Competitiveness in international trade: An example of the olive oil sector

Olive oil sector is one of the important sectors in Turkey's impact on economic activity. Accordingly, from this research in the olive oil and its derivatives trading activities of the 2008-2018 year are performed in Turkey (11 years), according to the assessment of the competitive power with olive oil and sub-sectors and the year aimed to have an idea about the change. In addition, the fields of activity examined for the years 2008-2018 were also examined for the period between 1997-2007, and these two periods were compared in terms of competitiveness.It is predicted that the results obtained from this research will contribute to the olive oil sector and other researches to be carried out in this field. Revealed Comparative Advantages approach was used to measure the competitive advantage in the research and the relative import advantage included in the formula by Vollrath was also taken into consideration. In calculating the competitiveness of the olive oil sector in Turkey SITC REV.3 '4214' subsector coded 'olive oil and other oil Obtained from olives' and' 42141 'coded' Virgin Olive Oil ',' 42 142 'coded' Other Olive Oil and its fractions 'Oils and their fractions obtained solely from olives' coded' and '42149' are used, and 'olive oil and other oil obtained from olives' coded as' 4214' sub sector are included in the system as the sum of the other three. Access to these data between 2008-2018 and 1997-2017 has been accessed through TUIK Foreign Trade Statistics Data Inquiry Screen. Owned export and import figures for Turkey's total export and import figures have been taken in USD, was opened in front of international comparisons could be done. It is observed that the RCA index of Turkey's olive oil industry is greater than +50 between 2008-2010. Therefore, it can be concluded that the olive oil industry and its fractions are among Turkey's leading export goods and Turkey has high competency power in these group of goods. Considering the overall tendency, it is observed that, the olive oil industry and its fractions followed a; high level competency power between 2008-2014, low level competency power in 2015 and 2016, similar level competency power in 2017 as in between 2008-2014, and a decline in 2018. In addition, according to the chart 4.2 and 4.3 "Olive Oil and Other Oil acquired From Olives" sector of Turkey, 1997-2007 and 2008-2018 periods are similar to each other and the Competitive Power remained stable except for some years. Keywords: Competitiveness, International Trade, Olive Oil Sector