Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-31T13:52:49.940Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Wage-productivity gap and discrimination against Syrian refugees: Evidence from Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2024

Ceyhun Elgin*
Affiliation:
American University in Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey
Adem Yavuz Elveren
Affiliation:
American University in Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Ceyhun Elgin; Email: ceyhun.elgin@columbia.edu

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a unique dataset derived from a survey conducted among 450 Syrian refugee workers and the owners/managers of the firms in which they are employed in Istanbul, Turkey. We utilise this data to investigate the connection between the wage-productivity gap and perceived economic and social discrimination. The findings of the study indicate that individuals facing a wider wage-productivity gap tend to report higher levels of economic and social discrimination. These results remain consistent even after incorporating various variables at both the worker and firm levels into the analysis. These findings imply potential policy recommendations that policymakers should take into account.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The University of New South Wales

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akar, S and Erdogdu, MM (2019) Syrian refugees in Turkey and integration problem ahead. Journal of International Migration and Integration 21(4), 925940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-018-0639-0 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aksu, E, Erzan, R and Kırdar, MG (2022) The impact of mass migration of Syrians on the Turkish labor market. Labour Economics 76, 102183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102183 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altonji, JG and Card, D (1991) The Effects of Immigration on the Labor Market Outcomes of Less-Skilled Natives. Cambridge: NBER.Google Scholar
Annable, JE (1980) Money wage determination in post Keynesian economics. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 2(3) 405419. https://doi.org/10.1080/01603477.1980.11489171 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appelbaum, E (1979) Post-Keynesian theory: the labor market. Challenge 21(6), 3947. https://doi.org/10.1080/05775132.1979.11470483 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aydiner, N and Onaran, Ö (2004) Are low unit labor costs good for employment? The case of Turkey. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Association for Heterodox Economics, Leeds, July 15–17.Google Scholar
Begen, N, Mercan, MA and Barlin, H (2023) Immigration, job vacancies, and Beveridge curve: evidence from Syrian refugees in Turkey. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 34(2), 279–229. https://doi.org/10.1017/elr.2023.4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilen, Ö, Gur, M, Koç, E and KamacI Karahan, E (2020) Spatial distribution analysis of Syrian immigrant population problem in Fatih-Istanbul. ICONARP International Journal of Architecture and Planning 8, 3853. https://doi.org/10.15320/iconarp.2020.142 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borjas, G J. (2017) The Wage Impact of the Marielitos: A Reappraisal. Cambridge: NBER.Google Scholar
Caro, LP (2020) Syrian refugees in the Turkish labour market: a socio-economic analysis. Sosyoekonomi 28(46), 5174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cengiz, D & Tekgüç, H (2022) Is it merely a labor supply shock? Impacts of Syrian migrants on local economies in Turkey. ILR Review 75(3), 741768. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793920978365 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Çelik, A (2015) Turkey’s new labour regime under the justice and development party in the first decade of the twenty-first century: authoritarian flexibilization. Middle Eastern Studies 51(4), 618635. https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2014.987665 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demirci, M and Kirdar, M (2023) The labor market integration of Syrian refugees in Turkey. World Development 162, 106138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106138 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dögüs, I (2019) Rising wage differential between white-collar and blue-collar workers and market concentration: The case of the USA, 1964–2007. PSL Quarterly Review 72(290), 223251. https://doi.org/10.13133/2037-3643_72.290_4 Google Scholar
Dudu, S (2022) Employability and labor income of immigrants in the US: a special focus on the roles of language and home country income level. World Journal of Applied Economics 8(1), 1534. https://doi.org/10.22440/wjae.8.1.2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elgin, C (2021) Pigouvian exploitation, informality, and economic growth: theory and evidence. Efil Journal of Economics Research 4(15), 820.Google Scholar
Elgin, C and Kuzubas, TU (2012) Wage-productivity gap in Turkish manufacturing sector, Iktisat Isletme ve Finans, 27(316), 930.Google Scholar
Elgin, C and Kuzubas, TU (2013) Wage-productivity gap in OECD Economies. Economics E-Journal 7, 20122021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elveren, AY and Galbraith, JK (2009) Pay inequality in Turkey in the Neo-Liberal Era, 1980–2001. European Journal of Comparative Economics: EJCE 6(2), 177206.Google Scholar
Erdoğan, M (2019) Syrian Refugees in Turkey. Bonn, Germany: Konrad–Adenauer-Stiftung.Google Scholar
Galbraith, JK (1967) The New Industrial State. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.Google Scholar
Hatton, TJ (2015) Refugee and asylum migration to the OECD: a short overview. Review of Economics and Statistics 97(1), 112123. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2177202 Google Scholar
Heath, AF and Cheung, SY (2007) Unequal Chances: Ethnic Minorities in Western Labour Markets. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalecki, M (1955) The problem of financing of economic development. Indian Economic Review 2(3), 122.Google Scholar
Kalecki, M (1971) Selected Essays on the Dynamics of the Capitalist Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kaushal, N (2005) Economic and Labor Market Consequences of Immigration Policies. Bonn, Germany: IZA.Google Scholar
Kayaoglu, A (2020) Labour market impact of Syrian refugees in Turkey: the view of employers in informal textile sector in Istanbul. Migration Letters 17(5), 583595. https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.891 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koçak, T (2022) Metropol kentte prekarya olgusunun göçmen karşitliğina etkisi: fatih ilçesi örneği/the effect of precariat phenomenon on the anti-immigration attitudes in Metropolitan city: the example of fatih district. Nitel Sosyal Bilimler 4(2): 131157. https://doi.org/10.47105/nsb.1124736 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavoie, M (1992) Foundations of Post-Keynesian Economic Analysis. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Lavoie, M (2022) Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations. Aldershot: Edward Elgar Publishing CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maliranta, M and Ilmakunnas, P (2005) Technology, labour characteristics and wage-productivity gaps. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 67(5), 623645. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2005.00134.x Google Scholar
Oyvat, C (2011) Globalization, wage shares and income distribution in Turkey. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 4(1), 123138. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsq032 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oztek, AS (2021) Refugees and the informal labour market: evidence from Syrian inflows to Turkey. Journal of Economic Theory and Econometrics 32(2), 153. https://doi.org/10.22812/jetem.2021.32.2.001 Google Scholar
Persky, J and Tsang, H (1974) Pigouvian exploitation of labor. Review of Economics and Statistics. 56 (1), 5257. https://doi.org/10.2307/1927526 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seccareccia, M (1991) An alternative to labour-market orthodoxy: the post-Keynesian/institutionalist policy view. Review of Political Economy 3(1), 4346. https://doi.org/10.1080/09538259100000004 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirkeci, I (2017) Turkey’s refugees, Syrians and refugees from Turkey: a country of insecurity. Migration Letters 14(1), 127144. https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v14i1.321 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockhammer, E (2011) Wage norms, capital accumulation, and unemployment: a post-Keynesian view. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 27(2), 295311. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grr013 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sulis, G (2008) Wage dispersion and equilibrium search models: some evidence from Italy, Labour 22(4), 593627. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9914.2008.00426.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tansever, SS (2017) Labor income share consequences of global financial crisis: evidence from Turkey. International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR) 2, 7384. https://doi.org/10.25103/ijbesar.102.07 Google Scholar
Tumen, S (2016) The economic impact of Syrian refugees on host countries: Quasi-experimental evidence from Turkey. American Economic Review 106(5), 456460. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20161065 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zavodny, M (1999) Unions and the wage-productivity gap. Economic Review 84(2), 4453.Google Scholar