Regional Specialization and Industrial Concentration Patterns in the Turkish Manufacturing Industry: An Assessment for the 1980–2000 Period1

Previous studies on geographical distribution of economic activity in Turkey demonstrate that firms are localized in major metropolitan areas as well as a set of emerging regions. The aim of the paper is to complement the findings of the studies on regional and industrial concentration in Turkey's manufacturing industry by exploring whether regional specialization and industrial concentration patterns changed during the 1980–2000 period. The paper further aims to explore the driving forces of industrial concentration in Turkey's manufacturing industry, particularly during Turkey's economic integration process that started with trade liberalization after 1980 and further developed with the Customs Union in 1996. Regional specialization and industrial concentration are measured by GINI indices Turkey's NUTS-2 regions at the four-digit level for the years between 1980 and 2000. To investigate which variables determine industry concentration, systematic relation between the characteristics of the industry and industrial concentration is tested. Following the method proposed by Paluzie, Pons and Tirado, a panel regression equation is estimated, where the dependent variable is the Gini concentration index and the independent variables are the variables that represent the characteristics of the sectors that follow the predictions of classical trade theory, new trade theory and new economic geography. The major finding of the study is that during 1980–2000, Turkey's regions became more specialized and industry became more concentrated. Increases in the average values of regional specialization and industrial concentration support the prediction developed by Krugman hypothesis that regions become more specialized and industries become more concentrated with economic integration. In exploring the driving forces of industrial concentration, the findings demonstrate that firms tend to cluster in regions where there are economies of scale.     

Intellectuals,Economic Reform and Social Change: Constraints and Opportunities in the Formation of a Nigerian Technocracy

Crisis and economic reforms have changed the status of intellectuals and their relations with dominant élites and policy makers. Because of the technical and ideological nature of these reforms, policy makers have tended to rely on intellectuals as opposed to bureaucrats to shape the agenda of change. This has converted a large number of intellectuals into technocrats and undermined the fabric of academic life in universities. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in developing countries with a large middle class and an economic or financial base that ensures some degree of independence from the multilateral financial institutions. Understanding the success or failure of economic reforms in developing countries requires some analysis of the complex relations between technocrats and political leaders and the societal constraints both sets of actors face. This article explores these issues in the context of Nigeria, whose academic community, bureaucrats and professionals grew in leaps and bounds in the 1970s, following an oil-induced boom. The crisis of the 1980s led to attempts at economic reform and a highly programmed strategy of political change in which academics played a leading role. The article examines the effectiveness of intellectuals in government, and compares the Nigeria case with technocratic experiments in Ghana, Botswana and Côte d?Ivoire.     

Models for Pore Pressure Response of Low Plastic Fines Subjected to Repeated Loads

Cyclic pore pressure response of low plastic fines is examined with regard to factors influencing overall behavior of such soils under repeated loads. A model for pore pressure generation under repeated loads and another model for relationship between cyclic pore pressure and straining are proposed. The models are developed in consideration of an extended database generated through a comprehensive literature review. The models are evaluated based on the comparisons between predicted and measured pore pressure responses.     

A multi-analytical approach to characterize an Early Bronze Age cosmetic material from Müslümantepe,Southeastern Anatolia

The present paper reports the chemical and mineralogical composition of a black pigment material contained in a Syrian Bottle-shaped vessel excavated on an Early Bronze Age grave in Müslümantepe, a site located at the right bank of the Tigris River in Southeastern Anatolia. A combination of different analytical tools like state-of-the-art non-destructive μ-XRD², μ-XRF and μ-Raman spectroscopy compared to classical powder XRD was used to characterize the content of the bottle. The results attest the presence of a manganese mineral (pyrolusite) most probably used for cosmetic purposes. This is the first evidence, which is scientifically tested, of the earliest use of cosmetics in the Upper Tigris of Southeastern Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age period, c. 2700–2550 bc.