Customs Union with EU and the Impact of Foreign Competition on the Structure and Performance of Turkish Manufacturing Industry

Using industry level panel data, we study how increasing openness to international markets, including the customs union with EU, have affected the structure and performance of Turkish manufacturing industries over the 1980-1999 period, with special emphasis on the market disciplining role of imports. We find that changes import penetration did not reduce (output-) concentration in concentrated industries, while for the less concentrated industries it had a mildly significant negative impact. It was also observed that changes in import penetration had a significant positive, rather than negative, effect on price-cost margins (PCM) with a one-year lag in high PCM industries; while for the low PCM industries current changes in import penetration had again a significant positive impact on profit margins. Thus, imports do not seem to provide discipline for either the low or high PCM industries.