Economics and Law Journal

Primary Language
: TR
  • Osman Berke DUVAN
Distribution in Turkey: An Evaluation on the 1000 Largest Industrial Enterprises

ABSTRACT

Labor’s share of income has been declining for a long time all over the world. The global financial crisis in 2008-2009 and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 made the decline in labor share even more visible in all economies. While a similar process was taking place in Turkey, changes in economic policies in 2021 led to one of the deepest distributional crises in the country’s history. Moments of economic obstruction and crisis are also times when the relations of distribution are reorganized between labor and capital and within capital itself. This study aims to analyze the change in distributional relations in Turkey and the moments of rupture during this change through 1000 largest industrial enterprises in the period 1997-2023. No such study has ever been conducted on the 1000 largest industrial enterprises in Turkey. The study is a first in this respect. According to the findings, the relative wage balance in Turkey is developing to the detriment of those working in large industrial enterprises. Again, after the 2001 crisis, real wages of employees have not kept pace with increases in labor productivity in these enterprises. Over the last quarter century, the share of labor in value added has been declining in Turkey’s large industrial enterprises, particularly in the 500 largest firms. During the distribution crisis of the 2020-2022 period, large industrial enterprises, especially the top 500, increased their profit margins and their share of added value, while the burden was carried by the workers.
Keywords : Functional Income Distribution, Real Wage, Productivity, ISO 500, ISO Second 500

EXTENDED SUMMARY

Labor’s share of income has been declining all over the world since the 1980s, a period dominated by neoliberal policies. While the global financial crisis in 2008-2009 made this process visible against labor in distribution, the Covid-19 pandemic that affected the whole world in 2020 and the subsequent eruption of corporate profits further accelerated the distribution debates all around world. The share of labor is declining in Turkey, as in the world. The Turkish economy has experienced a major transformation, especially since the 2000s. The transition to neoliberal policies that started in 1980 was completed in the early 2000s.

Radical transformations in the economy bring about radical changes in social life and relations. The network of relations where major economic transformations will have the greatest impact on human and social life is undoubtedly on the distribution front.

This study aims to understand and analyze the changes in distributional relations in Turkey’s 1000 largest industrial enterprises over the last quarter century. The transformation of large industrial enterprises over time is of course intertwined with the transformation of Turkey and the world. Therefore, the changes in distributional relations in these organizations cannot be considered independent from the dynamics of distribution in the Turkish and global economy.

The data set of the study is compiled from the Istanbul Chamber of Industry’s Turkey’s Top 500 Industrial Enterprises (ISO 500) and Turkey’s Second Top 500 Industrial Enterprises (ISO Second 500) reports. The study covers the period 1997-2023. During this period, the Turkish economy not only experienced fundamental structural changes, but also a series of major crises, stems from both internal and external.

Two of these crises are critical for the development of distributional relations in Turkey. The first was the 2001 crisis, and the other was the inflation and distributional shock triggered by the changes in economic policies in Covid-19 and 2021.

Following the 2001 crisis, relative wage rates began to trend against those employed in large industrial enterprises, particularly those employed in Turkey’s top 500 industrial enterprises. Two factors are thought to be effective in this. In a period when the Turkish economy is growing mainly in services and construction, it is possible that relative wages will be unfavorable to those employed in industry. However, the findings show that the relative wage rates within the industry are also to the detriment of those working in large industrial enterprises, especially in the ISO 500. In Turkey, the minimum wage is gradually becoming the average wage and the gap between employees’ wages is closing. This is another factor that may be effective in explaining the narrowing wage gap between large industrial enterprises and other industrial enterprises.

The findings of the study show that after 2001, real wages received by employees in large industrial enterprises lagged productivity growth. Especially in Turkey’s top 500 industrial enterprises, real wages do not keep pace with productivity growth. As a result, employees in Turkey’s largest industrial enterprises are unable to benefit sufficiently from the economic growth process. As a matter of fact, after the 2001 crisis, the share of employees in income and value added created in large industrial enterprises declined.

Another major crisis in distributional relations occurred in the 2020-2022 period. In this period, large industrial enterprises, especially ISO 500 companies, increased their profit margins. This is in line with global trends. Considering that ISO 500 companies are Turkey’s largest industrial enterprises and thus have the highest market power, the decline in the share of labor in this period becomes more significant. One of the suspects in the decline in the share of labor worldwide is the growing market power of corporations. The profit margins of ISO 500 companies that jumped during the pandemic and “new economic policies” imply that these large industrial enterprises strengthened their market power further in the 2020-2022 period. As a matter of fact, while labor productivity in large industrial enterprises increased extraordinarily during this period, the real wages of employees declined. In this period, when Turkey was introduced to the concept of “impoverishing growth”, employees in large industrial enterprises were also severely affected by the distributional shock.

Crises are periods of reorganization of distributional relations not only between labor and capital but also between capital itself. After the 2001 crisis, the balance of distribution between finance and industrial capital was resolved in favor of industrial capital. However, this balance deteriorated again in 2018-2019, with finance capital taking a larger share of the value added created in large industrial enterprises. In this context, the “low interest rate-high exchange rate policy” introduced in 2021 may have been designed to intervene in the deteriorating distributional balance between industry and finance capital in favor of industry. However, the inflation and deep distributional shocks that followed these policies hit employees the hardest.

Unfortunately, there is no prescription to reverse the decline in labor’s share in a short period of time. The issue needs to be approached with a medium and long-term perspective, considering Turkey’s specific circumstances, and within a comprehensive growth and distribution strategy. It is hoped that this study will fill the gap in these issues and pave the way for new discussions.

Türkiye’de Bölüşüm: En Büyük 1000 Sanayi Kuruluşu Üzerinden Bir Değerlendirme

ÖZ

Öz: Emeğin gelirden aldığı pay tüm dünyada uzunca bir süredir gerilemektedir. 2008-2009’da küresel finansal kriz, 2020’de Covid-19 salgını emeğin payındaki gerilemeyi tüm ekonomilerde daha da görünür kılmıştır. Türkiye’de de benzer bir süreç yaşanırken, 2021’de ekonomi politikalarında yapılan değişiklikler ülke tarihinin en derin bölüşüm krizlerinden birine sebep olmuştur. Ekonomide yaşanan tıkanma ve kriz anları aynı zamanda bölüşüm ilişkilerinin emek ve sermaye ile sermayenin kendi içinde yeniden tanzim edildiği zamanlardır. Bu çalışma 1997-2023 döneminde en büyük 1000 sanayi kuruluşu üzerinden, Türkiye’de bölüşüm ilişkilerinde yaşanan değişimi ve bu değişim esnasında gerçekleşen kırılma anlarını analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Daha önce 1000 büyük sanayi kuruluşu üzerinden Türkiye’de böyle bir çalışma yapılmamıştır. Çalışma bu yönüyle ilktir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre; Türkiye’de nispi ücret dengesi büyük sanayi kuruluşlarında çalışanlar aleyhine gelişmektedir. Yine, 2001 krizinden sonra, bu kuruluşlarda çalışanların reel ücretleri emek verimliliğindeki artışlara intibak edememiştir. Son çeyrek yüzyılda, en büyük 500 firma başta olmak üzere, Türkiye’nin büyük sanayi kuruluşlarında emeğin katma değerden aldığı pay gerilemektedir. 2020-2022 döneminde yaşanan bölüşüm krizinde büyük sanayi kuruluşları, özellikle de ilk 500 firma, kâr marjlarını ve katma değerden aldıkları payı artırmış; buna karşın krizin yükü çalışanların omuzlarında kalmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler : ÖZFonksiyonel Gelir Bölüşümü, Reel Ücret, Verimlilik, İSO 500, İSO İkinci 500

Cite This Article

APA
DUVAN, O., & . ( 2025). Distribution in Turkey: An Evaluation on the 1000 Largest Industrial Enterprises. Çalışma ve Toplum, 1(84), 311-348. https://doi.org/10.54752/ct.1624024