JOURNAL OF LIFE ECONOMICS

The effect of inflation on the budget deficit in Turkiye: Evidence from cointegration test with multiple structural breaks

Fatih Demir — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

In determining the relationship between the budget deficit and inflation in literature, the effect of the budget deficit on inflation has been widely focused on. Although the impact of inflation on the budget deficit is highly significant, there has been a lack of sufficient research on this matter. There are two different views put forward on this issue. The first of these is the Tanzi effect; argues that an increase in inflation will cause a real decrease in tax revenues and therefore the budget deficit will increase. The opposing view is known as the Patinkin effect and suggests that the budget deficit will decrease because inflation will reduce real public expenditures. In this study, the effect of inflation on the budget deficit was investigated for the period 1960 2022 in Turkiye. Considering that the data period may contain many structural breaks, Carrion-i-Silvestre unit root test and Maki cointegration test were used. The years 1995, 2002, 2007, 2011 and 2018 were determined as the break dates. According to the results, the inflation rate has an increasing effect on the budget deficit in the period when there is no break. The overall result did not change when the effect of breaks was included. With these findings, it can be said that the Tanzi effect is more dominant in Turkiye.

Investigation of how brands using influencer marketing affect the purchasing decisions of the Z generation in the context of Türkiye

Nayab Fatima, Aylin Erdoğdu — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

Influencer marketing has significantly altered the way brands connect with their target audience, specifically Generation Z. The aim of this research is to explore how brands using influencer marketing impact the purchasing decisions of Generation Z individuals aged 15 to 25 in Istanbul, Türkiye. Data collection for this study is conducted through a qualitative study approach. A semi-structed questionnaire is used to assess how Generation Z’s perception of an influencer affects how they engage with a brand and how that shapes their buying decision process. The results of this study showed that the attractiveness, integrity and level of fame that an influencer possesses affect the way Generation Z perceives them. If they have loyalty towards an influencer, they are more likely to have loyalty towards the brand associated with the influencer. The conclusions drawn from this study are particularly valuable for brands interested in optimizing their influencer marketing strategies to efficiently establish a connection with Generation Z in the Turkish market.

Are social media posts effective on stock values?

Demet Erdoğan Şengel, Naciye Tuba Yılmaz — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

With the widespread use of the internet in recent years, individuals take into account other people’s comments in their decision-making processes about a good or service. Similarly, companies use online data to provide better service to their customers and to see their own strengths and weaknesses. In this process, sentiment analysis has become one of the most preferred methods for interpreting big data in recent years. The purpose of this study is to examine whether written posts on Twitter, one of the widely used social media platforms, have an impact on stock prices. In this sense, sentiment analysis of the written expressions shared on the Twitter platform with the hashtag #TSLA between January 1, 2016 and April 10, 2021 was performed with the BERT model, one of the deep learning methods, and it was determined whether the posts had positive or negative meanings. The prediction of whether the TSLA stock value decreases or increases depending on whether the comments are positive or negative on the day following the day of the post was performed with Neural Prophet. As a result, it is concluded that social media posts have an impact on individuals’ decisions to buy and sell stocks.

Political economy of youth and youth-based budgeting proposal

Mahmut Melih Kaplan, Hilmiye Yasemin Özuğurlu — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

The exacerbation of the problems experienced by young people in the last half century and the discussions on the use of youth labor lead to an increase in interest in research on youth. As a result of this interest, the political economy approach to youth problems offers an important perspective on the subject. Thus, it becomes possible to address the problems experienced by youth on a broad level. In this sense, the study examines the political economy of youth within the mainstream and heterodox approaches. Mainstream approaches focus more on the prolongation of young people's transition to adulthood, the problems young people face in their transition from education to business life, and the increase in inequality between generations. It aims to reduce the disadvantaged positions of young people in the face of these problems by trying to empower them. Heterodox approaches, on the other hand, associate the main source of the problems experienced by young people with the functioning mechanism of the economic system, within a critical framework. Thus, it aims to examine the youth issue not only as problems faced temporarily by the population in a certain age range, but also by establishing the relationship between these problems and the economic system. In other words, the problems experienced by young people are caused by the capitalist operating mechanism itself. The unequal environment created by the dominant system leads to a decrease in the share of young people in the income distribution. The heterodox approach examines these issues within the context of deindustrialization, work intensification and youth labor as a result of neoliberal economic policies. From this point of view, it is important to examine the relationship between social relations and local dynamics that shape the economic, political, cultural and social areas of youth's living conditions in the context of the public budget. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between the public budget and the social position of youth within mainstream and heterodox approaches. In this context, the "youth-based budgeting concept" proposal is developed as a means of making young people visible. Youth-based budget suggests that budget programs and policies should be organized on a youth-based basis, the reflections of this should be examined systematically, and resource distribution within the public sphere should be organized on a youth-based basis.

Sociodemographic characteristics of people in Turkiye the relationship between healthcare provider preferences

Levent İncedere — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

In this study, which aims to reveal how the health institutions that are first consulted when health services are needed in Turkey are shaped by sociodemographic and economic variables and their relationship with descriptive findings, TURKSTAT’s Life Satisfaction Survey data for 2019 were used. In the study, the relationship between the health institutions preferred by individuals and sociodemographic data according to private/public and cascade system was analysed. It was revealed that the health institutions that people first apply when they need health services are related to sociodemographic and economic variables

The effect of digitization on agility under environmental uncertainty

Ümran Güler, Rukiye Sönmez — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

Digitalization, although seen as an important tool for gaining a competitive advantage in today’s world, companies seem to have a dilemma regarding whether to digitize or not. Particularly in environmental uncertainty, being competent, flexible, and able to respond rapidly, in other words, being agile, has become expected in a competitive environment. Therefore, this study questions whether digitalization and environmental uncertainty affect agility. The banking sector, which is required to accelerate the digitalization process under environmental changes, was selected as the research sample. A total of 262 questionnaires were collected. The models were tested using the variance-based structural equation modeling approach to examine the effects among variables. SmartPLS 3.4 statistical package program was used for model testing. As a result, it was found that digitalization influences agility through environmental uncertainty, affecting competency, flexibility, responsiveness, and quickness dimensions.

A software development application for solving round trip slack time minimizing problems using backtracking method

Şahin İnanç, Hayrettin Kemal Sezen — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

Even a small advantages can be important in the competition conditions that are increasing day by day in the enterprises, logistics is becoming more important with each passing day. A significant part of the expenses of enterprises constitute logistics. This study was carried out with a (exact, exact) method, which guarantees the optimal solution so as to minimize the total time spent waiting for the vehicles of a lojstik company carrying road passenger. The software was developed with the C# programming language for the solution. The method of solution of the problem was followed by the Backtracking approach of the Branch and Bound technique. This method used; has the ability to reduce total completed counting.

A public fund for financing conservation activities: Contribution share for preservation of the immovable cultural assets

Yasemin Sarıkaya Levent — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

Immovable cultural assets constitute the common heritage of humanity and are among the most important elements of the built environment. As a public duty and a social responsibility, the effective preservation of cultural assets and their transfer to future generations require not only expertise and experience but also financial resources. The costs of conservation activities are mainly borne by the owner of the immovable cultural asset, while the state, as a constitutional obligation, provides facilitating financial solutions for these costs. Considering the number of immovable cultural assets in Turkey, it is a fact that public resources are limited. In order to create alternative public resources, a new public fund was introduced in 2004 with an amendment to the Law No. 2863 under the name of ‘Contribution Share for the Preservation of Immovable Cultural Assets’ by charging tax authors an additional 10% of their real estate taxes. The focus of the study is on this public fund. Within the scope of the study, the administrative system for the preservation of immovable cultural assets is first summarized, followingly direct and indirect financial supports for the financing of conservation activities is discussed. Then, the details about the contribution share for the preservation of immovable cultural assets are presented in a legislative manner and the contribution share system is analysed for the province of Gaziantep in the period covering the years 2014- 2018. As a result of the study, it is concluded that this public fund is a solution to the problems of conservation financing, especially in developing countries, and at the same time, it provides social justice by distributing the cost of conservation activities to the whole society.

Role of women in today’s society and the inequality in genders

Rameen Masood — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

The main method used was a survey which around 350 working women from multiple countries including Pakistan, Turkey, and Lebanon responded to, regarding different aspects of their professional ideologies and observations. Extensive secondary research was employed to explore the issues of role of women in society, sexual harassment faced by women in their homes and workplaces, and the magnitude of gender inequality in developing versus developed countries. The main findings concluded that gender inequality is a long-standing hurdle in the path of women. It exists at all levels in the society and is not limited to a single culture or country. The gender inequality is not the only barrier faced by women in their journeys; however, it may pave way for other obstacles like sexual harassment. The measures presently taken to combat the negative impacts of gender inequality on women are inadequate and require more thought and better implementation for them to prove fruitful in eradicating the issue.

The role of organizational learning in the effect of Machiavellianism on job satisfaction

ZEKİ ÇETİN — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

Employees with high job satisfaction are among the basic dynamics for organizational performance and competitive advantage. In this context, it is necessary to identify the factors that will increase employees’ job satisfaction and develop organizational strategies for these factors. In the current study, it is aimed to determine the mediating role of organizational learning in the effect of Machiavellianism on job satisfaction. In the study, 385 participants working at universities in Istanbul were sampled and data were collected using self-report scales. In the analysis of the data, structural equation modeling was established using partial least squares method with Smart PLS 4. The results revealed that Machiavellianism decreased both job satisfaction and organizational learning, while organizational learning increased job satisfaction. However, organizational learning played a mediating role in the effect of Machiavellianism on job satisfaction. Based on the research findings, it is thought that in order to prevent the negative effects of Machiavellianism on job satisfaction, strategies should be created to reinforce the learning organizational culture.

How does globalization affect female employment?: A Panel CS-ARDL analysis for transition countries.

Merve Ertok Onurlu, Zamira Oskonbaeva, Ebru Çağlayan Akay — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

Globalization is considered as a process of development for a country procured from the exchange of human capital, technology, and culture, along with many other economic, financial, and cultural factors at the international level. A wide range of studies in labor economics indicate that globalization and female employment are positively associated as job opportunities are enhanced for both males and females. However, others suggest that as opposed to males, once job opportunities increase, job market becomes more competitive in an unfavorable manner for females. This study intends to examine how globalization process affects female employment in transition countries over the period of 23 years from 1995 to 2017. To do this, a panel data consisting of a selected group of 21 transition countries are utilized in the analysis for which the Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (CS-ARDL) is employed. Our results suggest that globalization is inversely related to female employment in the long run, which in turn suggests that globalization might create obstacles among females if policymakers do not provide any optimal policies to keep the labor market dynamics stable during the globalization process.

The relationship between R&D expenditures, tax incentives and economic growth

Zeynep Erdoğan — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

With globalization, all countries are striving to adapt to the evolving and changing conditions in the world, including technological advancements. Therefore, research and development (R&D) activities and tax incentives, which are one of the fiscal policy tools that support them, are crucial. This article conducts a literature review by examining R&D expenditures, tax incentives, economic growth, and their interrelationships. The advantages and disadvantages of both direct support and support through tax incentives are discussed. It has been observed in the literature review that tax incentives provided to support R&D activities through fiscal policy tools have a positive impact on economic growth.

Determinants of altruistic behaviors in organizations: An evaluation in terms of self-efficacy and job satisfaction

Ersan Dikili — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

Employees’ attitudes, which reflect their general disposition toward the organization and its mission, have a profound impact on their performance and thus on overall organizational performance. The development of positive attitudes is essential for fostering an environment conducive to increasing productivity and organizational success. In particular, the dominance of altruism, which is defined as the moral and ideological tendency to sacrifice oneself for the good of others regardless of self-interest, in the organizational culture will make significant contributions to both employees and the organization. In this context, determining the altruistic behaviors of employees can be shown as one of the important issues of organizational management. Based on the aforementioned importance of altruism, this study aims to determine the effect of employees’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction levels on their altruistic behaviors within the organization. The survey data collected in the study, which included 387 employees of a company providing ground handling services in the aviation sector throughout Turkey, were analyzed with SPSS. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analyses were used for the analysis. The results of the study revealed that employees’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction levels increase their altruistic behaviors within the organization.

Financial development and economic growth relationship: Evidence from two-stage system gmm estimator

Rüya Ataklı Yavuz, Selahattin Bektaş — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0300

This study aims to empirically investigate the relationship between financial development and economic growth using data from 31 selected countries consisting of Asian countries and Turkic Republics during the period of 2010-2020. In this study, the Two-Stage System Generalized Method of Moments estimator is utilized through dynamic panel data analysis to achieve this objective. Additionally, for comparison the same model is estimated using the Difference Generalized Method of Moments estimator. The results obtained from both estimators are presented in the study for comparison. The empirical model of the study includes three different variables: the dependent variable is the gross domestic product growth rate of the countries, while M2 money supply and private sector credits are the independent variables. According to the findings of the empirical analysis conducted for the examined period, it is determined that M2 money supply has a negative effect on economic growth, whereas the lagged value of the dependent variable and private sector credits have a positive effect on economic growth.