Regional Trade Performances and Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Turkey
Gülçin Elif Yücel, Serkan Degirmenci, Zeynep Yilmaz

Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore the relation between regional trade performances and major labor market indicators. To this end, empirical analyses are designed to test the hypothesis that more regional trade performance leads more employment opportunities and stimulates local labor markets. The data sets used in the analyses are from Turkish Statistical Institute, one being trade statistics by province which consists of export and import data for 81 provinces. The other set contains individual-based data from Household Labor Force Survey and both of these sets are at NUTS level 2, including 26 regions. Time-interval for the analyses is from 2004 to 2008. Since the nature of data sets are cross-sectional, the methodology used in the study is based on the probit regression analyses. The preliminary results of the paper shows that increasing the performances of regional trade activities generally improve the indicators of local labor markets in Turkey, however for some regions this interaction does not result in an expected way.

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