The importance and position of the flat glass sector within the glass industry of Turkey between 1977-1984

Abstract

The steering role of industries are very important in developing countries. Determining functions of especially some industries have vital places in these economies. Among them, construction industry has a very considerable share. Effecting many other industries and employment opportunities is what construction industry causes. One of the industries which construction industry affects is glass industry. Of course glass industry -when considered as a whole- can not be completely related with the construction industry. As in every kind of industry, glass industry has subsectors. Flat (sheet) glass subsector of glass industry is therefore the sector which has the closest ties with the construction industry. In this study, the importance and position of flat glass industry as a subsector of the whole glass industry is examined for Turkey. The mostly emphasized point here is the changes observed in this sector before and after the application of the economic stabilization policies in 1980. The results do not show radical but somewhat considerable changes in the post-1980 period. Especially the effects of outward-looking policies are explicitly observable from the number of countries that Turkey directed her exports and where the geographical places of these countries are. The costs of the outward-looking policies are, on the other hand, supported by the domestic market policies as the comparison between export and domestic market performances show.