The 6th Merih Celasun Memorial Day, held virtually, attracted great attention

The 6th “Merih Celasun Memorial Day”, which TEPAV hosts to commemorate Merih Celasun, who made significant contributions to the study of economics, was held virtually due to the COVID-19 outbreak on Tuesday, December 15th. Academics, economists, and researchers tuned into the event.

The meeting began with opening remarks from Sibel Guven, TEPAV’s Program Director, and Oya Celasun, Division Chief of the World Economic Studies Division at the IMF. Guven, who spoke about Merih Celasun’s background and career, emphasized the importance he attached to data and economic models in understanding the Turkish economy, income inequality, and resource distribution. Oya Celasun, the IMF’s World Economic Studies Division Chief and Merih Celasun’s daughter, thanked TEPAV on behalf of the Celasun family.

Following the opening remarks, Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, Ufuk Akcigit, gave the “Monopolization and Market Competition in Turkey and around the World” memorial lecture. He stressed the importance of having appropriate debates on the economy so that the right economic policies can be produced. Akcigit thanked TEPAV for creating these opportunities for discussion.  Economic efficiency can only be achieved through innovation and competition, he concluded by stating that economic regulations enable large companies to maintain their positions and reduce competition instead of providing advantages to small companies in today’s market. Akcigit provided case examples from the United State, Italy, and Turkey.

A panel discussion was held after the memorial lecture. The discussion was moderated by the founder of Ussal Danismanlik, Ussal Sahbaz, with the participation of Ufuk Akcigit, TOBB E-Commerce President Ozan Acar, and Middle East Technical University’s Department of Economics Professors Erol Taymaz and Ebru Voyvoda. Erol Taymaz, who made a presentation on the general structure of Turkey’s economy stated that it results to a crisis every 8-9 years. The relationship between economic growth and the current account deficit rate was addressed. Stating that the current account deficit was mostly covered by foreign financing, Taymaz expressed that there is an intimate relationship between economic growth and firm dynamics, and that productive investments should be made for sustainable growth.

After Erol Taymaz’s speech, Ebru Voyvoda talked about the importance of sectoral dynamics and how they are internalized by companies and the obstacles standing in the way of technology and knowledge transfer. He drew attention to the importance of designing macroeconomic structures.x

After Ebru Voyvoda’s presentation, Ozan Acar emphasized the weight digitalization in Turkey, that the pandemic has led to increased digitalization and initiated it to be recorded. He stated that this situation contributed to the dynamism of the market and that the impact of general-purpose technologies was observed at a later date. For companies to benefit from digitalization, then digitalization needs to cheapen, tax policies and transportation infrastructure must be fixed, and qualified individuals should be trained. He stated that thanks to the electronic markets, new brands can find their place and that electronic channels are very useful in this regard.

Answering panel questions, Dr. Ufuk Akcigit divulged that it is incorrect to focus on token increases experienced by the incentives in the micro framework, a general impact analysis should be done, the amount of innovation should be scrutinized, and its efficiency calculated.

The panel discussion came to an end with moderator Sahbaz concluding remarks that lawsuits filed against large companies across the world are beneficial for competition.

To access the lecture made by Ufuk Akcigit click here.

To access the lecture made by Ebru Voyvoda click here.

To watch the event click here.