Middle Income Trap and Turkey: Ways of Getting Out

Abstract

The main problem of developing countries in today's economy is that they cannot increase their per capita income above a certain level. This situation is expressed as middle-income trap. Being stuck at a certain level of gross domestic product per capita for long years, raised the question of whether Turkey is caught in the middle-income trap.  

Aim: To assess the situation in Turkey in terms of middle-income trap concept and to provide recommendations.             

Method: The concept of middle-income trap will be defined, relevant literature will be presented, exit strategies brought in the literature will be presented in conjunction with Turkey’s current data.

Findings:  Whether or not in the middle income trap, there are important steps to be taken by Turkey in order to become a developed country economy: These can be listed as increasing the savings rate and investment in R & D and innovation, improving the quality of education, ensuring fairness in income distribution and in particular raising the level of technology used in the manufacturing industry

Keywords: Middle Income Trap; GDP Per Capita; Economic Growth; Turkey.