure, While
the likelihood of failure increased with venture funding, asset bank guarantees,
and investment banking. They also discovered that banks that took more risks
in nontraditional activities also took more risks in standard activities.
Jian et al. (2022) examined the effect of knowledgeable capital on
bank performance during the Coronavirus in China and Pakistan. The
findings of this paper demonstrate that intellectual capital has managed to
maintain its significant impact on banking revenue in China and Pakistan.
The study indicates that human assets are the only intellectual capital factor
that keeps on enhancing the ROA and ROE of Chinese and Pakistani banks
during the time of the Coronavirus. In addition, the paper recommended
that policymakers give greater consideration to intellectual capital
resources, which have the possibility of enhancing banking performance
even through crisis periods.
Kocha et al., (2020) addressed the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact
of the price of oil, and the solvency of the financial system. According
to the empirical findings, a strong correlation between COVID-19 and
modifications in the profitability of Nigeria’s financial system has been
found. On the other hand, the fall in oil prices has shown that there is
a negative, substantial association between oil prices and the revenue
of the financial system. Granger causality results provide evidence of a
bidirectional causal association between COVID-19 and banking industry
profitability. This paper suggests the COVID-19 and oil price shocks had
a significant impact on the profit of the Nigerian banking system.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .353

Demirgue et al. (2020) analyzed the COVID-19 crisis’s effects on the

financial industry’s profitability. Based on the research paper, the crisis
and the forecasted position of banks as countercyclical lenders have
significantly stressed banking systems, with bank stocks outperforming
in their domestic markets when compared to those of other non-banking
banking institutions.
Duan, Y, et al. (2021) examined the systemic risk of banks related to
Coronavirus, the results presented in this paper describe the methodical risk
of banks throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period, which attempts to
estimate which elements impacted the systemic risk of banks. They found
a sizable company that was heavily leveraged, had a high loan-to-asset
ratio, lacked the capital to operate normally, and had network problems
that raised systemic risk for banks at the time.
CONCLUSION
The world economy has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 virus.
This study attempts to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the banking
industry by using also the literature survey. Several research papers have
focused on the reaction of the banking sector both domestically and
globally. Several authors implement different econometric techniques to
investigate the aforementioned nexus. The coronavirus has resulted in a
significant reduction in activities such as; small businesses, manufacturing,
entertainment, and tourism, and the stock market has all seen a drop in
profit. Authorities take action to control the spread of diseases by imposing
strict curfews, lockdowns, and a high death toll. This eventually caused a
disruption in the banking sector in both developed and developing countries.
Xingjian, et al. (2021) examine the connection between the profit rates of
banks and risk, as well as the use of non-interest income sources, using the
economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus’s effects on
the economy led to tighter credit standards and a decline in the demand for
various types of loans.
354 . Kemal Özdemir

REFERENCES

Assous, H. F., & Al-Najjar, D. (2021). Consequences of COVID-19 on banking

sector index: artificial neural network model. International Journal of Fi-
nancial Studies, 9(4), 67.
Bartik, A. W., Bertrand, M., Cullen, Z. B., Glaeser, E. L., Luca, M., & Stanton, C.
T. (2020). How are small businesses adjusting to COVID-19? Early evi-
dence from a survey (No. w26989). National
Blake,  P.  and  Wadhwa,  D.  (2020), “2020 Year in review: the impact of CO-
VID-19 in 12 charts”, World Bank, website:  https://blogs.worldbank.org/
voices/2020-year-review-impact-Covid-19-12-charts.Bureau of Economic
Research.
Binggeli, U., Constantin, M., & Pollack, E. (2020). COVID-19 tourism spend re-
covery in numbers. McKinsey & Company, 20(October), 2020.
Casu, B., Girardone, C., & Molyneux, P. (2006). Introduction to banking (Vol. 10).
Pearson education.
Chowdhury, E. K., Dhar, B. K., & Stasi, A. (2022). Volatility of the US stock
market and business strategy during COVID‐19. Business Strategy & De-
velopment, 5(4), 350-360.
Cusmano, L., & Raes, S. (2020). OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (CO-
VID-19); Coronavirus (COVID-19): SME policy responses. Retrieved from
OECD Better Policies for Better Lives: http://www. oecd. org/coronavirus/
policy-responses/coronavirus-covid-19-sme-policy-responses-04440101/#
section-d1e160.
Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Pedraza, A., & Ruiz-Ortega, C. (2021). Banking sector per-
formance during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Banking & Finance, 133,
106305.
Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Pedraza, A., & Ruiz-Ortega, C. (2021). Banking sector per-
formance during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Banking & Finance, 133,
106305.
Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Pedraza, A., & Ruiz-Ortega, C. (2021). Banking sector per-
formance during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Banking & Finance, 133,
106305.
DeYoung, R., & Torna, G. (2013). Nontraditional banking activities and bank fai-
lures during the financial crisis. Journal of financial intermediation, 22(3),
397-421.
Dimson, J., Mladenov, Z., Sharma, R., & Tadjeddine, K. (2020). COVID-19 and
European small and medium-size enterprises: How they are weathering the
storm. McKinsey & Company.
Duan, Y., El Ghoul, S., Guedhami, O., Li, H., & Li, X. (2021). Bank systemic
risk around COVID-19: A cross-country analysis.  Journal of Banking &
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .355

Finance, 133, 106299.
Fajri, M. Z. N., Muhammad, A. A., Umam, K., Putri, L. P., & Ramadhan, M.
A. (2022). The Effect Covid-19 and Sectoral Financing on Islamic Bank
Profitability in Indonesia. Journal of Islamic Economic Laws, 5(1), 38-60.
FDIC Law, Regulations, Related Acts  http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/ru-
les/6500-3100.html
Li, X., Feng, H., Zhao, S., & Carter, D. A. (2021). The effect of revenue diversifi-
cation on bank profitability and risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fi-
nance Research Letters, 43, 101957.
Mateev, M., Tariq, M. U., & Sahyouni, A. (2021). Competition, capital growth and
risk-taking in emerging markets: Policy implications for banking sector
stability during COVID-19 pandemic. PloS one, 16(6), e0253803.
Notteboom, T., Pallis, T., & Rodrigue, J. P. (2021). Disruptions and resilience in
global container shipping and ports: the COVID-19 pandemic versus the
2008–2009 financial crisis. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 23, 179-210.
Stiroh, K. J. (2004). Diversification in banking: Is noninterest income the
answer?. Journal of money, Credit and Banking, 853-882.
Stiroh, K. J. (2006). A portfolio view of banking with interest and noninterest ac-
tivities. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 1351-1361.
Xu, J., Haris, M., & Irfan, M. (2022). The impact of intellectual capital on bank
profitability during COVID-19: a comparison with China and Pakis-
tan. Complexity, 2022, 1-10.
 CHAPTER 18
THE IMPACT OF DECLINE IN
MORTALITY RATE ON ECONOMIC
GROWTH IN THE LATE OTTOMAN
EMPIRE1

Bilal İSLAMOĞLU2
İdris AKKUZU3

1  This chapter was produced from a part of the master thesis written by
Bilal İslamoğlu at the Institute of Social Sciences of Maltepe University
2  Maltepe Üniversitesi, YL, [email protected], Orcid: 0009-0002-
4217-7368
3  Dr. Öğ. Üyesi, Tekirdağ Namık Kemal Üniversitesi, [email protected].
tr, Orcid:0000-0003-1069-9719
358 . Bilal İslamoğlu, İdris Akkuzu

Introduction  
Many academicians see two problems in developing and least developed
countries, the first is a lack of capital and the second is the inability to
follow the technological developments made by Europe (Cıpolla, 1980; p.
128); (Kaku, 2011; p. 296). However, Pamuk states that population decline
due to continuous wars was the most important factor in the decline of
the Ottoman Empire in the last centuries (1984; p. 85). Moreover, Zürcher
compares the Ottomans with Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain and
Austria-Hungary in terms of income, population, coal production and
railways. He states that the Ottomans lagged behind European countries
in all of the above factors (2010; pp. 63-66).
In this research, we take Zürcher’s approach one step further and
defend the idea that the limiting factor in Ottoman economic growth,
which hindered coal production, the spread of railways, and the rise in
income, was neither the lack of capital nor the lack of technology transfer,
but the lack of labor.
Foreign Debt in the Industrialization Process
If the limiting factor in economic growth is a lack of capital, we should
expect that borrowing money should help to solve economic problems.
However, foreign debt in Ottomans did not help to solve economic
problems. Ottoman Empire took its first foreign debt in 1854 and went
bankrupt in 1875. In 1881, in exchange for forgiving 44% of the debt, the
Ottoman Public Debt Administration was established and thus part of its
income was diverted to pay the foreign debt (Tezel, 2002; pp. 81, 83).
This money was used to buy modern European weapons instead
of investing in long-term economic growth (Zürcher, 2010; p. 65). The
Ottoman Empire faced urgent military threats. Naturally, they spent the
money they borrowed to buy weapons. Shabbir notes that a country cannot
develop only with borrowed debt; the Ottomans learned this from their own
experience (2008; p. 16). Trying to solve economic problems by borrowing
foreign debt did not end well, but the Ottoman Empire continued to
struggle for its existence. Ottomans with foreign direct investment started
coal production and railway investment that enabled the economic growth
process.  
Coal Production and Railways  
The Ottoman Empire had plenty of lands. They hoped that there might
be coal mines. The Ottoman Navy showed coal samples to discharged
soldiers and asked them to look for these mines in their villages, and in this
way, coal was found in 1829. Production with modern technology started
through foreign direct investment from Britain in 1848 during the Crimean
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .359

War (Güney, 1966; pp. 106-107). Coal preserved its strategic importance
for a long time (Müftüoğlu and Taniş, 2010; p. 196). However, the coal
mines could not operate at full capacity due to the lack of both qualified
and unqualified workforce (Özeken, 1948, p. 70).
In 1867, the Ottoman Empire tried to overcome the shortage of
workforce with “involuntary servitude” (Makal, 2006; p. 72). Once
coal production started in Anatolia, Ottomans learned this technology,
but it was not able to utilize the full capacity of the mine because of
the shortage of workforce. Moreover, the reason for the failure of the
Ottomans to industrialize at the level of Germany or Japan was also the
lack of manpower. Even if Ottomans had been able to raise capital and
transfer technology to build factories, it would have been an impossible
task to find enough workforce for the mines. What if Ottoman Empire had
concentrated its population in one region or one city to have a workforce
for factories? Ottomans realized this possibility with Istanbul. 
The primary reason for the stagnation of the population was the
high death rate of the Ottomans (Pamuk, 1984; p. 85); (Zürcher, 2010; p.
64). Obviously, only decreasing the death rate would solve this problem.
Müderrisoğlu states that with special permission from the Sultan, Istanbul
residents were not conscripted into the army (1988; p. 10). In this way,
the Ottoman Empire tried to prevent the population of Istanbul from
diminishing due to war casualties. In the first metropolitan area of
London, the concentration of population and industrialization happened
simultaneously with the construction of railways and waterways around
the city (Oren, 2002; p. 2, 6-7); (Stearns et. al., 2008; p. 631). Istanbul was
already located between sea routes. Further concentration of population in
Istanbul could be achieved only by connecting Istanbul with the Balkans,
Anatolia and Arabia by railways.  
 “The first railway line was opened in Britain in 1825” (Yıldırım, 2002;
p. 312). The first railway line in the Ottoman Empire was built in 1856 with
the help of foreign direct investment from Britain. Istanbul, like Rome
at the height of the Roman Empire, was a city with a huge population
that was the capital of the empire. It needed food in huge quantities to
feed its residents. The wheat was coming from overseas provinces such
as Egypt. However, when the Ottoman Empire lost its overseas provinces,
it became dependent on wheat imports from Europe and the USA despite
having immense agricultural production capacity in Central Anatolia,
which the Ottomans could not utilize due to high transportation costs. In
1893, the Baghdad railway line was built with German direct investment
so that the Ottomans could feed the population of Istanbul with food from
central Anatolia (Ortaylı, 2006; pp. 143-144); (McEvedy, 2004; p. 92);
(Boratav, 2013; p. 28). The Ottomans crowned this process with the Hejaz
360 . Bilal İslamoğlu, İdris Akkuzu

Railway. The most important feature of the Hejaz Railway was that it was
completed without the use of foreign capital. Moreover, Turkish and foreign
engineers worked together for its construction. Furthermore, the shortage
of manpower was overcome by hiring one thousand five hundred of Italian
unqualified workers and soldiers. The last part of the Hejaz Railway was
completed by Turkish engineers and workers in 1908 (Aksay, 1999; pp. 12-
13); (Hülagü, 2008; p. 92); (Gülsoy, 1994; pp. 126, 141); (Yıldırım, 2002; p.
313); (Ortaylı, 2006; pp. 143-144). 
Ottomans had rapid economic growth at that time (Pamuk, 1984; p.
79-80); (Ortaylı, 2006; p. 144). Unfortunately, the only challenge Ottoman
Empire faced was not Industrial Revolution. Another issue was that most
of Asia and Africa was colonized by European Powers and their next target
was the Ottoman Empire (Öke, 1983; p. 130). 
Population Development
Gallup and Sachs draw attention to the role of a country’s geography
in high mortality rates from a malaria perspective. According to this
perspective, countries with tropical climates lose the battle against
malaria. Widespread malaria increases mortality and slows economic
growth (1998; pp. 1-2).
The most important effect of the industrial revolution in Europe
was to reduce mortality, which allowed rapid population growth. Japan
experienced the same process in its industrialization. Japan finally
established its nation-state after a hundred years of civil war, and
between 1603-1867, it isolated itself from the rest of the world, where its
main goal was political stability (Vansteenburg, 2006; p. 1). This era of
political stability decreased the death rate, so the population increased
and the economy grew rapidly (Boserup, 1965; p.50). However, Ottoman
Empire, unlike Japan, an archipelago far away from Europe, was next to
the European imperial powers. Ottomans had many wars with European
powers to protect its territorial integrity, which increased the death rate,
thus, did not allow population increase and economic growth. 
In the 1850s, the Ottoman Empire had more population than Austria-
Hungary and Great Britain, and less population than France, Germany, and
Russia. While in 1901, it had the lowest population among these countries
(Zürcher, 2010; p. 64); (McEvedy, 2003; p. 9). In the Ottoman Empire,
continuous wars were the reason for the decline in average life expectancy.
In 1913, the average life expectancy was only 30 years (Pamuk, 2007;
p. 267). Because of the low average life expectancy, economic growth
through increased productivity was not possible. Chakraborty states that
this situation reduces the returns on investment in education (2003; p. 128).
Under these circumstances, even if Ottomans had been able to increase
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .361

their education investment, it would have been enough to set up economic

growth. At this time, the population of Europe did not outscore only against
Ottoman Empire but the whole World. 
Between 1800 and 1900, the population of Europe and North
America increased from 203 million to 408 million. Their population
increased not only numerically but also proportionally during this period.
In 1800, Europe, the USA and Canada accounted for 2/10 of the world’s
population. By 1900, it was 3/10, an increase of 50%. Thus, in addition
to its technological superiority, Europe had a numerical superiority (UN
Report, 2014)
Genç points out that the question we should ask is not why the Ottoman
Empire retreated in the face of Europe, which was growing tremendously,
but how the Ottoman Empire slowly retreated in the face of Europe (2010;
pp. 39-40). Moreover, we should ask the question of how Turks managed
to build a strong nation out of a destroyed empire. The Ottoman Empire
was in an impossible struggle against the European countries. In the best
possible scenario, the Ottomans were able to close their demographic gap
with Europe in the long run. It had to build its foreign policy in such a way
that it could gain time for itself. To achieve this goal, the most important
strategy used by the Ottomans was the policy of balance. 
1) “1791 (…)-1878: Pact with Britain against Russian aggression.
2)  1888 – 1918: Pact with Germany Against England and Russian
aggression “. (Armaoğlu, 1987; p. 43). 
The greatest loss for the Ottomans in World War I was not land, but
their limited human capital. Could the Ottomans avoid this by remaining
neutral in World War I? At that time, however, the biggest problem for a
country was not the consequence of losing a battle, land or people, but
the possibility that all its neighbors would join forces against it. This
happened to Poland twice. First, in the 18th century, Austria-Hungary,
Russia and Prussia shared Poland on paper and then wiped it off the map.
Poland won its independence after World War I, but in 1939, Germany and
Russia shared Poland on paper and invaded. Therefore, the country lost its
independence for the second time (Pavlovic´, 2008; pp. 39-44).
The rivalry between Britain and Russia provided a living space for the
Ottomans. “Russian and English negotiations started in 1906 and resulted
in an agreement on August 31, 1907” (Öke, 1983; p. 127). The biggest
problem in the partition was who would take Istanbul. “London did not
believe that the Turks could protect the Bosporus and the Dardanelles (…)
and stated that in a gradually approaching partition of the Ottomans, as
long as it controlled Egypt, it would allow Russia to have Istanbul” (Öke,
362 . Bilal İslamoğlu, İdris Akkuzu

1983; p. 128). It meant the end of the Ottomans on paper, just like Poland.
Under these circumstances, the neutral Ottoman Empire would have a
dark future after the First World War. 
The Ottomans took this condition into consideration and adopted a
balancing policy. The main goal of this policy was to prevent Ottoman
Empire from becoming like Poland. Finally, the Ottomans achieved their
first goal. They lost their empire but managed to build a nation out of
regions with dominant ethnic Turks, and in a large part of these lands,
independence was protected uninterruptedly.
Poland won its independence, but both its borders and its regime
were decided by the winners of the Second World War. Part of Poland was
annexed by Russia and part of Germany was given to Poland. Germans
living in the newly created Poland were forced to migrate to Germany,
and Poles living in the land annexed by Russia were forced to migrate
to Poland (Pavlovic´, 2008; pp. 44-45). On the other hand, the only loss
for modern Turkey was Mosul in Iraq, which had a significant Turkish
population (Değerli, 2007; p. 138).
The second important strategy was the integration of immigrants into
society. There was a continuous and dense Muslim migration from the
lands lost by the Ottoman Empire to the remaining part of the empire
(Kazgan 1974, cited by Pamuk, 1984; p. 190). Integration policies were
implemented in parallel with railway investments. Migrants settled along
the nearby railway line and increased agricultural production in these
regions (Ortaylı, 2006; p. 144). In this way, the problem of labor shortage
in agriculture was partially solved. 
Genç summarizes three important characteristics of the Ottoman
Empire: low productivity, difficult and expensive transportation, and
limited production for the market economy (2000; p. 50). After the 1850s,
with the increase in transportation, the Ottoman Empire transformed itself
and had rapid economic growth. The Ottomans closely followed European
technological development, especially in railways and coal production.
Moreover, its agricultural production and export increased rapidly (Pamuk,
1984; pp. 79-80). The biggest problem of the shortage of workforce in both
coal and agricultural production fell during the peace period, thanks to
low death rates (Zürcher, 2010; p. 64).
The lack of hygiene in moving armies and the economic damage of
war cause the spread of epidemics (Dağlar, 2008; p. xi). Epidemics, if they
are widespread, could cause a large decrease in the total population. Before
the industrial revolution, the biggest cause of death was an epidemic (Riley,
2008; p. 23). After the industrial revolution, there were huge improvements
against the epidemic fight. This provided a stable increase in the number of
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .363

both workers and consumers. Even developing countries like the Ottomans
took advantage of this development. Increased demand in industrialized
countries increased production and exports in the Ottoman Empire, which
had strong economic ties with Europe. Unfortunately, wars reversed these
developments. “The population of Turkey decreased from 17 million in
1914 to 13 million in 1924” (Cem, 1995, Eldem 1970, cited by Pamuk, 2007;
p. 275). Not only war, but also epidemics, harsh climate, and war-induced
famine caused huge human losses. 
Conclusion 
When the Industrial Revolution began in 1800, not all nations were
in the same condition. Poland was missing from the map. At a time
when nationalist ideas were spreading, Ottomans were trying to keep an
empire together. Under these circumstances, the Ottomans identified their
priorities. It defended itself against threats to its territorial integrity with
a policy of balance. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire prevented Istanbul’s
dependence on food imports by building the Baghdad Railway, and
brought Muslim migrants to Anatolia from the Caucasus and the Balkans,
from territories that the Ottoman Empire had lost, thus increasing the
population and production in Anatolia. In addition to all this, it achieved
technology and capital transfer in many sectors through foreign direct
investment (Ortaylı, 2006; p. 144); (Armaoğlu, 1987; p. 43); (Güney, 1966;
p. 107); (Pavlovic´, 2008; p. 41).
The Ottomans followed the technological developments in the West
in the two areas we have closely examined, railways and coal mines.
Ottomans did not have huge capital accumulation, but the problem with
increasing production in agriculture and coal mine was a shortage of
workforce. Similarly, the low population density was the reason for the
limiting factor in the spread of railways.
Ottoman historians, Zürcher and Pamuk state that continuous wars
in the Ottoman Empire did not allow any increase in population. Finally,
the curtain of catastrophe knitted by high death rates ended a period in
Anatolia. 
364 . Bilal İslamoğlu, İdris Akkuzu

REFERENCES 

Adıyeke A. N. ve N. Adıyeke (2006), Fethinden Kaybına Girit, İstanbul: Babıali

Kültür Yayıncılığı,  
Aksay M. (1999), Hicaz Demiryolu Fotoğraf Albümü, İstanbul: Albaraka Türk 
Armaoğlu F. (1987), 20. Yüzyıl Siyasi Tarihi, Ankara: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür
Yayınları
Boratav K. (2013), Türkiye İktisat Tarihi, 1908-2009, Ankara: İmge Kitabevi, An-
kara.  
Boserup E. (1965), The Conditions of Agricultural Growth, London: George Allen
& Unwin LTD
Cem, B. (1995). The Population of Ottoman Empire and Turkey 1500-1927, An-
kara: DİE
Chakraborty S. (2004) Endogenous Lifetime and Economic Growth, Journal of
Economic Theory, 116 (1), 119-137.  
Cıpolla (1980), Tarih Boyunca Ekonomi ve Nüfus, (M.S.Gezgin, Çev.), İstanbul:
Tur Yayınları, (first press: 1960, ABD).  
Dağlar O. (2008), War Epidemics and Medicine in the Late Ottoman Empire
(1912-1918), Haarlem: Türkistan ve Azerbaycan Araştırma Merkezi  
Değerli E. S. (2007), Lozan Barış Konferansı’nda Musul, Balıkesir Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 10(18): 127-140.  
Eldem, V. (1970). Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun İktisadi Şartları Hakkında Bir Tet-
kik, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yay.
Gallup J.ve L. Sachs J. D (1998), The Economic Burden of Malaria, Center for
International Development at Harvard.  
Genç M. (2000), Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda Devlet ve Ekonomi, İstanbul: Ötüken
Neşriyat
Gülsoy U. (1994), Hicaz Demiryolu, İstanbul: Eren Yayıncılık ve Kitapçılık Ltd.
Şti 
Güney M. (1966), Zonguldak Kömür Ocaklarında Yeraltı Madencilik Faaliyetleri,
Ankara: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi
Hülagü M. (2008), Hicaz Demiryolu, İstanbul: Yitik Hazine Yayınları  
Kaku, M. (2011), Physics of the Future, Knopf Doubleday Pub.  
Kazgan, G. (1974). Milli Türk Devletinin Kuruluşu ve Göçler, İstanbul Üniversi-
tesi İktisat Fakültesi Mecmuası, 30.
Makal, A. (2006). Zonguldak ve Türkiye Toplumsal Tarihinin Acı Bir Deneyimi
Olarak “İş Mükellefiyeti”, Zonguldak Kent Tarihi 05 Bienali Bildiriler Ki-
tabı (1), 69-93, İstanbul: Ezgi Matbaası. 
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .365

McEvedy C. (2003), Yakınçağ Tarih Atlası, (A. Anadol, Çev.), İstanbul: Sabancı
Üniversitesi
Mcevedy C. (2004), İlkçağ Tarih Atlası, (A. Anadol, Çev.), İstanbul: Sabancı Üni-
versitesi
Müderrisoğlu A. (1988), Sarıkamış Dramı, İstanbul: Kastaş A.Ş. Yayınları  
Müftüoğlu B. G. & Taniş B. (2010), 21. yüzyılda Zonguldak Maden İşletmele-
rinde Çalışma Hayatı: Bir Kesit-Tek Gerçek, 11. Ulusal Sosyal Bilimler
Kongresi, December 9-11, Ankara
Öke M. K. (1983), İngiliz Casusu Prof. Arminius Vambery’nin Gizli Raporlarında
II. Abdulhamit ve Dönemi, İstanbul: Üçdal Neşriyat  
Oren H. (2002), The Early History of British Railroads, Erişim Tarihi: 12.8. 2015;
http://www.orenstransitpage.com/otplondonpics/history.pdf.  
Ortaylı İ. (2006), Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Alman Nüfuzu, İstanbul: Alkım Ya-
yınevi
Özeken A. A. (1948), Türkiye’de Sanayi İşçileri, Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları
Dergisi, 1: 56-81
Pamuk Ş. (1984), Osmanlı Ekonomisi ve Dünya Kapitalizmi 1820-1913, Ankara:
Yurt Yayınları
Pamuk Ş. (2007), Economic Change in Twentieth Century Turkey: Is the Glass
More Than Half Full?, in The Cambridge History of Turkey, Turkey in the
Modern World Vol 4, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 266-300. 
Pavlovic´ Z. (2008), Poland, Chelsea House, New York  
Riley J. C. (2008), Low Income, Social Growth, and Good Health: A History of
Twelve Countries, University of California Press,  
Shabbir S. (2013), Does External Debt Affect Economic Growth: Evidence from
Developing Countries, SBP Working Paper Series, 63
Stearns P. N. & Adas M. & Schwartz S. B. & Gilbert M. J. (2008), World Civiliza-
tions The Global Experience, Pearson Education, Inc.
Tezel Y. S. (2002), Cumhuriyet Döneminin İktisadi Tarihi 1923-1950, İstanbul:
Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları,
UN Report (2014), The World at Six Billion, http://www.un.org/esa/population/
publications/sixbillion/sixbilpart1.pdf, date of access: May, 2014 
Vansteenburgh M. (2006), Eda Period Japon: 250 years of Peace, https://www.
academia.edu/31701543/Edo_Period_Japan_250_Years_of_Peace, date of
access: 02.01.2023
Yıldırım İ. (2002), Osmanlı Demiryolu Politikasına Bir Bakış, Fırat Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 12(1), pp: 311-324 
Zürcher E. J. (2010), The Young Turk Legacy And Nation Building From The Ot-
toman Empire To Atatürk’s Turkey, New Yok: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd.
 CHAPTER 19
SHORT-TERM METRIC IN TV
ADVERTISEMENTS: AN EXPERIMENTAL
APPLICATION1

Fatma Nur YORGANCILAR ATATOPRAK2

1  In this study, the part of conceptual framework was produced from the
doctoral thesis titled “’Tüketici Davranışı Nörolojisi: Nöroekonomi-EEG
Yöntemiyle Nöromarketing Uygulaması / Neurology of Consumer Behavior:
Neuromarketing Application with Neuroeconomics-EEG Method”, which was
carried out at Selçuk University, Institute of Social Sciences and published as
a book by Çizgi Bookstore.
2  Assoc. Prof. Dr., Selçuk University, Konya, Türkiye. E – mail: fnyorgancilar@
gmail.com
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0016-9899
368 . Fatma Nur Yorgancılar Atatoprak

As cited by Yorgancılar (2015), Richard Caton, English physicist,

discovered the presence of electricity current the rhythm in the brain
produces and Hans Berger (1873-1941), German scientist, with an ordinary
radio device he himself made, succeeded EEG (electroencephalograph)
electrical activation of the brain- in recording to the paper. Therefore,
according to the studies by Hans Berger, to whom we owe the current
presence of Neurofeedback education, cerebral waves vary according to the
conscious state of the person and is oscillated in the different frequencies.
These cerebral waves in the different frequencies, as mentioned in the
previous parts, are divided into four groups as Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta”.
Also in this study, incoming signals and cerebral waves are measured
by means of electrodes, and the relevant cerebral regions are shortly
mentioned as follows. Although cerebral cortex forms the largest section of
neural system, what are known about cerebral cortex, one of the structure
belonging to the brain, are rather limited.
Temporal lobe (T7, T8): Temporal lobe memorial lobe, which takes
place below Sulcus lateralisis, is quite important in evaluating the various
senses for intellectual functions. Temporal lobe cortex, which stays
below lateral fissure, has generally the features of six-layered neocortex
and allocortex. Although neocortex undertakes the functions related to
hearing, vestibular emotion, personality, memory and behavior, allocoretex
(hippocampus and gyrus dentatus) is related to sense of smell and limbic
system. Primary hearing area that is 41st and 42nd area of . Brodmann and
Wernike area that is 22nd area of Brodmann also take place here. To shortly
express, temporal lobe has features such as understanding tone of voice, its
rhythm and its distance and what the voice belongs to. The part of temporal
lobe neocortex near polus, with its connections with frontal and limbic
lobes, makes relation [considered] associated with the behavior, emotion
and personality. Although this part is also named as psychic cortex, the
most medial part of temporal lobe cortex is hippocampus. The view that
this region is related to learning and instantaneous memory is prevalent in
medical literature. Posterior part is an area, where the information coming
from hearing, seeing and somesthetic areas is integrated. In temporal lobe,
there are primary hearing area (Brodman’s 41st and 42nd areas ) secondary
hearing area (Brodman’s 22nd area), taste center (Brodman’s 43 area), smell
(Brodman’s 34th area) and smell association center (Brodman’s 28th area)
Lobus temporalis primary hearing center takes hearing sense from coti
organ, and secondary hearing center is the part conserving previously learnt
meaning of the voices and words heard. Therefore, it gives information to
the individuals about the meaning of the voices heard, namely, memory
refers to memory centers. Wernicke area of secondary talking center
receives sensorial impulse from cortical seeing and hearing center and
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .369

gives the meaning of those read and spoken as basic function. In related to
hearing center in temporal lobe, emotional behavior and memory, audial
interpretation and speaking and memory patterns also occur in this lobe
taking place in the lower part of the brain. In addition, this lobe, due to the
fact that it is a place, in which there is primary audial cortex, is important
in interpreting the voices we hear and language. Again, due to the fact that
hippocampus takes place in temporal lobe, this section of the brain is the
place, where the sorts of memory are brought together.
Occipital lobe (O1, 02) is a part making connection with the centers
of brainstem and enabling the eye to be focused on the point to be paid
attention, and where facial recognition function actualizes via seeing
function.
Frontal lobe (AF3, AF4, F3, F4, F7, F8):. Frontal lobe forming
one-third of total cortex takes place in front of Sulcus Centralis and in
upper part of Sulcus Lateralis. Frontal lobe is a cerebral center arranging
the functions such as basic motor, speaking center, effective functions
based on experiences –learning, ritualistic behavior, foresight, kindness,
personality development, processing and maturing thought. Control of all
voluntary muscles takes place in frontal lobe.
Frontal eye field, independently from seeing sense, controls voluntary
movements of the eyes. Broca area, thanks to its connection with primary
motor field, plays role shaping words. Sending proper impulses to the
mouth, tongue, soft palate and inhalation muscles, it forms motor speaking
function. This lobe taking place in the frontal part of the brain is also
related to reasoning, motor skills, high level cognitive abilities, and
speaking language. In the back part of the frontal lobe, motor cortex lies
down. This area of the brain receives the information coming from the
various lobes from the brain and utilizes this information to complete body
movement.
Prefrontal lobe (FC5, FC6): This part that developed well in humans
covers the areas 9,10, 12, 46 of Brodman. This part of the cortex, which
more evolved phylogenetically, has much more afferent and efferent
connections with thalamus, limbic system, hypothalamus and the other
sections of cortex. Planning and starting such as motor movements
connotation, abstract thinking, integration of idea activities, foresight,
memory, ability to make decision, mature thinking, supplementary motor
areas form as a result of arranging emotional reactions according to the
conditions. As a result, these are the areas, in which the complex responses
such as frenzy, calmness, sorrow, happiness, friendship, bad temper in a
person emerges. Automated responses (such as blood pressure , variation
in inhalation rate) in emotional states are provided by the ways, projected
370 . Fatma Nur Yorgancılar Atatoprak

from prefrontal area to hypothalamus. Although it is known that prefrontal

area is related to personality and behaviors, evaluating many data coming
from cortical and subcortical centers to prefrontal lobe, it is an area, in
which the sensitivities of the people against the events is identified.
Prefrontal area is also effective on making decision and personality. İt is
generally accepted that lobus prefrontalis consists of 9, 10, 12 and 46th
areas of prefrontal cortex in convexity and in the medial face of frontal
lobe and 11 and 47th areas in the lower part of frontal lobe, which is later
named as orbital lobe. By stimulating all these area, any motor response
is not obtained. Although it is generally thought that it is related to high
psychic functions, somesthetic association areas enable the senses to be
perceived in detail and, thus, the person to be informed about himself/
herself and his/her environment. High cortical functions such as reading,
writing, calculating, understanding also actualize in this region.
Parietal lobe (P7-P8: Parietal lobe cortex extending from backside of
central sulcus to paraoccipital sulcus, along with the fact that the emotional
modality processes coming from thalamus are performed at high level, it
is a region, where neural information coming from hearing, seeing and
cortical areas is integrated. This part of the cortex has also motor functions.
This region, where there are the functions such as paying attention to
the internal and external stimulations, calculating, distancing right and
left, also functions in perceiving and processing somatic emotional area,
heat, touching, body position and pain. Integrating emotional and motor
functions, it receives input from visual and audial cortexes.
On the other hand, parietal lobe plays important role in integrating the
information coming from the basic sensorial center, association center and
tasting center Parietal lobe, which takes place in the middle of the brain, is
a region, which is associated with processing the information about tasting
sense such as pressure, tasting and pain. This section of the brain, also
known as somatosensory cortex, takes place in parietal lobe and is related
to processing body senses.

Table1 . Short-term Attention Score Variations

Saniye Erkek Değişim (E) Kadın Değişim (K) Tümü
1 0,72 0 0,74 0 0,73
2 0,76 +4 0,72 -2 0,74
3 0,71 -5 0,69 -3 0,70
4 0,69 -2 0,63 -6 0,66
5 0,69 0 0,59 -4 0,64
6 0,71 +2 0,56 -3 0,64
7 0,71 0 0,55 -1 0,63
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .371

8 0,72 + 0,56 +1 0,64

9 0,71 -1 0,55 -1 0,63
10 0,68 -3 0,52 -3 0,60
11 0,66 -2 0,51 -1 0,59
12 0,63 -3 0,53 +2 0,58
13 0,61 -2 0,54 +1 0,58
14 0,61 0 0,50 -4 0,56
15 0,57 -4 0,49 -1 0,53
16 0,57 0 0,50 +1 0,53
17 0,57 0 0,52 +2 0,55
18 0,52 -5 0,57 +5 0,55
19 0,47 -5 0,55 -2 0,51
20 0,45 -2 0,52 -3 0,49
21 0,49 +4 0,49 -3 0,49
22 0,52 +3 0,47 -2 0,50
23 0,55 +3 0,49 +2 0,52
24 0,53 -2 0,50 +1 0,52
25 0,55 +2 0,51 +1 0,53
26 0,54 -1 0,51 0 0,53
27 0,52 -2 0,52 +1 0,52
28 0,52 0 0,52 0 0,52
29 0,50 -2 0,51 -1 0,50
30 0,48 -2 0,52 +1 0,50
31 0,45 -3 0,52 0 0,49
32 0,46 +1 0,54 +2 0,50
33 0,48 +2 0,56 +2 0,52
34 0,48 0 0,62 +6 0,55
35 0,48 0 0,65 +3 0,57
36 0,49 +1 0,62 -3 0,55
37 0,56 +7 0,60 -2 0,58
38 0,67 +11 0,56 -4 0,61
39 0,69 +2 0,52 -4 0,61
40 0,71 +2 0,47 -5 0,59
41 0,73 +2 0,50 +3 0,62
42 0,72 -1 0,54 +4 0,63
43 0,70 -1 0,51 -3 0,60
44 0,68 -2 0,47 -4 0,57
45 0,68 0 0,48 +1 0,58
46 0,71 +3 0,49 +1 0,60
47 0,72 +1 0,47 -2 0,59
48 0,72 0 0,45 -2 0,59
49 0,69 -3 0,46 +1 0,57
50 0,66 -3 0,47 +1 0,56
51 0,66 0 0,47 0 0,57
52 0,60 -6 0,50 +3 0,55
53 0,59 -1 0,52 +2 0,56
54 0,58 -1 0,50 -2 0,54
372 . Fatma Nur Yorgancılar Atatoprak

55 0,65 +7 0,50 0 0,57

56 0,67 +2 0,49 -1 0,58
57 0,67 0 0,54 +5 0,61
58 0,63 -4 0,58 +4 0,61
59 0,51 -12 0,53 -5 0,52
60 0,45 -6 0,48 -5 0,47
61 0,40 -5 0,51 +3 0,46
62 0,37 -3 0,54 +3 0,45
63 0,37 0 0,57 +3 0,47
64 0,41 +4 0,54 -3 0,48
65 0,41 0 0,55 +1 0,48
66 0,41 0 0,55 0 0,48
67 0,42 +1 0,53 -2 0,48
68 0,44 +2 0,49 -4 0,46
69 0,46 +2 0,43 -6 0,44
70 0,47 +1 0,37 -6 0,42
71 0,45 -2 0,35 -2 0,41
72 0,42 -3 0,39 +4 0,41
73 0,35 -7 0,39 0 0,37
74 0,38 +3 0,42 +3 0,40
75 0,38 0 0,43 +1 0,41
76 0,38 0 0,41 -2 0,39
77 0,49 +11 0,42 +1 0,46
78 0,52 +3 0,50 +8 0,51
79 0,54 +2 0,60 +10 0,57
80 0,63 +9 0,69 +9 0,66
81 0,67 +4 0,72 +3 0,70
82 0,74 +7 0,75 +3 0,74
83 0,70 -4 0,75 0 0,73
84 0,74 +4 0,77 +2 0,75
85 0,74 0 0,75 -2 0,75
86 0,68 -6 0,73 -2 0,70
87 0,69 +1 0,71 -2 0,70
88 0,72 +3 0,68 -3 0,70
89 0,73 +1 0,58 -10 0,65
90 0,72 -1 0,53 -5 0,62
91 0,69 -3 0,51 -2 0,60
92 0,70 +1 0,47 -4 0,59

In the range of 2nd and 4th seconds, In nightfall, in a foggy and scaring
atmosphere, in front of the bushes, a mysterious man looking at a three-
storey house is seen. The light reflecting from the third floor of the house
stands out foggy weather. It is seen that the entrance door of the house is
open.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .373

That the coming sound in the background is a voice resembling thunder

and rain causes a decreases of 4 each units in the variation of long-term
memory score. In the range of 10th and 12th seconds, the aged woman and
mysterious man are slowly approaching toward stairs as facing back and,
that footfalls are heard, that the mysterious man hesitates for a moment,
turns his head to nightstand and carefully looks at the photographs on
nightstand, that the aged woman and mysterious man hesitates a little,
while going toward stairs and that the mysterious man begin to pray lead
to decreases of 4 and 5 units in the range of the seconds specified.
In 14th and 16th seconds, the decreases of 3 each units are observed.
The reason for this is that the aged woman and priest looks at each other
in fear and ticktacks of the clock accompany with this. In 17th and 18th
seconds, that the voice of a praying man is heard causes an increase of 2
units.
In 19th second, that the man worriedly continues to pray causes a
decrease of 4 units. In 20th and 21st seconds, along with the fact that the
paying man slowly disappears, a fall of two units occurs. In 23rd and 24th
seconds, that the priest crosses himself as a requirement of his belief and,
soon after, that firmly hugs to Bible causes an increase of 2 units.
In the range of 25th and 28th seconds, the screams are heard but a
steady state is observed. In 29th second, the aged woman and priest come
eye to eye. This case causes a decrease of 2 units. In 33rd second, that the
intensity of the screams increases and that the priest and aged woman go
toward that direct cause an increase of 2 units.
In 34th second, the screams increase more and more and the face of
the aged woman is covered with fear. In this case, an increase of 3 units
occurs. In 35th second, that the priest takes his hand to his cross causes an
increase of 2 units.
At the beginning of 36th second, it is seen that the priest deeply
breathes due to fear, and that the sound of breath is heard. This case leads
to a decrease of 2 units. In 37th and 38th seconds, it is seen that the aged
woman firmly keeps her vest in fear and that they approach toward the
direction, from which the screams come. As a result of this observation, in
the seconds specified, increases of 3 each units.
At the beginning of 40th second, a decrease of 2 units is observed. The
cause of this is attributed to the fact that while the priest goes to the room,
from the screams come, wooden floors groan. In 41st second, along with
seeing that the aged woman follows the priest, while the priest hesitates
to open the door of the room in front of the door and whether or not he
worries to open the door, an increase of 3 units occurs.
374 . Fatma Nur Yorgancılar Atatoprak

In 43rd and 44th seconds, along with the fact that the priest hesitates
to open the door in indecisiveness, still continuing suspense music cause
decreases of 3 each units. In 46th second, that the priest kisses the cross and
lowers to the floor cause an increase of 2 units.
In 49th second, in company with the suspense music, that the priest
still stay indecisive about opening the door leads to a decrease of 2 units. In
52nd and 54th seconds, along with opening the door, the shadow of the priest
appears, and a painting in the room stands out. In this case, a decrease of
3 units are experienced.
In 55th second, increase in the intensity of suspense music causes an
increase of 3 units. In 57th and 58th seconds, suspense music quickly ends,
and attention is attracted to the bed. Along with opening the door, the
pages of the book on the nightstand are begun to be opened one by one in
view of the wind. As a result of this case, decrease of 3 units occurs.
At the beginning of 59th second, that a totally decrease of 9 units is
remarkable. It is observed that the cause of this is that the sound of wind
reflects a scaring atmosphere. In 60th second, when the priest appears
with his beetle brow and bemusedly, a decrease of 5 units occurs. In 62nd
second, along with the fact that the priest raises his head, that he sees the
girl, whose arms are spread, whose hairs are flown to the front, who has
indistinct face and wears nightclothes, and who exposed to the devil in the
way attached to the wall as in the film “Exorscict” causes a decrease of 2
units.
At the beginning of 63rd second, the priest seeing the girl exposed to
the devil opens his mouth in fear. This case causes an increase of 2 units.
The range in 64th and 67th seconds are steadily proceeding. In the range of
68th and 70th seconds, decreases of 2 each units.
In 73rd second, along with the fact that the third floor of the house
slowly appears, a decrease of 4 units is experienced. In 74th second, along
with the fact that the image becomes clear, somebody in the upper floor of
the house appears to sweep the room by means of vacuum cleaner. In this
case, an decrease of 3 units occurs.
In 76th second, when it is seen that the aged woman sweeps the room
with a great pleasure in company with the foreign music, taking the
vacuum cleaner forwardly and backwardly, a decrease of 2 units more
is experienced. In 77th second, along with the fact that the aged woman,
whose face is not full clearly seen from the side profile continues to sweep
the room with a pleasure in company with the music, a decrease of 3 units
more experienced.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .375

At the beginning of 78th second, along with the fact that the face
expression of the aged woman, whose face appears, reflects her happiness,
an increase of 5 units is experienced. 79th second, when the aged woman
sweeps the room with a great pleasure and accompanies with the playing
song, causes an increase of 6 units. In 80th second, the aged woman go
out from the angle of objective and the edge part of the vacuum cleaner
appears. In this case, an increase of 9 units more occurs.
In 81st second, as a result of that the edge of vacuum cleaner goes
forwardly and backwardly, and that the brand of vacuum cleaner attracts
attention, an increase of 4 units is seen. In 82nd second, in fact, in company
with the music, along with understanding that the aged woman sweeping
the room with a great pleasure pulls upward the girl in lower floor, who
screams as if she exposed to devil, thanks to the suction power of vacuum
cleaner, an increase of 4 units occurs.
In the range of 86th and 88th seconds, a decrease of 5 units is seen. The
cause of this decrease is attributed to that the voice of devil appears in
company with the music and writing, that the writing “you know when the
devil it is” is also a reflected state of the girl hung on ceiling as a result of
suction power of vacuum cleaner, and soon after that the brand of vacuum
cleaner appears. While an increase is seen in the range of seconds specified
in the scores of confusion, in short-term score variations, a decrease is
observed. At the beginning of 89th second, that the plug of vacuum cleaner
is plugged to the triple socket attracts attention.
This case leads to a decrease of 5 units. In 90th second, following that
the plug of vacuum cleaner is removed from the socket, along with the fact
that the sound of falling comes, a decrease of 3 units occurs. In 91st and
92nd second, along with the fact that black display appears, a decrease of
2 units occurs.
AS A RESULT…
In this study, using the EEG method; The mental change processes of
the people participating in the experiment in the face of the TV commercial
were examined. At the end of the commercial, which resembles a horror
movie and contains religious elements, there are elements that make you
smile and surprise.
To evaluate in general; Fear, curiosity and music are very important
on people’s short-term memory metric.
On the other hand, it would be appropriate to state that religious
themes are not effective at the desired level.
376 . Fatma Nur Yorgancılar Atatoprak

REFERENCES

Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G. ve Prelec, D. (2005). Neuroeconomics: how neuros-

cience can inform economics. Journal of Economic Literature 43: 9–64.
Camerer, C., Cohen, J., Fehr, E., Glimcher, P. ve Laibson, D. (t.y.). Neuroeconomi-
cs. Handbook of Experimental Economics. (Ed) John Kagel and Alvin Rot.
Web: http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/laibson/files/camerer_cohen_fehr_
glimcher_laib son_2014.pdf Erişim: 01.01.2014
Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., ve Drazen, P. (2005). How neuroscience can inform
economics. Journal of Economic Literature. Vol XLIII: 9-64.
Chorvat, T. R., McCabe, K. ve Smith, V. (2004). Law and neuroeconomics, Geor-
ge Mason Law and Economics Research Paper.
Yorgancılar, F. N. (2015). Tüketici Davranışı Nörolojisi: Nöro-ekonomi-EGG
Yöntemi ile Nöromarketing Uygulaması. Konya: Çizgi Bookstore.
Yorgancılar, F. N. (2018). Ad Elements’ Effect on Awareness and Ima-ge of a
Brand: A Field Research. Tanrıtanır, B. C. (Ed) ve Özer, S. (Ed). Academic
Research in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences – I. Ankara: Gece
Kitaplığı Publishing.
Yorgancılar, Fatma Nur. (2016). In Tv Commercials, The Theme of Women and
Sexuality On The Mind of Consumer: A Neuromarketing Application. The
Journal of Acedemic Social Sciences (ASOS). Year: 4 (26), 129-148.
 CHAPTER 20
THE EFFECT OF STRATEGIC
LEADERSHIP ON PRODUCT AND
SERVICE INNOVATION: THE
MODERATOR ROLE OF PERCEIVED
ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT

Saadet Ela PELENK1

1  Dr. Faculty Member, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, saadetela.

[email protected], https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-8068-5518
378 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

1. INTRODUCTION
The rapid environmental changes and increasing competition caused by
globalization make it difficult for businesses to survive. At this point, innovation
is no longer a luxury for businesses, on the contrary, it becomes a necessity
(Pelenk, 2016: 4). Innovation refers to both a process and an outcome. It is
possible for businesses to increase their productivity by gaining competence
in innovation. In this context, innovation is transforming new ideas into
value-creating outputs. In a way, it is combining creativity with commercial
mastery (Emiroğlu, 2018, p. 2). Innovation can happen in the company’s
products or services. Product innovation refers to taking existing products
to the next level (incremental innovation) or introducing a completely new
product (radical innovation) (Kırım, 2006 & Durna, 2002). In this context, the
business can add different features to its existing product or service or create
original new products or services that were not previously in the market. On
the other hand, environmental business conditions, economic uncertainties,
competition, increasing customer expectations, conscious consumers have
made it necessary for businesses to adapt to innovation and change in terms of
quality and functionality of products and services.
Innovation was first cited by the economist and political scientist
Joseph Schumpeter (1934) as the driving force of development and defined
it as “the introduction of a product that customers do not know yet, or a
new feature of an existing product; the introduction of a new production
method; opening of a new market, finding a new source for the supply of
raw materials or semi-finished products, and having a new organization of
an industry” (Emiroğlu, 2018: 4). In addition, innovation is a factor that
increases product and service quality and functionality. However, many
businesses do not realize or are yet to realize the importance of innovation.
Businesses that are aware of innovation successfully implement this change
in product, service, marketing, financial or organizational and reflect it on
company performance.
According to OECD literature, innovation plays a central role in
the growth of productivity and production. Thanks to the faster flow of
information and technological advances, knowledge has become the main
driver of economic growth and innovation. Along with the importance of
knowledge, the pioneer of innovation, J. Schumpeter has largely formed the
theories of innovation. In this context, economic development takes place
through creative destruction, a dynamic process where “new technology
replaces old one”. According to Schumpeter (1934), radical innovations
create significant destructive changes, on the other hand, incremental
(gradual-incremental) innovations move the change process forward (Oslo
Guide, 2005: 33). However, the trigger, driver and complement of the
innovation process is the leader.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .379

A leader is the person who creates awareness for innovation, locks all
other managers and employees to a common goal, ensures that the roadmap
in the business plan is drawn with the contribution of everyone, allocates the
necessary resources and creates an atmosphere that encourages innovation
(Emiroğlu, 2018: 64-65). Especially in uncertain sector conditions, the
enterprise needs a leader-manager who takes effective decisions and gives
confidence in line with its goals and objectives. On the other hand, it is
only possible for the business to adapt to change by producing innovative
products and services. However, innovation is a risky and expensive
process with a high success rate. In this process, it is important to provide
both physical (machine-equipment, technological infrastructure, R&D,
finance, etc.) and motivational support to employees. In this context,
it is believed that organizational support perceived by employees is a
trade-off between the organization and employees. Therefore, perceived
organizational support is the belief to what extent the organization values
the employee’s contribution to the organization and the extent to which
the organization attaches importance to the employee’s welfare (Ahmed
& Nawaz, 2015: 867-868). In order for the employee to contribute to the
business, the leader must recognize and evaluate the employee’s talent,
motivate the employee and direct him to the right job. Because leaders
are the biggest force behind successful business. The leader and his
team provide the necessary dynamics to initiate and maintain change
with strategic business plans. Leadership in innovation is the process of
directing and coordinating the actions of team members to achieve goals.
Therefore, the leader has a significant influence on the behavior of the
individual in the team. At this point, the leader makes the employees
willing to do the job beyond giving orders (Göktepe, 2004: 5-4). However,
the leader must have some characteristics in terms of effective thinking
and decision making. For example, the leader must be not only a strategic
planner but also a creative strategic thinker. Because plans, goals, tactics
and actions vary depending on the internal and external environment
or other possibilities. However, the purpose of strategic thinking is to
maintain a sense of purpose and directionality in the ups and downs of
institutional demands. Thinking strategically is done by focusing on the
values, vision and mission of the organization. In other words, this way of
thinking is about maintaining the internal order in the seeming disorder
of organizational life (Bouhali et al., 2015: 78). In this context, as a result
of sectoral difficulties, economic crises, changes in customer demand, and
chaos, the strategic leader ensures the stable progress of the enterprise and
the preservation of its internal order.
Strategic leadership studies have gained weight since the mid-1980s.
Strategic leadership focuses on managers with overall responsibility for
380 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

an organization (Jansen et al., 2009: 6). Therefore, strategic leadership

does not depend on the top management as a single individual, but
focuses on all employees who have comprehensive and detailed
responsibilities for the enterprise (Göktepe, 2004: 60-61). At this point,
this type of leadership begins with the identification of environmental
opportunities and threats (external environmental analysis). However,
top management can interpret environmental opportunities or threats in
different ways, and choosing a good strategy with these interpretations
brings business innovation success. There are studies in the literature
that include the relationship between strategic leadership, leadership and
innovation (Bouhali et al., 2015; Schweitzer, 2014; Jansen et al., 2009).
One of these studies belongs to Jansen et al. (2009:15) and in the related
study, it was determined that the transformational leadership included in
strategic leadership is related to exploratory innovation and transactional
leadership is related to exploitative innovation. In this context, while
transformative behaviors support organizational members to challenge
institutionalized learning and adopt productive and exploratory thinking
processes, transactional behaviors support improvement and development
by assuming a maintenance role. Likewise, according to Schweitzer
(2014:442), operational leadership behaviors are not only related to
operational capability development, but also contribute significantly to the
development of innovation abilities. In this context, the type of leadership
has important contributions to the innovation process and its success.
Along with the leadership type, the perceived support of the employees
can also increase their motivation. Perception of organizational support
is a driving factor that motivates employees to achieve business goals.
In this context, organizational support consists of the roles assumed by
the employees and the organization for constructive reciprocity. While
perceived organizational support is a sign of the value given to the effort and
contribution of the employee, it is also an indicator of the employee’s well-
being. Business management has increased its innovation success thanks
to positive and productive employees. Innovation requires positivity and
creativity as well as observation and foresight. When employees perceive
organizational support, they gain confidence and motivation, so they want
to do something and be useful for their organization. Employees develop
their skills and knowledge in this direction. In a way, stable strategic target
can ensure innovation success together with support.
The relationship between strategic leadership and innovation has been
studied by some researchers (Cortes, 2020; Kurzhals et al., 2020; Walden,
2020; Mascarenhas, 2011; Barsh et al., 2008; Elenkov et al., 2005). In these
studies, it is emphasized that strategic leadership and leader behaviors are
the basic values for innovation. Organizational acceptance and promotion
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .381

of innovation requires support from top management (Elenkov, Judge &

Wright, 2005: 669). The aim of the research is to examine the moderator
role of organizational support perception in the effect of strategic
leadership on product and service innovation. Innovation is a concept that
J. Schumpeter introduced to the literature. In terms of the importance of
the research, competition among businesses makes it necessary to produce
new products and services. In this context, innovative services and
products both stimulate the market and strengthen the profitability of the
enterprise. In this way, the business makes its place in the sector permanent
by branding its new product or service. The socio-economic effects of this
situation are the provision of more employment and qualified workforce,
and the added value to the country’s economy with the innovative product
and service revenues of the enterprises. On the other hand, the firm can
increase its performance in line with profitability and efficiency through
innovation. Employees can be more creative and productive with leader
trust and support. This can increase their self-confidence and make them
more qualified.
The first problem of this research is whether the strategic leader
influences product and service innovation. The second problem of the
research is whether perceived organizational support has a moderating
role in the effect of the strategic leader on product and service innovation.
A new product or service is possible with a planned innovation process.
First of all, the applicable ones among many new ideas are selected by
the business. Then, the feasibility studies of the business for this product
are reviewed, so the business is preparing to launch a new product or
service. With the necessary production process and inspection stages,
the prototype product is produced and introduced to the market, and then
the mass production decision is taken by evaluating the feedback. All
these important steps can only be possible with a leader who can think
strategically and predict the future, and who believes in innovation first.
The strategy requires the leader to see the opportunities and threats of
the environment and to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the
business, due to a good SWOT analysis. At this point, it is only the work
of a leader with a vision to respond to the demands and expectations of the
sector, to catch an economical and functional product and service that is
not in the market, to introduce this product to the market and to make it a
brand. On the other hand, finance, R&D, production-marketing support,
regional-global supports and leaders who are perceived as a model enable
innovation to be achieved. In this context, the leader should make people
believe in the success of innovation and create an innovation culture in
the business. This research contributes to the literature and the sector in
terms of the necessity of the presence of a leader who makes the employees
382 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

aware of the new product and service process in terms of its importance
and results, and the effect of this process on success when organized with
organizational support.
2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.1. Strategic Leadership
Leadership is organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal.
In this social impact process, a person can get the help and support of
his colleagues to fulfill a common task (Slimane, 2015: 218). In order for
managers to be qualified as a strategic leader, they must have basic qualities
such as being able to manage strategic change, making strategic decisions
in an environment of uncertainty, being innovative, having strategic
flexibility, and being able to lead in a crisis environment (Akgemci, 2015:
559). In this context, it is important for the strategic leader to adapt the
change to the business by observing and internalizing it.
Leadership perception combines with values to form the basis for
strategic choice. Values are treated as elements that can enter into a strategic
choice while influencing perceptions. At this point, the heterogeneity
of management will eliminate limited production and evaluation. In the
related model, psychological and observable top management features
such as product innovation, reaction time, etc. is the precursor of strategic
choices. In addition, these features are shown as factors that can affect the
profitability, profitability variation, development and performance of the
enterprise (Hambrick & Mason, 1984: 195-198). In this context, strategic
leadership is a set of activities related to the development and management
of the organization as a whole to reflect long-term policies (Akgemci, 2015:
556), while focusing on human, structure and social capital capabilities
to respond to opportunities and threats, it is a roadmap that develops the
business by making sense of chaos and uncertainty. (Akgemci, 2015:
557). Therefore, the strategic leader evaluates the current resource of the
organization and also plans the future business success. The ability of the
strategic leader to be a guide that improves the business by making sense
of the uncertainty is an ability to support innovation. Strategic leaders
differ from traditional leaders with their ability to design the future and
turn crisis into opportunity.
The innovation manager focuses on the target, recognizes
opportunities before anyone else and comes up with striking ideas, has
high self-confidence and self-discipline, attaches importance to quality
communication and cooperation, is flexible and constructive in adapting
to change, manages risk well by creating an innovation climate, believes
and empowers the employee. Managers use the competencies of inquiry,
observation, networking, experimentation, and association. At this point,
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .383

innovation is the responsibility of all employees, not just the manager

(Emiroğlu, 2018: 63-65).
Strategic leadership starts with a vision and there are two ways to
achieve the vision. The first way is related to the processes that create
the corporate climate and are linked to the strategy. The second way is
related to the skill and ability of the employee who creates the corporate
culture within the framework of human resource management and can
achieve business results (Akgemci, 2015: 562-563). At this point, it is
important to equip the employee to achieve the goal and to guide the
leader in the innovation process. Innovation strategies affect innovation
success. According to Calabrese and Costa (2015: 25), creating a strategy
is the cognitive decision-making process undertaken by the leader for the
successful management of the company. In this context, the decisions of
strategic leaders are important in product and service innovation, which
is the driving force of change and difference. Designing a new product or
service and stimulating the demand in the market can be possible with
leaders who can realize the opportunities-threats of the sector and develop
forward-looking ideas.
It is in question that managers who manage in a strategic way support
innovation activities and are in favor of change. In this respect, strategic
managers are expected to support all stages of innovation, to form teams
for innovation, to strive for the construction of an innovative culture in their
businesses, and to apply different methods compared to other management
styles in the idea generation, development and commercialization stages of
innovation. For example, while the dissatisfaction feature of the strategic
manager is the motivating factor for innovation, the ability to develop
strategic skills will lead to the effective management of the innovation
process. In this context, strategic managers have features such as giving
strategic direction to the business, turning the strategy into action,
determining effective strategic turning points, developing strategic skills,
not stopping, being able to carry, adapting, and wisdom (Taşgit & Torun,
2016: 130).
Strategy is the whole of information gathering, analysis, selection,
decision and implementation activities in order to maintain the
competitiveness and existence of the enterprise. Today, innovation does
not only go parallel to technology, but businesses also have to adopt
innovation strategies and strategies for competition. Therefore, the
analysis of the economic, social, political and technological environment
developing outside the enterprise, the analysis of the resources of the
enterprise, the general strategy of the enterprise, the analysis of the
information infrastructure of the enterprise, the analysis of the financial
resources of the enterprise and the analysis of the R&D structure of the
384 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

enterprise are required. While coordinating these analyzes, the strategic

leader uses human and physical resources to achieve the innovation goal.
The most rational strategies and policies in innovation are those created by
top management to guide subordinates in their work (Originated Strategy).
The strategic leader can take into account unexpected events, changed
approaches in practice, secondary and derivative support strategies and
policies, or the basic strategies and policies, all of which are supported by
the business mission and purpose (Emiroğlu, 2018: 79-84).
2.2.Product and Service Innovation
Product innovation includes significant advances in technology
to develop new products unlike existing ones, and represents a radical
change for the business when compared to product development. In
terms of businesses, innovation can be examined in two dimensions as
new products for the business and the market. The new product for the
enterprise measures how innovative the new product is compared to the
existing product of the enterprise, while the new product for the market
measures how new the product is for the market (Kılıç, 2013: 144-145).
Therefore, the frequency of incremental as well as radical innovation
increases the market share of the enterprise and is important for the
survival of the enterprise. In the related study, reactive and proactive
market orientation, incremental (gradual) and radical product innovation
variables are discussed and it is stated that the competitive advantage of
enterprises is not only possible with reactive market orientation, but also
with proactive market orientation. Based on the related study, predicting
future consumer expectations by the strategic leader and initiating the
necessary innovation process can increase the success rate of the business.
Because product innovation is seen in new outputs released for the benefit
of consumers, this is perceived as the most critical factor contributing
to the competitive advantage of the firm (Chang, Bai & Li, 2015: 19).
For example, the Togg electric domestic car, which offers a third living
space with user-oriented, empathetic, autonomous, smart technology,
designs the future with its human-oriented and life-facilitating design
and ergonomics of use (Togg, 2022). Businesses in the automotive and
technology sectors should give importance to service innovation as much
as product innovation in terms of quality and safety. Service innovation is
an important resource that provides competitive advantage and is driven
by the complex demands of customers for the improvement of services
(Işık, 2018: 356), it is the innovation and difference in a service, delivery
and delivery method that has changed significantly. Therefore, developing
such an innovation market is an important factor for retaining customers,
adding value and growing. According to Taşgit and Torun (2016: 123-
124), innovation activities contribute to the national economy and provide
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .385

better service to customers. In addition, innovation is important in terms

of productivity, profitability and the continuation of business existence.
While service innovation is generally positioned as organizational
innovation, businesses in the manufacturing sector mostly prefer process
and product innovations. Customers frequently receive feedback on new
service requests, how the service can be improved, and inadequacies
in the current service, and service quality is improved in many sectors.
There are four factors that affect innovative service innovation. These
factors are, respectively, market attractiveness, strategic human resources
management, market sensitivity and pre-launch activities (Yurt, 2021: 70-
74).
The extent to which leadership behavior can motivate innovation
through organizational knowledge depends on whether organizational
strategies can support overcoming the innovation impasse by rapidly
evaluating knowledge resources. At this point, strategic flexibility is an
institutional ability to deal with innovative uncertainty through flexible
adjustment in strategy. Resource allocation in innovative activities is a
reflection of organizational flexibility and is closely related to knowledge
management. Businesses with high strategic flexibility can fully discern
major changes in corporate innovative activities and rapidly mobilize
available resources to respond to these changes. In addition, strategic
flexibility can reduce the time for organizations to respond to changes in
innovative uncertainty, which supports the transformation of information
resources into innovation (Jia et al., 2021: 782). At this point, the effect of
the leader’s strategic choice and decisions in innovation is important. While
determining an innovative strategy in product and service, the company’s
desire to turn to products and services is of priority. If the business is
following an intensive innovation strategy, it will give direction to enter
the existing product market or expand its market by entering markets
that it has not entered before. If the business is following an extensive
innovation strategy, then it will decide in three main directions. First of all,
it will follow a vertical integrity and ensure the sales of its brand (Adidas
brand). Second, the business will choose to market products because it
is confident in its ability, capacity, robustness, and utility. Third, it will
choose a product that will not have much difficulty in market convenience,
new product development, management and financial resources. In this
context, what is our job while developing an innovation strategy? Who
are our consumers and what do they want? What is the consumer’s
expectation of the product price? Do we want to be a product leader? Do
we want to develop new products? What are our advantages in responding
to consumer needs? Who are our current and potential competitors? How
long can we continue to respond to consumer needs? What is our expected
386 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

profit margin? What basic form should our strategies take? The leader
should ask definite questions and get clear answers (Emiroğlu, 2018: 85-
87).
According to Lightfoot and Gebauer (2011), businesses implementing
an after-sales service strategy should focus on a narrow set of determinants
for service innovations. In addition, customer needs compliance, product
functionality and market competitiveness play an incremental role in after-
sales service. In the related study, it has been determined that innovation
culture and managers are among the antecedents that affect innovation
success. Accordingly, managers need to be open and creative, creating
a culture of innovation that encourages current norms to go beyond
technical boundaries. Team culture is necessary for the information
sharing behavior of the employees and the performance of the business
in the service delivery process and in the new service that meets the
demands of the customers (Yurt, 2021: 72). In the research conducted with
120 employees of innovative enterprises, it was determined that as the
applications for knowledge management increased, business innovation
increased (Pelenk, 2018: 12). Hu et al. (2008: 41) found a significant and
strong relationship between knowledge sharing, team culture and service
innovation in their research with 621 people working in an international
tourist hotel. In this context, in order to achieve high service innovation
performance, organizations first need to develop knowledge sharing
behaviors and a better team culture. Effective teams for innovation can be
established by an expert and idealistic manager.
Managers can create a culture of innovation by taking risks, breaking
resistance to change, and encouraging their employees to support new idea
generation. In the study conducted with 101 middle and senior managers,
the relationship between individual innovativeness and job satisfaction
was investigated. As a result of the research, it has been determined
that opinion leadership and risk taking from individual innovativeness
dimensions increase job satisfaction, and resistance to change reduces
job satisfaction of managers. In this context, managers can do their jobs
more efficiently as they lead innovation, take risks and resist change. The
satisfaction of the managers with their job will also reflect on the motivation
of the employees (Pelenk, 2019: 1149). In another study conducted with 126
managers working in medium-sized enterprises, it was determined that the
most important management style that affects the innovation performance
of the enterprise is charismatic and strategic management, and the variable
that has the highest positive effect on strategic management is competitive
advantage.
Along with strategic management and perceived organizational
support, employee behavior is important in terms of innovation speed
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .387

and effectiveness. The innovative behavior of the employees can affect the
perception and way of working even in situations of economic crisis and
dismissal. As a result of Pelenk’s (2020: 214) study with 125 personnel
working in a large-scale automobile factory, the moderator role of innovative
behavior in the relationship between job insecurity and task performance
was determined. At this point, innovative behavior with the support of
the leader can also increase task performance towards innovation. But
leaders’ rationality is limited because the leader’s strategic thinking
is a mix of rationality and insight. Therefore, strategic thinking should
explore both rationality and intuition that can support business innovation
(Calabrese & Costa, 2015: 24). In this context, innovation consists of a
strategic combination of all resources in order to bring competitiveness to
the business.
In the study conducted with 102 managers working in manufacturing
companies in terms of competitive strategies, which is a fundamental
issue in strategic management, it was determined that competitive
strategy is the variable that determines product quality. In this context,
competitive strategy can affect product quality. In the related study, it
has been determined that the strategy of differentiation from competitive
strategies has a positive and significant effect on product quality, and
the cost leadership strategy has a regulatory effect. Accordingly, as cost
leadership increases, product quality also increases (Prajogo, 2007: 76-78).
Cusumano et al. (2015: 560-564) evaluated the competitive strategies of
manufacturing companies according to service. In the related article, an
example of Xerox company that has been applying the same service policy
since 1960 is given. Xerox company does not hold real users responsible for
maintenance, repair, insurance, rental costs. In this respect, the company
has broader service agreements for the rental of basic computers and office
machines. Therefore, the investment made in the service determines the
position of the product in the market. In this context, the quality and
diversity of the service can give businesses a competitive advantage.
In addition, it can be stated that strategic leaders and managers turn to
product and service innovation to gain competitive advantage and ensure
the permanence of innovation with strategic decisions.
Makri and Scandura (2010: 83), in their study investigating the effect
of creative CEO leadership on innovation in high-tech companies, found
that creative and operational leadership behaviors were associated with
innovation quality, but creative leadership behaviors were more effective
in using science in innovation. At this point, innovation is a planned and
scientific process under the coordination of the leader and is based on
teamwork.
388 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

Strategic leadership focuses on multifunctional tasks that are

inherently uncertain and complex in order to improve firm performance
and harmonize the internal and external environment. Strategic leadership
consists of six practices. These are estimation, challenge, interpretation,
decision making, alignment and learning (Quansah et al., 2022: 1309).
Elenkov, Judge, and Wright (2005: 665) found that strategic leadership
behaviors have a strong positive effect on both product-market and
administrative innovations. Chang, Bai and Li (2015: 24) investigated
the impact of leaders on product and process innovation in China. One
of the research results is that the ability to acquire knowledge strengthens
the positive relationship between transactional leadership and product
innovation. Based on the literature, the first and second hypotheses of the
research are as follows:
H1: Strategic leadership effects product innovation positively and
significantly.
H2: Strategic leadership effects service innovation positively and
significantly.
2.3.The Moderator Role of Perception of Organizational Support
The perception of organizational support is an important variable for
the organization to reach its goals and is the psychological contract that the
employee has made with the organization (Aselage & Eisenberger, 2003:
491). By providing the necessary organizational support in this contract,
employees focus on their work with a positive work attitude. This situation
creates mutual cooperation between the organization and the employee.
Organizational support, which includes the mutual norm in the employee-
employer relationship, is expressed by the Organizational Support Theory.
If employees believe that the organization supports them, they usually
contribute more to the organization to respond to this support. Perceived
organizational support is the role of the organization for constructive
reciprocity, and positive behaviors of employees take place against it.
According to Social Exchange Theory, employees tend to have more
organizational commitment, contribution, perception of organizational
support, and less avoidance. For this reason, when employees’ perceptions
of organizational support increase, they feel obliged to contribute to
success and help the company reach its goals (as cited in Shehzad et al.,
2022). In a study conducted with 98 employees working in a food business,
it was determined that while superior support and colleague support are
factors that increase organizational support, superior support affects the
perception of organizational support more than colleague support (Yüksel,
2006: 27). In this context, with the expression of organizational support,
the management support can be understood as the leader’s technical,
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .389

financial and intellectual support, guidance and contribution can enable

the employees to work with a goal-oriented and faith. There may be positive
changes in the career of an employee who receives support from the leader.
Based on the relationship between organizational support and career
satisfaction, if businesses try to improve their managers, managers also
show more commitment to their businesses and develop their employees
more (Tansky & Cohen, 2001: 285). Supporting innovation is the premise
of creativity and innovative behavior. Individuals who receive strong
support for innovation live in a psychologically safe climate that allows and
encourages them to propose, discuss and develop new ideas (Devloo et al.,
2016: 516). Accordingly, when employees are supported by the leader, they
will gain more autonomy and freedom in their innovative behaviors (Foss,
Woll & Moilanen, 2013). In this context, it may be possible for leaders to
ensure the success of innovative products and services by directing their
employees with the right decisions through knowledge, experience and
abilities.
Employees develop perceptions of the value given by the organization
and overall views of how leaders value their contributions and care
about their well-being. Since supervisors are the representatives of
the organization with the responsibility of directing and evaluating the
performance of their subordinates, employees accept the positive or
negative actions of their supervisors as an indicator of organizational
support (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002: 700). In this context, employees
perceive leader support as organizational support.
As a result of Ahmed and Nawaz’s (2015: 867) study, perceived
organizational support was largely influenced by fairness, growth
opportunities, leader support and colleague support, and it also significantly
affected employee engagement, job satisfaction and organizational
commitment. On the other hand, it has been determined that it affects
organizational citizenship behavior and intention to leave. As a result,
manager and leader support can be one of the antecedents of perceived
organizational support.
The relationship between leadership and innovation has been included
in many studies (Slimane, 2015; Vaccaro et al., 2012; Agbor, 2008; Etro,
2004). However, no comprehensive study has been found in the literature
examining the regulatory role of organizational support in the effect of
strategic leadership on product and service innovation. At this point,
product and service innovation can stimulate the sales of the business and
increase its profitability. At the same time, since the business develops
in a different field with new products and services, it can stimulate the
economy by creating employment and provide added value to the sector.
Since the success rate of innovation is a risky and costly process, many
390 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

managers may not take this risk for their business. For this reason, a good
strategy should be applied in the implementation of an innovative idea.
The concepts of strategy and innovation intersect at the point of predicting
the future and forward-looking decisions. Strategic leaders are a guiding
and motivating factor for employees to adopt the aim of innovation and
work efficiently. On the other hand, the innovation success of any business
cannot be realized without support. Therefore, perceived organizational
support can provide the necessary resources to employees in this difficult
process. The moderator effect of organizational support has been examined
in various studies in the literature. Shehzad, Zhang, Alam, Cao, Boamah
and Ahmad (2022) showed that perceived organizational support improves
the effects of collective culture on knowledge management processes
and has a moderator effect. In the study of Cheng and Yi (2018), with
355 hotel employees, the moderating effect of perceived organizational
support on the relationship between job resourcefulness, burnout and job
satisfaction was determined. Qi et al. (2019: 9), identified the mediating
role of organizational support in the effect of inclusive leadership on the
innovative behavior of employees. When employees perceive that ideas,
technologies and processes are more covered by leaders in the study,
they feel more valuable and important, and thus their innovative behavior
increases. In a way, the leader’s appreciation of employees, valuing their
ideas and increasing their participation in the work positively affect
innovation. Based on the literature, the third and fourth hypotheses of the
research are as follows:
H3: Perceived organizational support has a moderator role in the effect
of strategic leadership on product innovation.
H4: Perceived organizational support has a moderator role in the effect
of strategic leadership on service innovation.
Based on the research hypotheses, the model of the research is shown
in Figure 1:

Figure 1. Model of the Research

International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .391

3.METHOD
3.1. Scales of the Research
The first part of the questionnaire consists of questions about gender,
education, position, marital status and age to measure demographic infor
mation. 283 people participated in the survey. 45% of the participants
(127 people) are women and 55% (156 people) of the participants are men.
65% of the participants (184 people) have a university graduate.15% of
the participants (42 people) have a master’s degree. 10% (28 people) of the
participants are doctoral graduates. The remaining participants (10% of the
participants) are vocational high school graduates. 55% of the participants
(156 people) consist of middle and senior employees. 40% (113 people) of
the remaining participants are civil servants. 5% of the participants are
security personnel. 62% of the participants (175 people) are married. The
average age of the participants is 36.
In the second part of the questionnaire, a questionnaire consisting of
twenty-eight questions was used to measure the perception of strategic
leadership, product innovation, service innovation and perceived
organizational support. In order to measure strategic leadership in the
survey, the strategic leadership scale consisting of 10 questions used
by Ergen (2011) was used. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of the scale
was determined as 0.62. One of the scale questions is “I encourage my
subordinates to participate in decision making”. In this study, the Cronbach
Alpha coefficient of the strategic leadership scale was determined as 0.97.
In order to measure product innovation in the questionnaire, the product
innovation scale consisting of 5 items and one dimension used by Guijarro
(2001), Vila and Kuster (2007) was used. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of
the scale was determined as 0.75. One of the scale questions is “The product
has perceived technological sophistication”. In this study, the Cronbach Alpha
coefficient of product innovation is 0.94. The 5-item service innovation scale
used by Avlonitis et al.(2001), Hsu et al. (2018) in their studies was used to
measure service innovation in the survey. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient
of the scale was determined as 0.88. One of the scale questions is “There
are extended service lines available”. In this study, the Cronbach Alpha
coefficient of service innovation is 0.970. Eisenberger et al.’s (1986) perceived
organizational support scale, consisting of 8 items and one dimension, was
used to measure perceived organizational support in the questionnaire. The
Cronbach Alpha coefficient of the scale was determined as 0.87. One of the
scale questions is “The organization is proud of my achievements at work”.
The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of perceived organizational support in this
study was 0.972. A 5-point Likert scale was used in the study, and the answers
were scored from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).
392 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

3.2. The Universe and Sample of the Research

The universe of the research consists of 300 employees of a large-scale
enterprise operating in Istanbul, producing computers and by-products
and having technical service. An online questionnaire was distributed to
the participants and feedback was received from 290 employees. After
removing seven incorrect and incompletely filled questionnaires from the
returned questionnaires, the remaining 283 questionnaires constitute the
sample of the research. Accordingly, the rate of return to the questionnaires
is 0.94. The size of the sample was reached through the formula below
(Köse, 2018: 76).
n0 = (t2 X p.q) / d2; n0 = 1.962 X 0.25 / 0.052 ; n0 = 0.9604 / 0.0025; n0
= 384.16
n = n0 / [ 1 + (n0 1) / N ]; n = 384.16 / [1 + (384.16 – 1) / 300]; n = 384.16
/ [1 +383.16 /300]; n = 384.16/2.2772; n = 168,6
Estimated deviation value of the population was taken as d = 0.05,
confidence level (1 – α) = 0.95. The t value corresponding to the confidence
level in the table is 1.96. The p value was taken as 0.5 to give the largest
variance for the appropriate sample size. Accordingly, the sample size
(168.6) was calculated as approximately 169 people. In this study, 283
samples were included in the analysis, which is above the required number
of samples. Research data were collected between 1 July 2019 and 1
December 2019.
4. METHODOLOGY
The aim of this research is to examine the moderator role of perceived
organizational support in the effect of strategic leadership on product and
service innovation. For this reason, a survey study was conducted in a
company operating in the field of technology in Istanbul. The universe of
the research consists of 300 employees of a large-scale enterprise operating
in Istanbul, producing computers and by-products, and having technical
service. An online questionnaire was distributed to the participants. After
removing seven incorrect and incompletely filled questionnaires from the
returned questionnaires, the remaining 283 questionnaires constitute the
sample of the research. Survey tool and convenience sampling method
were used in the research. Research data were analyzed with SPSS 23
program and multiple regression analysis.
The reason why the sample was chosen from the technology sector
is that they implement the innovation process and produce innovative
products. Businesses in the field of technology often innovate products
and services. In this context, the type of innovation can be radical or
incremental according to customer demand and market conditions.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .393

The questionnaire consists of two parts, including demographic and

scale questions. The first part of the questionnaire consists of questions
about gender, education, position, marital status and age to measure
demographic information. The second part of the questionnaire consists of
twenty-eight questions to measure the perception of strategic leadership,
product innovation, service innovation and perceived organizational
support. The questionnaire was evaluated with a five-point Likert scale.
5. FINDINGS
5.1.Validity and Reliability Analysis of Scales
Exploratory factor analysis was performed for the validity of the scales
used in the study. Cronbach Alpha values were calculated to determine the
reliability. SPSS 23 Program was used in the analysis of the research data.
The data are normally distributed. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test
was used to determine whether the sample size was sufficient for factor
analysis. The KMO values of the scales were found to be 0.50 above the
accepted threshold value (Field, 2000). While examining the factors, those
with eigenvalues greater than 1 were taken as the basis. Cronbach Alpha
values of 0.70 and above indicate the reliability of the scales (Kalaycı,
2008). In this study, Cronbach Alpha values were found to be over 0.70.
The results of the validity and reliability analyzes of the research scales are
shown in Table1, Table 2 and Table 3.

Table 1. Factor and Reliability Analysis of the Strategic Leadership Scale

In Table 1, the factor loads of strategic leadership vary between

0.882 and 0.920. The eigenvalue of strategic leadership is 7,928 and the
eigenvalue is greater than 1. The total variance explained by the strategic
leadership is 79.27%, and the Cronbach Alpha (α) is 0.970.
394 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

Table 2. Factor and Reliability Analyzes of the Perceived Organizational

Support Scale

In Table 2, the factor loads of perceived organizational support are

between 0.840 and 0.950.The eigenvalue of strategic leadership is 6,710,
and eigenvalue is greater than 1. The total variance explained by the
strategic leadership is 83.87%, and the Cronbach Alpha (α) is 0.972.

Table 3. Factor and Reliability Analyzes of Product and Service Innovation

Scales
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .395

In Table 3, product innovation factor loads are between 0.894 and

0.925. The eigenvalue of product innovation is 4,473, and the eigenvalue
is greater than 1. The total variance explained by product innovation is
89.46%, and the Cronbach Alpha (α) is 0.949. In Table 3, service innovation
factor loads are between 0.928 and 0.959. The eigenvalue of service
innovation is 4,163, and the eigenvalue is greater than 1. The total variance
explained by service innovation is 83.25%, and the Cronbach Alpha (α) is
0.970.
5.2. Hypothesis Tests
In order to test the relationships between dependent variables (product
and service innovation) and independent variable (strategic leadership)
and moderator variable (perceived organizational support) in the research
model, correlation and multiple regression analysis were performed. The
correlation table showing the direction of the relationship between all
variables is shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Correlation Table

Variables SL POS PI SI
SL 1 0,333** 0,420** 0,405**
POS 0,333** 1 0,826** 0,783**
PI 0,420** 0,826** 1
SI 0,405** 0,783** 1
sd 0,982 0,928 0,845 0,866
Mean 4,024 4,274 4,279 4,224
n= 283; *p<0,05,**p<0,01

According to the data in the correlation table in Table 4, strategic

leadership and perceived organizational support are moderately and
positively related (r=0.333**; p<0.01), strategic leadership and product
innovation are moderately and positively related (r= 0.420**; p<0.01),
strategic leadership and service innovation are moderately and positively
correlated (r=0.405**; p<0.01), perceived organizational support and
product innovation are highly and positively correlated (r =0.826**;
p<0.01), perceived organizational support and service innovation were
highly and positively related (r=0.783**; p<0.01).
Before starting the analysis, the normal distribution of the research
data was determined. In a normal distribution, the skewness and kurtosis
coefficients should be between -1 and 1 (Tabanchnick & Fidell, 2013), or
if the skewness coefficient is between -1 and 1, the kurtosis coefficient
should be between -2 and 2, if the kurtosis coefficient is between -1 and
1, the skewness coefficient should be between -2. It is stated that it can
396 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

be in the range of 2 to 2 (George & Mallery, 2001). Among the research

variables, the control of the multilinear problem was made. In this context,
VIF values are considered. If VIF (Variance Inflation Factor-Variance
Increase Factor) is equal to or greater than 10, it indicates that there is
a multicollinearity problem (Büyükuysal & Öz, 2016: 111). However,
the existence of autocorrelation between the data was determined by the
Durbin-Watson coefficient. Accordingly, it is desirable that the Durbin-
Watson coefficients be between “1.50 and 2.50” (Uslu & Aktaş, 2017: 149).
Both statistical values were checked and it was determined that there was
no problem and regression analysis was started.

Table 5. The Impact of Strategic Leadership on Product Innovation

In Table 5, Model-1 is statistically significant (R 2= 0.197; F=53,604;

p=0.000). As a result of the analysis, strategic leadership positively and
significantly affected product innovation (β= 0.444; t= 7.321; p=0.000). H1
hypothesis was supported.

Table 6. The Impact of Strategic Leadership on Service Innovation

In Table 6, the model is statistically significant (R 2= 0.164; F=55.001;

p=0.000). The analyzes showed that strategic leadership positively and
significantly affects service innovation (β= 0.405; t= 7.416; p=0.000). H2
hypothesis was supported.
In order to measure the moderator role of perceived organizational
support in the effect of strategic leadership on product and service
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .397

innovation, multiple regression analysis was performed in SPSS.23

program. In order to solve the multicollinearity problem that may arise in
the variables, the independent variable and the moderator variable were
centralized (Aiken & West, 1991; Cohen & Cohen, 1983), the interaction
value was found as standardized. Regression data were analyzed at 95%
confidence interval.

Table 7. The Moderator Role of Perceived Organizational Support in the Effect

of Strategic Leadership on Product Innovation

The regression model for the moderator effect of perceived

organizational support in Table 7 is statistically significant (Model-3:
R 2=0.713; F=230.530; p=0.00). The statistical significance of the regulatory
role of the interaction variable in Model-3 (β= 0.107; p=0.011; p<0.05) in
the relationship between strategic leadership and product innovation was
determined, and the H3 hypothesis was supported.

Table 8. The Moderator Role of Perceived Organizational Support in the Effect

of Strategic Leadership on Service Innovation

The regression in Table 8 is statistically significant (R 2=0.642;

F=166.549; p=0.00). As a result of the analysis, the moderator role of
the interaction variable (β= 0.095; p=0.043; p<0.05) in the Model-4 in
398 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

the relationship between strategic leadership and service innovation was

statistically significant and the H4 hypothesis was supported.
6. CONCLUSION
In today’s conditions, the success of businesses depends on the
application of innovation (Mc Adam & Keogh, 2004). Globalization,
destructive competition, technological developments and rapid changes
in consumer preferences require innovation. J. Schumpeter (1934), who
introduced the concept of innovation to the literature, defined innovation
as the reflection of a new product, a new production method, a new market,
a new source of supply or new outputs of a new organizational structure.
Therefore, innovation is important in terms of productivity of enterprises
as well as providing the development of the economy. New products, new
product line, functional new services, different designs can be counted
as innovations. In addition, innovative solutions in after-sales service
in sectors such as consumer durables, technology and automotive can
increase customer satisfaction with products and services.
Good management ensures that the business maintains its existence
and is efficient. Businesses, one of the basic factors of the economy, need
managers who think strategically. Because technological developments
and market competition, globalization and brand process, and the selection
of a qualified employee’s job lead managers to think about the next move.
Strategic management provides the company with competitive ability
in line with the business purpose. Innovation also includes strategy.
Innovation is a process that is flexible and adaptable to change, takes risks
and includes fault tolerance. So, can a manager with strict adherence to rules
and access to professional networks ensure the success of innovation? The
strategic leader can see innovation as a part of the strategic plans created
in line with the purpose and mission of the enterprise. Studies have shown
that managers in positions of authority with access to strong professional
networks and corporate resources are more active innovators (Jolles et al.,
2016: 424). In this context, the manager may accept an innovative system
or model depending on whether it benefits the institution.
Innovation is an economic concept that affects business profitability
and efficiency. After the strategic environmental analysis, it is discussed
whether to continue with the imitation product or the original product
in order for the business to survive. At this point, unopened markets
with the blue ocean strategy, radical product or service innovation can
be preferred to stimulate future demand and create demand. Innovation
has an impact on business performance, productivity, and creating new
markets with technology and business model innovation. Now, instead
of linear models in innovation, systematic and learning network models
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .399

with a self-renewing, flexible and learning structure are used (Emiroğlu,

2018: 50). Therefore, innovation progresses by learning. The success of
innovation primarily occurs when managers believe in innovation. The
organizational support provided with the innovation culture to be created
by the manager increases the success of innovation. The success of service
innovation depends on factors such as focusing on new service strategies
related to business strategies, using communication channels actively in
the development of new ideas, originality, and employing multifunctional
organization members in the organization. At this point, customers
determine the value and quality of the product and service (Yurt, 2021:76).
Innovation performance of enterprises Blue Ocean Strategy,
Competition Strategy Theory; Innovation abilities of employees can
be explained by Leader-Member Interaction Theory and Self-Efficacy
Theory. Leader support (Akkoç, Turunç & Çalışkan, 2011), leadership
style (Jung, 2001), perceived organizational support (Yuan & Woodman,
2010) are counted among the organizational and managerial antecedents of
innovation and performance. In this context, it is possible for employees to
transform their skills and knowledge into successful innovative products
and services with the organizational support they perceive.
According to the result of the first hypothesis test of this research, in
which the moderator role of perceived organizational support perception
in the effect of strategic leadership on product and service innovation was
examined, strategic leadership positively and significantly effected product
innovation and H1 hypothesis was supported. According to this result, the
strategic leader’s decisions and thoughts increase product innovation. This
conclusion is supported by the studies of Chang, Bai and Li (2015), Makri
and Scandura (2010), Elenkov, Judge and Wright (2005). As a result of
the second hypothesis test of the research, strategic leadership positively
and significantly effected service innovation and H2 hypothesis was
supported. According to this result, the strategic leader’s decisions and
thoughts increase service innovation and the result is supported by the
Lightfoot and Gebauer (2011) study. As a result of the third hypothesis test
of the research, the moderator role of perceived organizational support in
the relationship between strategic leadership and product innovation was
determined and H3 hypothesis was supported. According to this result,
perceived organizational support regulates the effect of the strategic leader
on product innovation. Therefore, employees can positively reflect the
support they receive from managers to their work. Thus, more efficient
results can be obtained from innovation with the adoption of the common
goal of the employees. This idea is similar to the study results of Qi et
al. (2019), Foss et al. (2013). As a result of the fourth hypothesis test of
the research, the regulatory role of perceived organizational support in
400 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

the relationship between strategic leadership and service innovation was

determined and H4 hypothesis was supported. According to this result,
perceived organizational support regulates the effect of the strategic leader
on service innovation. At this point, employees accept the leader’s positive
approach to themselves as an indicator of organizational support (Yüksel,
2006; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Therefore, perceived organizational
support is affected by managerial support (Ahmed & Nawaz, 2015). Is
product or service innovation possible when employees do not perceive
organizational support? Many studies confirm that innovation can only
solve an existing problem or create a useful product/service with good
motivation. The fact that the leader is the first perceived example of the
employees at the point of organizational support shows that the human
being, who is a psychological being, needs motivation.
This study provides important contributions to the management and
innovation literature. In this study, a positive and significant effect of the
strategic leader on product and service innovation was determined. In
addition, it has been determined that perceived organizational support plays
a moderator role in this effect. First of all, strategic leaders are a motivating
force in the development of competitively important products and services,
and in directing qualified employees towards the goal of innovation. At the
same time, the leader is a person who turns the mistakes in the innovation
process of the employees into success, creates an innovation culture and
climate, takes an active role in teamwork, has a high impact and is taken as
a model. In addition, employees can produce products or services in a more
motivated and target-oriented manner with the organizational support they
perceive. The leader should adopt the strategic importance of innovation to
subordinates through benchmarking, practical examples and group work.
When creativity and predictive ability in innovation are combined with the
aim of providing solutions to problems and facilitating life, they emerge
as products of different designs or services with improved benefits. At
this point, it is possible for managers to extend the life of products and
services by combining innovation with strategy. Managers can develop
their innovation strategies towards employee talents, environmental
opportunities and increase the impact of innovation. Businesses most
commonly use strategies and policies invented in innovation. Managers
should communicate the innovation strategy to subordinates in HR
meetings, innovation teamwork and training and be able to apply different
innovation strategies (basic, derivative, secondary, etc.) situationally.
Since innovation is a risky process, not every manager looks at
innovation moderately. However, this perception has evolved today.
Businesses have started to use nanotechnology, key technology, basic
technology and pioneering technologies for competition. While technology
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .401

provides quality services and products above consumer expectations, it

provides economic production opportunities. Thus, business resources are
evaluated more efficiently. When the constructive and predictive decisions
of the managers regarding the external environment opportunities are
combined with the core capability of the business, innovation success
is inevitable. In terms of the importance of this research, the strategic
decisions of the leader in innovation success and process should be
included with organizational support. Undoubtedly, not every business has
the means to successfully complete this difficult process with its financial
and technological infrastructure. However, the leader’s environment,
communication, transformation and adaptation to change are effective in
the management of the product life cycle. In this context, the strategic
leader aims to discover and develop employee talents in order to use an
effective innovation strategy, which technology to use, and to turn new
product development into a competitive advantage. For this purpose, it
makes systematic decisions, sees the organization as a whole, collects,
analyzes and evaluates information as an open system.
As a result of this research, it is recommended that managers make
a business plan in line with the abilities of their employees while making
strategic decisions. Managers must use “inquiry, observation, networking,
experimentation and association competencies” for a successful innovation
process. Creative and productive thinking of employees can be achieved
through idea generation meetings, seminars, technology-based trainings
and brainstorming techniques for the design, creation and implementation
of future products and services. Managers should not only be good
mentors, but also show their support to employees by participating in
teamwork. Employees should not be pressured to “never make a mistake”.
In order for employees to think freely and flexibly, a culture of innovation
should be created. At this point, first of all, the manager should believe
in innovation. This research was carried out with the employees of an
organization that has a wide range of products in the field of technology
and has a different perspective in the field of service. The limitation of
the study is that it was conducted only in the technology sector. In future
research, it is recommended to examine innovation in different sectors that
can be applied both on a product basis and on a service basis.
AUTHORS’ DECLARATION:
This paper complies with Research and Publication Ethics, has no
conflict of interest to declare, and has received no financial support. There
is no need to obtain ethical permission for the current study as per the
legislation. Because this research data were collected in 2019. According
to the official publication procedure, ethics committee approval is required
for studies in 2020 and beyond.
402 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS:
All processes including conceptualization, original draft writing,
editing, data collection, methodology, formal analysis, final approval and
accountability were done by the corresponding author.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .403

REFERENCES

Agbor, E. (2008). Creativity and innovation: The leadership dynamics. Journal of

Strategic Leadership, 1(1), 39-45.
Ahmed, I., & Nawaz, M. M. (2015). Antecedents and outcomes of perceived or-
ganizational support: A literature survey approach. Journal of Management
Development, 34(7).
Aiken, L.S., & West, S.G. (1991). Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting
Interactions. Sage Publications.
Akgemci, T. (2015). Stratejik Yönetim (4. Baskı). Gazi Kitapevi.
Akkoç, İ., Turunç Ö., & Çalışkan, A. (2011). Gelişim kültürü ve lider desteğinin
yenilikçi davranış ve iş performansına etkisi: İş-aile çatışmasının aracılık
rolü. The Journal of Industrial Relations and Human Resources, 13(4), 83-
114.
Aselage, J.,& Eisenberger, R. (2003).Perceived organizational support and psy-
chological contracts: A theoretical iniegration. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, 24,491-509.
Avlonitis, G.J., Papastathopoulou, P.G., & Gounaris, S.P. (2001). An empirical-
ly-based typology of product innovativeness for new financial services:
Success and failure scenarios. Journal of Product Innovation Manage-
ment,18 (5), 324-342.
Barsh, J., Capozzi, M. M., & Davidson, J. (2008). Leadership and innovation. Mc-
Kinsey Quarterly, 1.
Bouhali, R., Mekdad, Y., Lebsir, H., & Ferkha, L. (2015). Leader roles for inno-
vation: Strategic thinking and planning.  Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 181, 72-78.
Büyükuysal, M. Ç., & Öz, İ. İ. (2016). Çoklu doğrusal bağıntı varlığında en küçük
karelere alternatif yaklaşım: Ridge regresyon.  Düzce Üniversitesi Sağlık
Bilimleri Enstitüsü Dergisi, 6(2), 110-114.
Calabrese, A., & Costa, R. (2015). Strategic thinking and business innovation:
Abduction as cognitive element of leaders’strategizing. Journal of Engine-
ering and Technology Management, 38, 24-36.
Chang, J., Bai, X., & Li, J. J. (2015). The influence of leadership on product and
process innovations in China: The contingent role of knowledge acquisiti-
on capability. Industrial Marketing Management, 50, 18-29.
Cheng, J.C., & Yi, O. (2018). Hotel employee job crafting, burnout, and satisfacti-
on: The moderating role of perceived organizational support. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 72, 78-85.
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis
for the Behavioral Sciences. Erlbaum.
404 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

Cortes, A. F., & Herrmann, P. (2021). Strategic leadership of innovation: A fra-

mework for future research.  International Journal of Management Re-
views, 23(2), 224-243.
Cusumano, M.A., Kahl, S. J., & Suarez, F.F. (2015). Services, industry evoluti-
on and the competitive strategies of product fırms, Strategic Management
Journal, 36(4), 559-575.
Devloo, T., Anseel, F., De Beuckelaer, A., & Feys, M. (2016). When the fire dies:
Perceived success and support for innovation shape the motivating poten-
tial of innovative work behaviour. European Journal of Work and Organi-
zational Psychology, 25(4), 512-524.
Durna, U. (2002). Yenilik Yönetimi. Nobel Yayınları.
Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S.,& Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived or-
ganizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500.
Elenkov, D. S., Judge, W., & Wright, P. (2005). Strategic leadership and exe-
cutive innovation influence: An international multi‐cluster comparative
study. Strategic Management Journal, 26(7), 665-682.
Emiroğlu, A. (2018). İnovasyon ve Teknoloji Yönetimi (1. Baskı). Ekin Yayınevi.
Ergen, T. (2011). Stratejik Liderlik ve Takım Çalışmasındaki Rolü Erzurum İli
112 Acil Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Bir Uygulama. 󠇁[Yayımlanmamış Yüksek
lisans tezi]. Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İşletme Ana Bi-
lim Dalı, Erzurum.
Etro, F. (2004). Innovation by leaders. The Economic Journal, 114(495), 281-303.
Field, A. (2000).Discovering Statistics Using Spss for Windows. Sage Publicati-
ons.
Foss, L., Woll, K., & Moilanen, M. (2013). Creativity and implementations of
new ideas: Do organisational structure, work environment and gender mat-
ter? International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 5(3).
George, D., & Mallery, M. (2001). SPSS for Windows Step by Step: A Simple Gui-
de and Reference 10.0 Update (3rd Edition). Allyn and Bacon.
Göktepe, A. O. (2004). Stratejik Liderlik Özelliklerinin Analizi ve Bir Uygulama.
[Yüksek Lisans Tezi]. Çanakkale On Sekiz Mart Üniversitesi Sosyal Bi-
limler Enstitüsü, Çanakkale.
Guijarro, J.M. (2001). Gestio´n de la Innovacio´n En Las Empresas Industriales
de la Comunidad Valenciana. Construccio´n de una tipologı´a. Serie de Es-
tudios Regionales, Comunidad Valenciana, Servicios de Estudios BBVA,
Madrid.
Hambrick, D. C., & Mason, P. A. (1984). Upper echelons: The organization as
a reflection of its top managers.  Academy of Management Review,  9(2),
193-206.
Hu, M. L. M., Horng, J. S., & Sun, Y. H. C. (2009). Hospitality teams: Knowledge
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .405

sharing and service innovation performance. Tourism Management, 30(1),

41-50.
Hsu, H. Y., Liu, F. H., Tsou, H. T., & Chen, L. J. (2018). Openness of technology
adoption, top management support and service innovation: A social inno-
vation perspective. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 34(3).
Işık, M. (2018). İnovasyon kültürünün hizmet inovasyonu performansına etkisi:
Bitlis ili hizmet sektöründe bir araştırma. Atatürk Üniversitesi İktisadi ve
İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 32(2), 351-366.
Jansen, J. J., Vera, D., & Crossan, M. (2009). Strategic leadership for exploration
and exploitation: The moderating role of environmental dynamism.  The
Leadership Quarterly, 20(1), 5-18.
Jia, R., Hu, W., & Shuwen, L. I. (2021). Ambidextrous leadership and organizati-
onal innovation: The importance of knowledge search and strategic flexibi-
lity. Journal of Knowledge Management. 26(3).
Jolles, M. P., Mc Beath, B., Carnochan, S., & Austin, M. J. (2016). Factors as-
sociated with managerial innovation in public human service organizati-
ons.  Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Gover-
nance, 40(4), 421-434.
Jung, D. I. (2001). Transformational and transactional leadership and their effects
on creativity in groups. Creativity Research Journal, 13(2), 185-195.
Kalaycı, Ş. (2008). Spss Uygulamalı Çok Değişkenli İstatistik Teknikleri. Asil Ya-
yınları.
Kılıç, S. (2013). İnovasyon Anlayışına Dayalı Ürün Geliştirme Performansının
Değerlendirilmesi [Doktora Tezi]. Uludağ Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler
Enstitüsü, İşletme Anabilim Dalı Üretim Yönetimi ve Pazarlama Bilim
Dalı, Bursa.
Kırım, A. (2006). İnovasyon: Para Kazandıran Yenilikçilik (1. Baskı). Sistem Ya-
yıncılık.
Köse, A. A. (2018). Özel Okul Müdürlerinin Stratejik Liderlik Davranışları ile
Örgüt Sağlığı Arasındaki İlişki. [Yüksek Lisans Tezi ]. Gazi Üniversitesi
Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara.
Kurzhals, C., Graf‐Vlachy, L., & König, A. (2020). Strategic leadership and
technological innovation: A comprehensive review and research agen-
da. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 28(6), 437-464.
Lightfoot, H. W. ve Gebauer, H. (2011). Exploring the alignment between service
strategy and service innovation. Journal of Service Management, 22(5).
Makri, M., & Scandura, T. A. (2010). Exploring the effects of creative CEO lea-
dership on innovation in high-technology firms. The Leadership Quarter-
ly, 21(1), 75-88.
Mascarenhas, O. A. (2011). Business transformation strategies: The strategic lea-
der as innovation manager. Sage Publications.
406 . Saadet Ela Pelenk

McAdam, R., & Keogh, W. (2004). Transitioning towards creativity and innovati-
on measurement in SMEs. Creativity and Innovation Management, 13(2),
126-139.
Oslo Guide (2005). Erişim adresi: https://www.tubitak.gov.tr/tubitak_content_fi-
les/BTYPD
/kilavuzlar/Oslo_3_TR.pdf (20.12.2022).
Pelenk, S.E. (2016). Yenilikçi İnsan Kaynakları Yönetimi Uygulamalarının Yenilik
Odaklı Bir Kültür Oluşturmadaki Rolü Bağlamında İş Tatmini ve İş Per-
formansı Üzerindeki Etkileri. [Doktora Tezi]. Kocaeli Üniversitesi Sosyal
Bilimler Enstitüsü İşletme Anabilim Dalı Yönetim ve Organizasyon Bilim
Dalı, Kocaeli.
Pelenk, S.E. (2018). Bilgi tabanlı yeni ekonomide bilgi yönetimi ve yenilikçi işlet-
meler, Business and Management Studies: An International Journal, 6(3).
Pelenk, S. E. (2019). Bireysel yenilikçiliğin iş tatminine etkisi: Teknoloji işletme
yöneticileri ile bir araştırma. Opus International Journal of Society Rese-
arches, 14(20), 1136-1160.
Pelenk, S. E. (2020). İş güvencesizliğinin görev performansına etkisi: Yenilikçi
davranışın düzenleyici rolü. Bilecik Şeyh Edebali Üniversitesi Sosyal Bi-
limler Dergisi, 5(1), 214-233.
Prajogo, D.I. (2007). The relationship between competitive strategies and product
quality. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 107 (1).
Qi, L., Liu, B., Wei, X., & Hu, Y. (2019). Impact of inclusive leadership on emp-
loyee innovative behavior: Perceived organizational support as a media-
tor. Plos One, 14(2).
Quansah, E., Moghaddam, K., Solansky, S., & Wang, Y. (2022). Strategic leader-
ship in SMEs: The mediating role of dynamic capabilities. Leadership and
Organization Development Journal, 43(8).
Rhoades, L. ve Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived organizational support: A review
of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698.
Schumpeter, J. A. (1934). The Theory Economic Development. Harvard Univer-
sity Press.
Schweitzer, J. (2014). Leadership and innovation capability development in stra-
tegic alliances. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 35(5).
Shehzad, M. U., Zhang, J., Alam, S., Cao, Z., Boamah, F. A., & Ahmad, M. (2022).
Knowledge management process as a mediator between collaborative cul-
ture and frugal innovation: The moderating role of perceived organizati-
onal support.  Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. https://doi.
org/10.1108/JBIM-01-2022-0016
Slimane, M. (2015). Relationship between innovation and leadership.  Proce-
dia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 181, 218-227.
International Academic Research and Reviews in Social, Human and Administrative Sciences .407

Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using Multivariate Statistics (6th Edi-
tion). Pearson.
Tansky, J. W., & Cohen, D. J. (2001). The relationship between organizational
support, employee development, and organizational commitment: An em-
pirical study. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 12(3), 285-300.
Taşgit, Y.E., & Torun, B. (2016). Yöneticilerin inovasyon algısı, inovasyon süreci-
ni yönetme tarzı ve işletmelerin inovasyon performansı arasındaki ilişkiler:
Kobi’ler üzerinde bir araştırma, Yönetim Bilimleri Dergisi, 14(28).
Togg (2022). Togg. https://www.togg.com.tr/, adresinden 20.11.2022 tarihinde
alınmıştır.
Uslu, S., & Aktaş, H. (2017). İşten ayrılma niyeti ile örgütsel sessizlik etkileşi-
minde iş güvencesi memnuniyeti ve iş güvencesi endeksinin aracı rolü:
Özel bir hastane çalışanları üzerinde bir araştırma. Eskişehir Osmangazi
Üniversitesi İİBF Dergisi,12(1), 141-160.
Vaccaro, I. G., Jansen, J. J., Van Den Bosch, F. A., & Volberda, H. W. (2012).
Management innovation and leadership: The moderating role of organiza-
tional size. Journal of Management Studies, 49(1), 28-51.
Vila, N. , & Kuster, I. (2007). The importance of innovation in international textile
firms. European Journal of Marketing, 41(1/2).
Walden, R., Lie, S., Pandolfo, B., & Nemme, A. (2020). Developing strategic lea-
dership and innovation capability for manufacturing SMEs transitioning to
digital manufacturing technology. In Leadership styles, innovation, and so-
cial entrepreneurship in the era of digitalization (pp. 164-189). IGI Global.
Yuan, F., & Woodman, R. W. (2010). Innovative behavior in the workplace: The
role of performance and image outcome expectations. Academy of Mana-
gement Journal, 53(2), 323-342.
Yurt, İ. (2021). Çalışanın Sahip Olduğu Pozitif Psikolojik Sermayenin Hizmet
İnovasyonu Performansına ve Örgütsel Muhalefete Etkisi: Turizm Alanın-
da Bir Uygulama. [Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi]. Karabük Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İşletme Anabilim Dalı, Karabük.
Yüksel, İ. (2006). Örgütsel destek algısı ve belirleyicilerinin işten ayrılma eğilimi
ile ilişkisi, İstanbul Üniversitesi İşletme Fakültesi Dergisi, 35(1).