The Relationship between Economic Growth and Income Distribution in Turkey and the Turkish Republics of Central Asia and Caucasia: Dynamic Panel Data Analysis with Structural Breaks

Abstract

In this study the effect of economic growth on income distribution was tested using data from Central Asian and Caucasian countries’ economies (Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and Turkish economy over the period of 1995 to 2009. New generation panel data methods which consider cross-section dependence and structural breaks among countries were used for the analysis. The results indicate that there exists co-integration among the series. We found that that the economic growth had a negative effect on the income distributions across the countries. In particular the results show that the economic growth improved the income distribution in Turkey and Azerbaijan. © 2013 Eurasia Business and Economics Society.