The Net Social Wage in Turkey, 1980–2019

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Karabacak Y., Tonak E. A.

Review of Radical Political Economics, vol.54, no.4, pp.479-500, 2022 (SSCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 54 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1177/04866134221099509
  • Journal Name: Review of Radical Political Economics
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, ABI/INFORM, American History and Life, EconLit, Index Islamicus, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.479-500
  • Keywords: capitalist state, empirical analysis in political economy, labor and workers, Marxist value theory, social wage
  • Akdeniz University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

© 2022 Union for Radical Political Economics.

This essay conceptualizes the capitalist state’s taxation and expenditure activities in Marx’s circuit of capital. It also empirically shows how the net social wage has evolved in Turkey in the period 1980–2019 and in what direction it has influenced the rate of surplus value. The essay’s empirical findings demonstrate the utter failure of the pseudo-welfare state of Turkey to ameliorate income distribution. Hence, the article contributes to demolishing the myth that the Islamist party AKP, in power since 2003, is pro-poor and pro-labor, and that its fiscal policies have been consistent with its glorified Islamic values and its self-ascribed image of an antipoverty stance.

JEL Classification: H2, H5, I30.