The Relationship Between International Migration Flows and International Trade: An Application for Turkey

Abstract

International economics literature shows that the migration flows among two countries also increases the bilateral trade flows. There are two main reasons of these: Firstly, the migrants establish business and social networks in the host country and thereby lower the transaction costs. Secondly, the migrants’ preferences for home country products tends to increase the trade flows. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between international labor movements and international trade for the Turkish case. However, this study does not analyze the effects of migration on trade flows, but it focuses on the effects of migration on intra-industry trade. The reason is that, migration flows might have different effects on different product groups. This study includes the 20 countries which host the majority of the Turkish migrants and covers the 1985-2010 period. The findings of the study reveal that, international labor movements decrease the intra-industry trade index of Turkey, and this finding doesn’t support the theoretical expectations

Keywords

• International migration, intra-industry trade, Turkey

Uluslararası Emek Göçü Ve Dış Ticaret Arasındaki İlişki: Türkiye İçin Bir Uygulama

Abstract

Uluslararası iktisat literatürü, iki ülke arasındaki göç akımlarının bu ülkelerin ticaret hacimlerini de arttırdığını ortaya koymaktadır. Bunun iki temel sebebi bulunmaktadır. Bunlardan birincisi, göçmenlerin gittikleri ülkede iş ağları ve sosyal ağlar kurarak işlem maliyetlerini azaltmasıdır. İkinci olarak, göçmenlerin kendi ülkelerinden alışkın oldukları malları tüketme eğilimininde olmaları, ticareti arttırıcı yönde sonuçlar doğurmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, uluslararası göç akımları ve dış ticaret arasındaki ilişkinin Türkiye için araştırılmasıdır. Ancak bu çalışmada göç akımlarının toplam dış ticaret üzerindeki değil, endüstri-içi ticaret üzerindeki etkileri incelenmektedir. Bunun sebebi, emek göçünün farklı mal gruplarının dış ticaretini farklı şekilde etkileyebilecek olmasıdır. Çalışma kapsamında Türkiye’den göç akımının olduğu seçilmiş 20 ülke için 1985-2010 dönemine ait veri kullanılmaktadır. Çalışmada elde edilen bulgular, teorik beklentilerin aksine Türkiye örneğinde göç akımlarının endüstri-içi ticareti azalttığını göstermektedir

Keywords

• Uluslararası göç, endüstri-içi ticaret, Türkiye

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