Browsing by Author "Kantur, Zeynep"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Citation - WoS: 11
Citation - Scopus: 14
Card Spending Dynamics in Turkey During the Covid-19 Pandemic
(Central Bank Republic Turkey, 2021) Kantur, Zeynep; Özcan, Gülserim; Economics
This paper provides an extensive analysis of card spending during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey by using weekly aggregated and sectoral credit and debit card spending data from March 2014 to December 2020. At an aggregated level, we show that aggregate demand decreases significantly at the early stages of COVID-19 and seems to reinstate its pre-COVID trend. However, when we include the pre-existing conditions of Turkey, the 2018 currency crisis, we observe that the recovery in demand is not that strong. To highlight the underlying reasons for structural change in aggregate demand, we estimate the model with stringency index and unemployment-related search index. The estimated model indicates that containment measures and restrictions and fear of job/income loss mainly explain the overall impact of COVID-19 on aggregate demand. We also examined sectoral data to understand aggregate demand dynamics better. Only stable and delayable sector groups have reached a trend above their pre-pandemic trajectories. However, the social and work-related sectors are far from their respective pre-pandemic trend.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
Dissecting Turkish Inflation: Theory, Fact, and Illusion
(Springer, 2022) Kantur, Zeynep; Ozcan, Gulserim; Economics
The policy debate in Turkey over the impact of interest rate on inflation concerns the question of what policymakers should do when faced with volatile and high inflation. Motivated by this discussion, we provide an empirical analysis by connecting the cost channel to the Phillips relation. Our findings prove the existence of the cost channel. However, other determinants of inflation -labor share of income, prices of imported inputs, and consumption goods -dominate the cost channel in Turkey.
Monetary Policymaking Under Climate Uncertainty
(2022) Kantur, Zeynep; Özcan, Gülserim; Economics
The most effective policy to prevent climate change is the decarbonization of the production process. Decarbonization, which should be planned and not delayed, will cause some assets to become idle or stranded, either entirely or partially. Therefore, the transition to a low-carbon economy results in sudden and unexpected fluctuations in asset prices. These shocks will affect the relevant sector and all production sectors with a domino effect and deteriorate financial stability. To the extent that these shocks are predictable, policymakers can prepare for the repercussions of green financial transformation. However, the tools needed to pre-measure them are new and dependent on many economic variables. Therefore, policymakers need a road map to act under this uncertainty. This paper theoretically provides insights into central banks’ role/engagement under climate change ambiguity. The paper shows that the less the central bank trusts its policy model, the higher the sensitivities of inflation, output-gap, and asset price-gap to climate-related shocks. Hence, an aggressive response of monetary policy is required in the face of uncertainty.
Türkiye'de Tüketim Modelinin Deşifre Edilmesi: Bir Euler Denkleminin İncelenmesi
(2022) Kantur, Zeynep; Özcan, Gülserim; Economics
Politika yapıcıların ekonomik modellerinde tüketim için yapısal bir biçim varsaymaları nedeniyle tüketim dinamiklerini anlamak çok önemlidir. Bu çalışma, kredi ve banka kartı harcama verilerini kullanarak bir Euler denklemi tahmin etmekte ve Türkiye'deki tüketim dinamiklerini ayrıştırmaya çalışmaktadır. Standart Euler denkleminden farklı olarak, döviz kuru dinamiklerinin tüketim üzerindeki etkisini anlamak için bir modelleme şeması kullanılmaktadır. Bulgularımıza göre Türk Lirası değer kaybettikçe tüketim artmaktadır. Ayrıca, tüketim davranışında önemli bir alışkanlık oluşumu olduğunu gösteriyoruz. Bununla birlikte, geriye dönük harcama davranışı, gelecekteki tüketime ilişkin beklentiler tarafından domine edilmektedir.
Citation - WoS: 9
Citation - Scopus: 10
What pandemic inflation tells: Old habits die hard
(Elsevier Science Sa, 2021) Kantur, Zeynep; Ozcan, Gulserim; Economics
COVID-19 has led to changes in individuals' consumption habits, which will cause the calculation of inflation based on the average consumption basket to give distorted information. Using debit and credit card spending data of Turkey, we build CPI weights and compute an alternative pandemic consumption basket price index for Jan 2020-Feb 2021. Our findings show that the pandemic inflation is higher than the official inflation rate during the first lockdown, suggesting a behavioral change in consumption. However, in the reopening period, old habits come back. During the second lockdown, the difference between the pandemic and the official inflation rates is trivial in comparison with the first lockdown. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.