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Evidence from Turkey Karacimen, Elif (2013) Political economy of consumer debt in developing countries: evidence from Turkey. PhD Thesis. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/15947 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Political Economy of Consumer Debt in Developing Countries: Evidence from Turkey Elif Karacimen Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in March 2013 Department of Economics School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1 Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ 2 ABSTRACT This dissertation analyses the rise in consumer debt in developing countries over the last decade by drawing on the case of Turkey. It adopts a theoretical framework based on a political economy approach and examines the macroeconomic, institutional, political, and historical environment in which the rise in consumer debt has taken place. By locating the factors of indebtedness within an historically determined socioeconomic context the dissertation demonstrates the specific character of the rise in consumer credit in the age of financialisation. It is shown that consumer credit has grown markedly and its rise has been associated with related changes in the socioeconomic conditions within which the credit system operates as well as in the character of borrower–lender relations and in the perceptions and attitudes towards credit use within society. Analysis of the Turkish economy in the post-2001 crisis further shows that the interplay between the real and financial sectors has boosted consumer debt in the country. There is much publicly available evidence indicating the rapid expansion of consumer credit to low-income wage earners in Turkey. The empirical section of the dissertation focuses on how and why workers have become increasingly involved with the financial system. The research is based on empirical material collected through questionnaires and interviews with workers in the metal sector of industry. The results show that consumer debt in Turkey has become a part of the daily life of workers as a consequence of, first, growing dependence on debt to support basic reproduction of labour power and, second, of the aggressive marketing strategies of banks towards consumers. Further, the results provide evidence of a link between workers’ debt and the type of wage employment by demonstrating that insecurity of employment and income have increased the tendency to borrow, and thus the vulnerability of workers to debt. Finally, there is an unequal power relationship between banks and workers which has allowed banks to extract profits out of wages and salaries. 3 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... 7 ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... 9 LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................ 12 1.1 Background of the Study ............................................................................................... 12 1.2 Statement of Problematic ............................................................................................... 17 1.3 Contributions of the Study ............................................................................................. 18 1.4 Organisation of the Study .............................................................................................. 23 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................... 26 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 26 2.2 Mainstream Understanding of Banking and Consumer Credit ...................................... 29 2.2.1 The Information Theoretic Approach to Banking .................................................. 29 2.2.2 Consumer Credit in Mainstream Theory ................................................................ 35 2.3 A Political Economy Approach to Banking and Consumer Credit ............................... 39 2.3.1 Marxian Theory of Finance .................................................................................... 39 2.3.2 A Marxist Framework for Evaluating Consumer Credit ........................................ 48 2.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 57 Chapter 3: Consumer Credit in the Era of Financialisation ............................................. 60 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 60 3.2 Approaching Financialisation ........................................................................................ 63 3.3 Financialisation in Developing Countries ...................................................................... 67 3.3.1 Development of Domestic Public Debt Markets .................................................... 67 3.3.2 Dynamics Behind the Rise in Consumer Credit and Household Indebtedness ...... 80 3.3.3 Implications of Rising Personal Indebtedness ........................................................ 98 3.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 98 Chapter 4: Turkey’s Financial Liberalisation of Its Economy and Transformation of Its Banking Sector Activities in the Aftermath of the 2001 Crisis ........................................ 104 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 104 4.2 Liberalisation in the Post-1980 Era and the Role of Banks in Financing Turkey’s Public Deficit ................................................................................................................................ 106 4.3 The Road to the 2001 Crisis......................................................................................... 113 4.4 Dynamics of the Turkish Banking Sector After the 2001 Crisis ................................. 115 4.5 Financialisation of the Household Sector in Turkey and its Implications ................... 118 4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 126 4 Chapter 5: Post-2001 Crisis Determinants in the Rise of Consumer Credit and Household Debt .................................................................................................................... 128 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 128 5.2 Assessing the Rise in Household Indebtedness: Focusing on Demand-Side Dynamics ............................................................................................................................................ 131 5.2.1 The Transformation of Production and Foreign Trade ......................................... 131 5.2.2 Labour Market Dynamics and Welfare Policies in the Post-2001 Crisis Period .. 136 5.3 Assessing the Rise in Household Indebtedness from the Supply Side ........................ 140 5.3.1 Banking Sector Reforms in the Aftermath of the 2001 Crisis .............................. 140 5.3.2 Policy Framework of the Post-2001 Era and the Implications for the Banking Sector ............................................................................................................................. 146 5.3.3 Increased Access to Foreign Funding Opportunities ............................................ 157 5.3.4 Foreign Bank Entry ............................................................................................... 165 5.4 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................
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