Institutional and Cultural Roots of Industrial Development in Modern Turkey

Abstract

In this dissertation I investigate the historical, institutional, and cultural roots of different regional development trajectories in modern Turkey. Historical comparison of two similar cities of 1920's, namely Kutahya and Kayseri, enabled me to solve the Anatolian Tigers Puzzle, which can be defined as how come very similar cities of rural Anatolia in 1920's experienced such different development patterns in the last 80 years. The most similar case design led to the model, which explains the different regional development patterns of Anatolian cities. In this model, I argue that behind the success story of Kayseri, there is a path dependent virtuous cycle, which was initiated by early state enterprises; accelerated via local institutional reforms during critical junctures; and sustained by socio-cultural context. This theoretical model explains not only the difference between Kutahya and Kayseri, but it is also in line with the success story of other developed Anatolian cities.