Impact of international trade on employment in manufacturing industry of Turkey

Turkey abandoned import substitution industrialization strategies in foreign trade policies and started to implement export promoting strategies after a reform program started in 1980. Promoted exports brought along increasing imports. In this study, the impact of international trade on employment level in industry was investigated using an annual panel of data from 95 manufacturing industries in Turkey for the period of 1992 - 2001. A dynamic panel data model was used for that purpose. Results showed that trade variables had no significant impact on employment in the manufacturing industry at the current level, while lagged real exports and import penetration had the opposite effect on current employment during the period analyzed.