Comparative institutional advantages explaining competitiveness of turkey against european union

Varieties of capitalism, embedding different institutional structures, determine the specialisation and trade patterns among countries. A core division is made between two forms of capitalism, Liberal Market Economies and Coordinated Market Economies, constituting the two polars of the capitalist system. National institutional structures, capturing a combination of the elements of varieties of capitalism, demonstrate national models of capitalism. Therefore, the economic organisation of the national economies? can be arrayed along these two poles of the spectrum. Abstractions of the Classical and Neo-Classical teories, ignore the historical processes and peculiarities of national economies, taking institutions as given. However, institutional framework, as long as incorporating complementarities, effectively increases the performance of national economies. Within this contex, this research aims to examine the effect of institutional structures on the specialisation and production patterns of economies. Theoretical assertions and ampirical findings will be used to make inferences for Turkish competitiveness against European Union. To this end, first chapter of dissertation analyses the competitiveness concept, and discusses an institutional approach towards competitiveness. Second chapter investigates the Comparative Institutional Advantages, and examines the functioning of two main forms of capitalism. Innovation ? production systems and specialisation patterns, supported by Coordinated Market Economies and Liberal Market Economies are investigated within this context. Third chapter is spared ıort he ampirical measurements of institutional structure and competitiveness of Turkish economy against European Union. Evaluations and inferences are made accordingly with the findings.