Market power in cherry export of Turkey

Cherry is one of the fruits that has a large cultivation area in the world. However, it is commercially produced in countries such as Turkey, USA, Chile, Uzbekistan, Spain and Canada. Countries such as USA, Germany, Italy, USSR and France are in the forefront in the production and trade of cherries from 1961 when cherry is the earliest data on the global level to the 1980s. However, in the 1980s, countries such as Turkey, Chile, USA, Canada, Uzbekistan and Spain became prominent in production and competitiveness due to both the worldwide progress in cherry cultivation and the impact of foreign trade developments. Although production level changes depending on years and seasonal conditions, Turkey is the top producer of cherry in the world. Turkey is an advantageous country in cherry production thanks to its geographical structure and climatic conditions. Since the 1980s, with the effect of positive developments in cherry cultivation and liberalization of foreign trade, cherry production and trade in Turkey has started to come to the forefront quickly. As of 2017, Turkey met 25% of the world cherry production. However, this success has not yet been reflected in its cherry exports. Turkey has only a 5% share in the total world cherry export market. In addition, Turkey exports only 8-15% of its cherry production. Therefore, in this study; market power in Turkey's cherry export markets are analyzed using new methods of Industrial Organization. In the study that encompasses the 1994-2017 period with annual data, Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) method is used since Hausman test could not obtain simultaneity relationship. As a result of econometric analysis; market power of Turkey's cherry export market is calculated as 0.18. Therefore, Turkey is found to have an oligopolistic sutructure in cherry exports. Key Words: Market Power, Cherry Export, New Industrial Organization Method, Simultaneous Equation System, Turkey