Politická ekonomie X:X | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1525

Growth and Inequality Effects of Reforms from the Perspective of Defining and Measuring: A Model Essay on Turkey

Ömer Yalçinkaya ORCID..., Vedat Kaya ORCID..., Gökhan Erkal ORCID...
Ömer Yalçinkaya (corresponding author), Department of Economics, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Vedat Kaya, Department of Economics, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey
Gökhan Erkal, Department of Econometrics, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey

In this study, parallel with the developments in the global economy, the focus was on Turkey, where reform programs have become widespread since the 1990s, and the possible effects of reforms on growth and inequality were exam ined. For this purpose, in the study, financial, fiscal, real, and trade sector reforms for Turkey were defined by IMF-MONA classifications, measured from the archive of the Official Gazette of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey from 1990 to 2021, and their effects on growth and inequality were examined by the Augmented ARDL method. The study\'s innovative aspect focuses on the effects of the reforms identified with a new approach to growth and inequality in a developing country like Turkey concerning IMF-MONA classifications. As a result of the study, it was determined that 102 reform proposals were carried out in Turkey about the IMF-MONA classifications during the review period, which introduced important regulations for the functioning of the economic system in terms of scope and content in the financial, fiscal, real, and trade sectors. In addition, it was concluded that reforms in Turkey have varying effects on growth and inequality according to sectors and that fiscal sector reforms constitute trade-offs against growth. These results show that reforms carried out in Turkey concerning IMF-MONA classifications generally support growth without increasing inequalities and point out that they have significant potential to strengthen the inclusiveness and sustainability of growth.

Keywords: IMF-MONA, reforms, growth, inequality, A-ARDL Model

Received: December 30, 2023; Revised: May 20, 2025; Accepted: August 6, 2025; Prepublished online: March 4, 2026 

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