Introduction: Why Agriculture? A Portrait of Turkish Agriculture: Inequality and its Discontents Sharecropping or Fixed Rent Tenancy? Testing For Inverse Size-Yield Relationship in Turkish Agriculture Conclusions

Domestic Conquest: Land Reform and Bounded Rationality in the Middle East

Land Ownership Inequality and Rural Factor Markets in Turkey: A Study for Critically Evaluating Market Friendly Reforms

This paper examines two structural factors that have restricted educational development in Southeastern Turkey: land inequality and ethnic fractionalization/conflict. Until recently a semi-feudal structure persisted in the region with politically and economically powerful tribal leaders and large landowners called agas. At the same time, the region has been the site of an ethnic conflict, which has been ongoing as an armed insurgency for over 30 years between Kurdish insurgents and the Turkish State. Using a province-level data set, we test the impact of land inequality, conflict and ethnicity on education investment and school enrollment for the period 1970-2012. We find that higher land inequality reduces the school enrollment rates due to budget constraints imposed on poorer households. However, the economic and political power of agas in the region does not block education investments. Moreover, we find that although the armed conflict in the region did not directly hinder education investments, it did reduce school enrollment rates at middle and high school levels, while increasing enrollment at the primary school level. Finally, we find that provinces with higher percentages of Kurdish population received less education investment even after controlling for conflict and land inequality. These results suggest that high land inequality and the Turkish State’s neglect of Kurdish areas were the important factors behind Southeastern Turkey’s educational underdevelopment, while the conflict had mixed effects on the education in the region.

Double squeeze on educational development: land inequality and ethnic conflict in Southeastern Turkey

The first direct presidential election in Turkey is remarkable because of the thin margin with which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected against the expectations of a massive support. It marks beginning of a new era in Turkish politics indicating widespread discontentment and fear regarding the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). On the other hand, the ruling party has retained its support among conservatives, business, and middle classes, especially in Anatolia region. However, the rise of new political forces in the 2015 general elections that failed to give a clear majority to any group should force the AKP to rethink over its policies, particularly the rising concern of authoritarian behavior and appropriation of power. Further, concerns over crackdown of media and dissent and growing instances of violation of human rights may lead to a backlash from the electorate. The AKP government has also come in from criticism for its handling of the Syrian crisis and its action agai...

Land Ownership Inequality and Rural Factor Markets in Turkey: A Study for Critically Evaluating Market Friendly Reforms

Citations

Domestic Conquest: Land Reform and Bounded Rationality in the Middle East

Double squeeze on educational development: land inequality and ethnic conflict in Southeastern Turkey

Turkey: Presidential Elections, 2014

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