http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12566/22 2026-04-06T01:15:08Z http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12566/2409 The growth returns of health: investments, outcomes, and cointegrated development in Türkiye Erkişi, Kemal; Boğa, Semra This study examines the long-run relationship between health capital and economic growth in Türkiye from 2000 to 2023. We apply both Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR) methods to analyze how health indicators stem from government health expenditures, life expectancy, and infant mortality, interact with traditional growth determinants composed of physical capital, labor force, and human capital to influence GDP. The results reveal three key findings: First, health investments yield substantial economic returns, with 1% increases in health spending and life expectancy associated with 0.10% and 0.14–0.19% GDP growth, respectively. Second, infant mortality reductions show particularly strong growth effects, confirming the economic urgency of child health interventions. Third, conventional factors remain pivotal, with capital accumulation (0.23 elasticity) and labor expansion (0.57–0.62 elasticity) driving growth alongside human capital improvements. These findings underscore the necessity of integrated policymaking that synergizes health, education, and economic strategies. We recommend prioritizing: (1) cost-effective health expenditures with dual productivity benefits, (2) equitable healthcare access to address regional disparities, and (3) human capital development to amplify health-growth linkages. The study provides empirical support for viewing health investments as fundamental drivers of sustainable development rather than mere social expenditures. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12566/2389 The moderating role of urbanisation in the environmental impact of economic complexity and capital formation: Evidence from OECD countries Erkişi, Kemal Environmental degradation remains a pressing challenge for high-income countries as they strive to balance economic growth with ecological sustainability. While previous studies have examined various drivers of environmental outcomes, the interplay between economic complexity, capital formation, and energy use has received limited attention. This study investigates how these factors influenced ecosystem vitality in high-income countries over the period of 2000–2022. Drawing on Ecological Modernisation Theory and the Environmental Kuznets Curve framework, this study employs four panel data estimation methods, Panel-Corrected Standard Errors, Driscoll–Kraay Estimators, Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood, and Feasible Generalised Least Squares, to address cross-sectional dependence, heteroskedasticity, and potential non-linearities. The analysis reveals three key findings. First, while economic complexity improves ecosystem vitality, this benefit weakens substantially in highly urbanised contexts, indicating diminishing returns to knowledge spillovers in dense urban environments. Second, urbanisation significantly reduces the negative environmental impacts of capital accumulation, suggesting that urban agglomeration enables more sustainable infrastructure deployment. Third, the urbanisation–environment relationship follows an inverted U-shape, with environmental pressures peaking at intermediate development stages before improving in advanced urban systems. Additionally, renewable energy adoption consistently improves ecosystem vitality, whereas energy intensity exerts negative effects, highlighting the urgency of comprehensive energy transition strategies. These findings demonstrate that urbanisation acts not as a uniform force, but as a dynamic variable requiring spatially differentiated strategies: governance and infrastructure optimisation in dense urban cores, complexity-driven innovation in peri-urban regions, and energy-intensity regulations across all development stages. These findings point to an integrated policy framework that addresses (1) density-sensitive economic complexity, (2) circular infrastructure investment, (3) institutional capacity building, and (4) multi-scalar energy transitions to better align urban development with environmental sustainability. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12566/2382 Income inequality and economic complexity nexus: The moderating roles of institutional quality and globalization Erkişi, Kemal This paper investigates the link between economic complexity and income inequality by addressing the moderating functions of institutional quality and globalization on economic complexity. The dataset spans the G7 nations throughout the years 1995–2020. Parameter estimations draw on Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE). Two models explore disparity in income distribution. The first model addresses personal income inequality, second labor income share. Economic complexity, institutional quality, globalization, economic growth, and human capital are independent factors in both models. The results show that when moderating effects are not taken into account, economic complexity increases income inequality and decreases labor income share. Conversely, institutional quality reduces personal income inequality and increases labor income share. When we consider the moderating roles of institutional quality and globalization; the higher institutional quality reduces the negative effects of economic complexity on personal income inequality as well as labor income share. This result shows that the moderating effect of institutional quality helps economic complexity to distribute income relatively more fairly. On the other hand, when the moderating effect of globalization is taken into account, it reveals that increasing globalization strengthens the negative effect of economic complexity on labor income share and reduces its effect on personal income inequality. In other words, although globalization provides a more equitable distribution among individuals, it does so at the expense of reducing labor income share. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12566/2381 Financial inclusion, carbon footprint and human development nexus: The case of Türkiye Erkişi, Kemal; Boğa, Semra In an era marked by increasing global challenges related to sustainability and human well-being, this re search investigates the complex interrelationship between financial inclusion (FI), carbon footprint, and human development in the unique context of Türkiye. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset spanning three decades, we employ advanced econometric techniques, including the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR), to shed light on this multifaceted nexus. The find ings reveal that FI, as gauged by the Financial Institutions and Financial Markets, significantly contributes to Türkiye’s Human Development. Improved financial access and stability are associated with positive ad vancements in human development indicators over the long term. Additionally, our analysis underscores the environmental dimension, as increased carbon dioxide emissions exhibit a detrimental impact on human development. These results emphasize the importance of aligning economic progress with ecological sus tainability in Türkiye’s development trajectory. By employing both FMOLS and CCR, our research enhances the comprehensiveness and robustness of the analysis. The combination of these methodologies not only elucidates the causal relationships within this intricate nexus but also offers insights into policy measures that can simultaneously foster FI, mitigate environmental degradation, and enhance human well-being in Türkiye. This study contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable development by providing empiri cal evidence on the interplay between FI, environmental concerns, and human development in Türkiye, ulti mately advancing our understanding of the complex dynamics underpinning national development efforts in the twenty-first century. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z