Competitiveness of Turkey in the plastics industry and its impact on foreign trade

In this thesis, the impact of Turkey's competitiveness in the plastic sector on foreign trade has been investigated. The Revealed Advantage Index Approach (RCA), The Relative Export Advantage Index Approach (RXA) and The Relative Import Penetration Index Approach (RMP) are used in the measurement of competitiveness. In the literature, there are studies to measure the competitiveness of countries in certain goods or groups of goods. However, no study has been found to reveal the relationship between Turkey's competitiveness in the plastics industry and the foreign trade of the plastics industry. In order to reveal the impact of Turkey's competitiveness in the plastics industry on plastic exports, 2 different ARDL models were created with the 2002Q1-2021Q4 data set. According to the findings obtained from the study, it has been determined that Turkey's competitiveness in the plastics industry is weak and that Turkey's competitiveness in the plastics industry has a positive effect on plastic exports. In order to measure the impact of Turkey's competitiveness in the plastics industry on plastic imports, the 2002Q1-2021Q4 period data set and the OLS method were used. According to the findings, no statistically significant relationship was found between Turkey's competitiveness in the plastics industry and plastic imports.