Economic impacts of free zones in Turkey: A questionnaire study conducted with firms operating in Turkish free zones regarding the perception of the firms on the success of free zones

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, İşletme Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2012

Öğrenci: MEHMET EMİN KAVLAK

Danışman: UĞUR SOYTAŞ

Özet:

In Turkey, the trade regime has been liberalized to some extent after Resolutions of 24 January 1980, and Turkey started to implement export-led trade strategies. As a part of these policy instruments, the Free Zones Law was published in the Official Gazette in 1985. Following various amendments in the Law, objectives of free zones have been defined as “promoting export-oriented investment and production, accelerating the entry of foreign investment and technology, directing enterprises to export and improving international trade”. Within this context, the purpose of this study is to explore the economic impacts of free zones and analyze the free zone firms’ perceptions on the success of free zones by assessing to what extent the establishment objectives of the free zones in Turkey have been realized.