Forecasting and determining GDP per capita: A middle-income trap issue in Indonesia and Turkey

This study focus at investigating the ability of two middle-income economies such as Indonesia and Turkey to sustain rapid growth by forecasting and determining their path of GDP per capita. Some literatures had emphasized their analysis on middle-income countries since slowing down on growth most likely implies to middle-income economies critical periods of transformation from middle-income level towards higher level of income. Hitherto condition asserts Turkey as an upper middle-income country and Indonesia as a lower-middle income country. Observing GDP per capita path of the two economies could become a prominent analysis for both economies. Many scholars conceded that tremendous technical change is required to robust higher productivity in middle income countries. The analytical framework of this study will be divided into two sections. The first, ARIMA forecast method will be applied to give the result forecasts of GDP per capita growth for both economies from 2010 through 2017. The Indonesian GDP per capita appear to grow moderately, in contrast the Turkish GDP per capita has shrunk but still grow at lower level. The majorities of reffered studies presume that Indonesia is still being externalized from the trap due to several circumstances, yet it stıll has potentialities to fall into the trap jointly with Turkey. The second, together with forecasting the growth, this study will be also attempted to identify some important determination of GDP per capita variables and then formulating some policies to bolster the two economies to escape from middle-income trap. Finally, determining GDP per capita variables emerge to be negligible for lower middle-income country like Indonesia yet could be precisely observed in upper middle-income countries such as Turkey. GDP per capita becomes feasible to be induced by increasing of working age population, abundant tertiary education enrolment rate. Nevertheless it could be declined by political circumstances but become inconclusive by high content of technology in the Turkish case of export products.