Spatial Analysis of Regional Inequalities in Turkey

In this paper, we examine regional inequalities in Turkey not only at the interprovincial level but for three different regional definitions as well. It has raised questions about inequalities not only between regions (interregional) but inequalities within each region. Hence, one contribution of this paper is to test the effects of aggregation and scale on the identification of regional inequalities using currently accepted spatial analytic methods. The results indicate that overall inequalities are decreasing; however spatial dependence is becoming more dominant. The Theil Index indicates that interregional inequalities are increasing while intraregional inequalities are declining for all spatial partitions from 1980 to 1997. Most developed provinces are enhancing overall inequalities, although there is some evidence of a spread effect on their neighbours.     

National Industry Clusters and Regional Specializations in Turkey

The article aims to identify industry clusters in Turkey by examining inter-industry selling and purchasing relationships. The 1990 Turkish input-output table is used to identify similarities between selling and purchasing patterns of the 60 manufacturing industries and derive a matrix that describes relative linkages between them. The article also investigates the regional specializations by using the identified national clusters as templates for an analysis of local patterns. Principle component factor analysis reveals the presence of six identifiable industry clusters. The firms within the identified clusters provide a potential to share technical information and knowledge transfer through formal or informal interactions.     

Proposals for Regional Administrative Structure and Planning in Turkey

On a global scale, the region which not only defines economic but also social unity has been brought once again to the agenda in a manner unlike those of the past, both as a result of globalization and localization tendencies, and with arguments towards formulating a more democratic administrative structure. Conversely, although regional planning and administrative pursuits and debates have ensued in Turkey since its foundation, regional plans have never been effectively administered, a regional administrative structure requiring continuity has not been established and problems requiring solutions at the regional level have increasingly continued their presence. In this study, proposals have been developed for regional planning and regional administration in Turkey, taking into consideration not only global tendencies but also the country's related experiences along with the current circumstances, and spatial unities that would form a basis for these have been defined.     

Public Leaders in Regional Economic Development

This paper focuses on the role of public leaders in regional economic development from a community-building point of view. According to the basic hypothesis, the role of leaders rises everywhere during periods of instability, but remains always relevant in economic peripheries. Inspired by the chaos theory, we argue that leaders have decisive roles during unstable periods or chaos in a society when a very small fluctuation may qualitatively change the direction of development. Our second point here is that leaders will always be in key positions on economic peripheries where a general lack of human resources and a thin institutional thickness exist. The theoretical discussion refers to Weber's Schmalenbach's 'emotional community'/'Bund' concepts and Gumilev's theory of ethnogenesis and tries to plant these approaches within the present day framework. The empirical case study describes a perfect leadership and a successful community-building process in Emmaste Community, Estonia.     

Urban and Rural Definitions in Regional Context: A Case Study on Turkey

Transformations in the urban and rural areas under the effects of global economic, social and political circumstances have rendered their boundaries more blurring. It has become increasingly difficult to make a clear distinction between urban and rural. This paper intends to bring definitions of urban–rural into discussion in the context of Turkey. It reveals the results of a research project (conducted by Hürriyet G. Ö?dül with Serkan Öngel and Habip Uluçay from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2007 and financed by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Research Fund), aiming at revealing the degrees of the urbanity and rurality throughout the country, with an emphasis on the diversification of regions in the urban–rural context. The study is conducted at the NUTS 4 level. Districts are classified as “dominantly rural, dominantly urban and transitional” through the factor analysis based on six structures: agricultural production, non-agricultural production, employment, demography, education and flows of money, goods and people. The urban–rural profile of the country is found as rural and transitional. It is possible to observe some areas displaying deep rural characters in well-developed western regions and some “prosperity spots” dispersed throughout the less-developed eastern regions. Then, regional classifications ranging from “concentrated urban regions” to “rural regions” are made at the NUTS 1 level. Finally, the results are evaluated in perspectives of spatial planning of Turkey and entering process to the EU.     

Locating Critical Components of Regional Human Capital

Enormous attention has been devoted recently to the contributions of human capital in the strategic and competitive success of different regions. These advances by macroeconomists and trade theorists have important implications for understanding the influence of economic development programs in a rural environment. Drawing upon this research we argue that human capital concepts may offer a more effective basis for assessment of strategic resource needs and use within a rural setting. An approach using direct elicitation methods is outlined for developing human capital measures. One significant advantage of a human capital approach is the potential for creating indicators that bridge the interests of economic development and environmental programs.     

Knowledge Production in European Regions: The Impact of Regional Strategies and Regionalization on Innovation

In the last 15 years, the regional scale was used to implement innovation strategies in European Union. Departing from the discussion of the relevance of innovation policy at the regional level, the article benefits from the knowledge production function framework to estimate patterns considering 175 European regions. It is intended to understand whether regional innovation strategies developed and applied between 1994 and 2001 were successful at an aggregated level in contributing for knowledge creation measured in terms of patents and high technology patents. The results underline the relevance of private R&D expenditure and medium and high technology employment to increase patent numbers. The models suggest also that administrative regionalization may be important to regional innovation and that the creation and implementation of a regional strategy have a positive contribution for high tech innovation.     

Mixed Outcomes: The Impact of Regional Autonomy and Decentralization on Indigenous Ethnic Minorities in Indonesia

This article examines how indigenous ethnic minorities in Indonesia are being affected by the implementation of decentralization and regional autonomy policies. New legislation transferred responsibility and authority over various issues, including resource extraction and local governance, from the central government to regional authorities at the district level. Members of the growing indigenous rights movement hoped that this decentralization process would allow ethnic minority communities to retain or regain control over natural resources through local‐level politics. Furthermore, some ethnic minorities saw the implementation of decentralization as an opportunity to return to local forms of land tenure and resource management that had been disparaged by the national government for most of the twentieth century. However, these new laws also encourage district level governments to generate income through natural resource exploitation, as they will receive a certain percentage of these revenues. Minority communities could be adversely affected as local governments disregard their land rights in efforts to raise income to cover their new expenses, essentially continuing the practices of previous governments. This article examines the new opportunities, as well as the new threats, posed by decentralization to ethnic minorities throughout Indonesia.     

Impact of the Russian Financial Crisis on Stock Exchanges in Central and Eastern Europe

A German economist analyses the structure of capital flows to Central and Eastern European countries following the Russian financial crisis in August 1998. Special attention is devoted to the behavior of equity flows and their impact on the stock exchanges in the region and on enterprises' ability to raise capital. In addition, the paper provides an assessment of the effects of the establishment of pension funds on the development of the stock exchanges and evaluates the prospects for several newly established trading places for stocks of companies from Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F30, G15, G20. 1 figure, 4 tables, 24 references.     

唐后期陇右失陷与京畿安全危机述略

在唐朝前期,黄河中下游的富庶农耕区和陇右东部可以养育马匹的半农半牧区,犹如国家强盛的左右臂膀。及至"安史之乱"后,吐蕃攻占陇右,唐之右臂断绝;河北与江淮间藩镇割据抗命,唐之左膀近乎瘫痪,帝国雄强气象,无由再振。从军事地理角度观察,陇右失陷对唐后期京畿安全的直接影响是关中暴露,京城危迫;党项部落东徙,扰攘关中十余年。间接影响是陇右的监牧丧失导致"马政"剧衰,若干羁縻府州及其部落兵损失,致使唐朝骑兵软弱,军力下降,综合国力严重削弱。而唐朝保卫京畿,缓解危机的重大措施,就是将关内道的军防重心从北面转到西面,即建立起京西、京北八镇军防新体系,阻遏戎寇,历经80余年顽强抗御,终使关中免沦左衽。     

晚清苏沪民间资本组合与股份公司经营形态

晚清时期是中国民间资本重新组合的重要历史时期。在这一时期 ,集中于城镇的各种手工业组织对资本的需求增大 ,而拥有资金的商人又缺乏投资渠道。因此 ,在经济相对富裕的苏沪地区 ,民间资本开始通过招股与认股的方式组合成为股份公司。各股份公司成立后 ,在股金管理、红利分配和组织机构等方面均形成了新的体制。同时 ,随着股份公司的建立 ,传统的生产和销售等经营方式也开始发生转变     

Constructing a Manufacturing Fixed Capital Stock Series for the Regions of Greece

Although regional variation in rates of capital accumulation is considered a major component of spatially uneven industrial development, it remains largely an understudied area. The theoretical and methodological problems that surround the measurement of capital, generally, alongside the lack of necessary information about a wide range of specific aspects, pose serious obstacles in any attempt to construct regional capital stock series. In such a context, the main aim of this paper is to make the best possible effort to construct a regional manufacturing fixed capital stock series for Greece. The limited availability of information (not unusual in regional as opposed to national contexts) and the necessity of making some arbitrary, but specified, assumptions mean that the estimation steps have to be presented in detail to assess reliability. Four regional fixed capital stock series for total manufacturing activity are generated. The results are then assessed in the context of uneven spatial development in Greece.     

Examining the Impact of Charter Schools on Performance in Traditional Public Schools

Charter schools have grown in popularity, as both citizens and government officials search for ways to improve public education in America. Much of the research on charter schools focuses on academic performance comparisons between charter schools and traditional public schools. Far less attention has been devoted to whether the presence of charter schools creates marketlike environments that bring about systemic improvements in public education. This study examines the extent to which charter schools stimulate performance gains in traditional public schools. The results show that charter schools contribute to modest overall performance improvements for students enrolled in traditional public schools. Charter schools help bring about stronger performance gains for low-income students enrolled in traditional public schools. The presence of charter schools also affects how financial and programmatic resources are allocated in traditional public schools.     

中国瓷器与土耳其陶器的相互影响

中国瓷器对土耳其陶器的影响是中国古外销瓷研究中的重要课题之一。欧、美及土耳其学者对此课题进行了多年的研究,成果颇丰。本文仅对之略作介绍,并从中国学者的视角观察作进一步的研究。同时对双方陶瓷相互影响的历史背景及海陆交通作一概略地叙述。     

华人新移民社会资本构建与基督教会——美国P州P市本土教会与华人教会的比较分析

论文对美国当地两家基督教会进行长达一年的实地研究,考察了其社会网络的特点及其对华人新移民构建社会资本的影响,同时分析了基督教会对华人新移民思维方式与生活习惯的影响。认为华人教会将发展出紧密的闭合网络,有利于华人新移民发展出科尔曼式的闭合型社会资本,从中获得归属感、情感慰藉以及更加实际且有执行力的帮助。本土教会将形成富于结构洞的稀疏网络,有利于华人新移民发展出波特式的结构洞型社会资本,从中获得异质性信息、多样化的观点以及潜在的创新机会。