ADULT SKILLS FOR ESCAPING THE MIDDLE INCOME TRAP: DATA FROM PIAAC 2012-15

Abstract

It is underlined in the extant literature that as one of the countries in the middle income trap, Turkey has to create an innovative economy and thus needs to improve its human capital. The facts that Turkey is in a demographic window of opportunity with its low rates of dependent population and has increasing rates of educational enrolment create advantages for Turkey. This study aims to investigate the human capital level of Turkey and the effects of various socio-economic variables on human capital via PIAAC data collected by OECD. Analysis of PIAAC data reveals that Turkey is far behind OECD countries in terms of adult skills in numeracy, literacy and problem solving in technologyrich environments. Despite an increase in skills from older cohorts to the younger ones, it can be seen that Turkey is far from having the human capital required to escape from the middle income trap. Moreover, it is found that there are severe inequalities in adult skills according to various socio-economic factors

Keywords

• Middle Income Trap,Demographic Window of Opportunity,Adult Skills

ORTA GELİR TUZAĞINDAN ÇIKMA YOLUNDA YETİŞKİN BECERİLERİ: PIAAC 2012-2015 VERİLERİ

Öz

Orta gelir tuzağındaki ülkeler arasında gösterilen Türkiye’nin üst gelir grubuna çıkabilmek için yenilikçi bir ekonomi yaratmasının gerekliliği ve bu nedenle nitelikli bir beşeri sermayeye ihtiyaç duyduğu literatürde vurgulanmaktadır. Gerek düşük bağımlı nüfus oranı sayesinde açık olan demografik fırsat penceresi gerekse hızla artan okullaşma oranları Türkiye için önemli avantajlar yaratmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı OECD tarafından yürütülen PIAAC araştırması verileri aracılığıyla Türkiye’nin beşeri sermaye düzeyini ve farklı sosyo-ekonomik değişkenlerin beşeri sermaye üzerindeki etkisini tespit etmektir. PIAAC verilerine göre sözel, sayısal ve teknoloji zengin ortamlarda problem çözme becerileri konusunda Türkiye OECD ülkelerinin çok gerisinde yer almaktadır. Bu beceri alanlarında genç yaş gruplarına doğru bir artış olsa da Türkiye’nin üst gelir grubuna çıkmasını sağlayacak beşeri sermayeyi oluşturmaktan çok uzak olduğu görülmektedir. Ayrıca, yetişkin becerileri konusunda çeşitli sosyo-ekonomik değişkenlere göre ciddi eşitsizlikler olduğu da ortaya çıkmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Orta Gelir Tuzağı,Demografik Fırsat Penceresi,Yetişkin Becerileri

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