Political Economy of Poverty in Turkey

Year 2016, , 205 - 224, 29.10.2016

Tarık Ilıman , Recep Tekeli

https://doi.org/10.17233/se.2016.07.002

Abstract

While the fight against poverty is continuing in the world, secondary income distribution has been regarded as an effective way in fighting against poverty in Turkey. For that purpose, the special fund called as “Social Aid and Solidarity Promotion Fund” was established in 1986. Primarily this fund is a kind of social transfer expenditure and it aims at helping poor people directly. Although special funds as social direct expenditures are utilized as the most effective instrument to combat poverty, allocation of the funds could be at the government’s discretion. Because of the unclear and subjective criteria in the fund allocation, it is possible that politicians to maximize their interests in the political arena can use the fund. Therefore, the government in Turkey might incline to manipulate the (social) public expenditures to maximize their interests and enhance the re-election chances in terms of political economy. This paper assesses empirically the relationship between “Social Aid and Solidarity Promotion Fund” (SASPF) and political economic factors within political-economy context. In this study, using 81 provincial level data, we find that funds, as social expenditures could be vital tools for politicians to maximize their political interests.

References

• Ahmad, E. & N. Chalk (1993), “On Improving Public Expenditure Policies for the Poor: Major Informational Requirements”, IMF Working Paper (WP/93/43), IMF Fiscal Affairs Department.
• Arpacıoğlu, Ö. & M. Yıldırım (2011), “The Analyze of Poverty in Turkey and in World”, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences’s Journal of Niğde University, 4(2), 60-76.
• Barreira, A. & N. Baleiras (2004), Elections and the Public Expenditure Mix, <www.researchgate.net/publication/23731189_Elections_and_the_public_expendinture_mix>, 30.10.2015.
• Baulch, B. (2006), “The New Agenda: A Disputed Concensus”, IDS Bulletin, 37(4), 82-90.
• Beker, V.A. (2016), Growth, inequality and poverty: what do we know?, February 3, <http://ssrn.com/abstract=2727231>, 25.09.2015.
• Besley, T. & M. Ghatak (2004), “Public Goods and Economic Development”, Reprinted in Understanding Poverty, by A.V. Banerjee, R. Benabou, D. Mookherjee (eds.), Oxford University Press; Oxford, <http://personal.lse.ac.uk/GHATAK/public.pdf>, 12.06.2015.
• Besley, T. (1996), “Political Economy of Alleviating Poverty Theory and Institutions”, Annual World Bank Conference Development Economics, Edited by Michael Bruno and Boris Pleskovic, the World Bank Washington, D.C.
• Bhagwati, J.N. (1988),”Poverty and Public Policy”, World Development, 16(5), 539-555.
• Bruhn, K. (1996), “Social Spending and Political Support: The “Lessons” of the National Solidarity Program in Mexico”, Comparative Politics, 28(2), 151–177.
• Bruno, M. & S. Lyn & M. Ravallion (1995), “Equity and Growth in Developing Countries: Old and New Perspectives”, Policy Research Working Paper 1563, World Bank, Washington D.C.
• Caminada, K. & K. Goudswaard & F. Koster (2012), “Social income transfers and poverty: A cross-country analysis for OECD countries”, International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(2), 115–126.
• Coudouel, A. & H. Jesko & W. Quentin (2002), “Poverty Measurement and Analysis”, Handbook on Poverty and Inequality, ed. J. Haughton & S.R. Khandker, The World Bank, Washington, 27-74.
• Cox, G.W. & M.D. McCubbins (1986), “Electoral politics as a redistributive game”, Journal of Politics, 48, 370-389.
• Danziger, S.H. & D.H. Weinberg (1994), “The Historical Record: Trends in Family Income, Inequality, and Poverty”, in: Confronting Poverty Prescriptions for Change, H.H. Danziger & G.D. Sandefur & D.H. Weinberg (eds), Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England.
• Dash, B. & R. Bhusana & V. Angara (2012), “Political Determinants of the Allocation of Public Expenditures: A Study of the Indian States”, Working Paper No. 2012-101, March, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, <http://www.nipfp.org.in>, 13.02.2015.
• Datt, G. & M. Ravallion & R. Murgai (2016), “Growth, Urbanization and Poverty Reduction in India”, NBER Working Paper Series 21983, <http://www.nber.org/papers/w21983>, 15.06.2015.
• Directorate of Social Assistance (2011), 2011 Yılı Faaliyet Raporu, Aile ve Sosyal Politikalar Bakanlığı Sosyal Yardımlar Genel Müdürlüğü.
• Drazen, A. & M. Eslava (2010), “Electoral Manipulation via Voter-Friendly Spending: Theory and Evidence”, Journal of Development Economics, 92(1), 39-52.
• Fair, C. (1976), “The Effect of Political Events on Votes for President”, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 60(2), 159-173.
• Foxley, A. (2004), “Successes and Failures in Poverty Eradication: Chile”, Scaling Up Poverty Reduction: A Global Learning Process and Conference, Shanghai, May 25-27.
• Goedhart, T. & V. Halberstadt & A. Kapteyn & B. van Praag (1977), “The Poverty Line: Concept and Measurement”, The Journal of Human Resources, 12(4), 503-520.
• Guccio, C. & I. Mazza (2014), “On the political determinants of the allocation of funds to heritage authorities”, European Journal of Political Economy, 34, 18-38.
• Hagen-Zanker, J. & J. Morgan (2011), South Africa’s social security system: Expanding coverage of grants and limiting increases in equality, Overseas Development Institute, UK: London.
• Heady, C. & T. Mitrakos & P. Tsakloglou (2001), “The Distributional Impact of Social Transfers in the European Union: Evidence from the ECHP”, IZA Discussion Paper No. 356, September.
• Housseima, G. & J. ben Rejeb (2012), “Poverty, Growth and Inequality in Developing Countries”, International Journal of Economic and Financial Issues, 2(4), 470-479.
• Ilıman, T. (2014), “Türkiye’de Yoksullukla Mücadelede Fonlar”, Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, 2014.
• Kanbur R. & M. Keen & M. Tuomala (1994), “Labor Supply and Targeting in Poverty Alleviation Programs”, World Bank Economic Review, 8(2), 191-211.
• Kehler, J. (2001), “Women and Poverty: The South African Experience”, Journal of International Women’s Studies, 3(1), 41- 53.
• Kenworthy, L. (1999), “Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment”, Social Forces, March 77(3), 1119-39.
• Khemani, S. (2010), “Political Economy of Infrastructure Spending in India”, Policy Research Working Paper 5423, The World Bank.
• Pop-Eleches, C. & G. Pop-Eleches (2012), “Targeted government spending and political preferences”, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 7, 285-320.
• Psycharis, Y. & A. Rodriguez-Pose & V. Tselios (2015), Politics and investment: examining the territorial allocation of public investment in Greece, DP10422 February.
• Rapatsa, M. (2015), “Poverty: A socio-economic threat to sustainable development as envisioned by South Africa’s transformative regime”, EuroEconomica, 2(34), 41-48.
• Ravallion, M. (1995), “Growth and poverty: Evidence for developing countries in the 1980s”, Economics Letters, Elsevier, 48(3), 411-417.
• Samuels, D.J. (2002), “Pork Barreling is not Credit Claiming or Advertising: Campaign Finance and the Sources of the Personal Vote in Brazil”, The Journal of Politics, 64(3), 845–863.
• Schady, N.R. (2000), “The Political Economy of Expenditures by the Peruvian Social Fund (FONCODES), 1991-95”, American Political Science Association, 94(2), 289-304.
• SYDV (2006), Sosyal Yardımlaşma ve Dayanışma Vakıfları Başvuru İnceleme Değerlendirme Dağıtım ve Teslim Usul ve Esasları, Temmuz.
• TurkStat (2013), Poverty Study, <http://www.tuik.gov.tr/ PreTablo.do?alt_ id=101>, 10.06.2013.
• Vergne, C. (2009), “Democracy, Elections and Allocation of Public Expenditure in Developing Countries”, European Journal of Political Economy, 25(1), 63-77.
• Walton, M. (1990), Combating Poverty: Experience and Prospects Finance & Development, September; International Monetary Fund.
• Weyland, K. (1998), “Swallowing the Bitter Pill: Sources of Popular Support for Neoliberal Reform in Latin America”, Comparative Political Studies, 31(5), 539–567.