Anatolian tigers: local adaptability to global competitiveness in Kayseri

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the post-1980 export-oriented industrialization story of the leading provinces of Anatolia, the commonly called “Anatolian Tigers”, by focusing firstly on the Turkish manufacturing industry data with references to the impacts of the changing global economics and local adaptation to the liberal system; second, particularly through concentrating on the socio-economic institutional aspects of the development in Kayseri, a typical Central Anatolian rapid industrialized province. A relative adaptation in particularly labor-intensive sectors of manufacturing industry regardless from state supports into the global market economies is observed in Denizli, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Konya ve Malatya that classified as Anatolian Tigers. The local institutions in Kayseri provided a ground to benefit from the advantages of flexible production models underlining the prominence of SME prevalently seen in Anatolian manufacturing firms. The manufacturing firms in Kayseri benefited from networks arising from the social ties seen in traditional relations, and from the localities of public and private institutions while at the same time modeling Asian Tigers cost reduction methods. In this regard, the sociological aspects of the Anatolian family and organizational firm structure and institutional assets of the provinces fitted to the conditions of international trade and the changes in organizational structure in international division of labor. Thus, the subject refers to an articulation of the local into global, and also the fit between the traditional societies and the competitive global economy.