Aktuální články z ekonomie

After the 24th of January 1980, the Turkish economy had undergone a significant transformation by which inward-oriented and protective import substitution policies had been replaced by outward-oriented and export-based industrialisation and growth strategies (Töngür & Taymaz, 2017). The main characteristics of this transformation composed of liberalisation of the financial sector, opening to foreign markets and integration into international economy (Yeldan, 2016). The government engaged in contractionary fiscal and monetary policies to suppress domestic demand and real wages and kept their priority to increase exports by implementing various incentive and subsidy tools (Doğruel & Doğruel, 2017; Orhangazi, 2020; Soydan, 2018; Yeldan, 2016). As a result of the experienced transformation, Turkey suffered from economic instability and fragility in the post-1980 period (Soydan, 2018). The average annual growth rate decreased from 5.65% in the 1960s to 4.10% in the 1980s (Taymaz & Voyvoda, 2017; World Bank, 2021).

Population ageing currently represents a phenomenon that is occurring around the world. It can also be defined as a consequence of the fertility rate decline and the increasing life expectancy, resulting in an increasing number and a proportion of the population in the post-productive age. For the first time, the elderly population will be predominant over the younger people (World Health Organization, 2020). The ongoing demographic changes are going to characterise the upcoming decades. This process will affect the different areas from the population’s health status through the health systems, the conditions in the labour market, the changing consumption patterns, and the need to provide the system reforms related to higher demand for public resources and finance. Ageing creates deep pressure on fiscal sustainability. It will put unprecedented stress on public finance to fund the pension system, the health system and the long-term care expenditures (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2019).

With the creation of EMU (Economic and Monetary Union), new economic conditions were also created. Before entering the euro area, the EU (European Union) member states must fulfill the convergence criteria (or “Maastricht convergence criteria”), which are based on economic indicators and they must continue to respect them once entered. One of the criteria is the price stability and height of the inflation rate. Together with the creation of a new economy, the topic of examining inflation persistence has become actual, particularly over the past decades. Inflation persistence is one of the most important parameters influencing the conduct of monetary policy. The central bank is interested in the degree of inflation persistence to improve inflation forecasting and reliably estimate the dynamic responses of inflation to shocks. The persistence of inflation is known to have a strong impact on monetary policy. If there is considerable inertia in inflation, then inflation shocks take a long-lasting nature and make it difficult for the central bank to control it.

Reducing the gender pay gap is one of the key priorities of gender policies at both the European Union and at the national levels. At the European Union level, the European Commission priority is “reducing the gender pay, earnings, and pension gaps and thus fighting poverty among women” as one of the key areas in the framework of the Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 (European Commission, 2020). The unadjusted gender pay gap indicator is used to monitor imbalances in earnings between men and women (Eurostat, 2021a). The unadjusted gender pay gap (GPG) is defined as the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men. It is calculated for enterprises with 10 or more employees (Eurostat, 2021b).

In recent years, the wave of digitalization has swept the world, and the digital economy, a new economic form, has emerged and become an important driving force for transformation and upgrading, as well as the high point of a new round of industrial competition among countries around the world. In particular, the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, while giving the traditional manufacturing industry a considerable impact and posed severe challenges to economic development around the world. It has further highlighted the role of the engine of the digital economy and made it a key driving force for the global economic recovery and the development of the world economy (Steiner, 2019). For China, on the one hand, after years of rapid development, the traditional kinetic energy of the national economy continues to weaken and can no longer forcefully pull the economy to soar, so it is urgent to find new economic growth kinetic energy; on the other hand, the extensive traditional pattern of economic growth emphasizes quantity, ignores quality and low efficiency, which causes waste of resources and also brings severe environmental problems.