Ethnic Diversity and Public Goods Provision in Turkey

The aim of this research is to analyze the effects of the increased economic growth in the early 2000s through the changes in public delegation of goods. At the beginning of the 2000s a new political party took power in Turkey, promising a boost in economic growth and higher standards of living. The AKP leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, highlighted the focus on the increase in economic activity in all regions, and investments in economic development. Thus, the research answers the question whether the delegation of the funds for health and education was economically, or ethnically based, and how did the AKP mandate affect public provision of goods. Findings imply that Kurdishness of a province has a significantly negative relationship with the public goods provision measured by proxy variables, and the Public Provision Index. Therefore, Kurdish provinces did on average receive less public goods. Conversely, looking only at the AKP mandate, Kurdish provinces profited significantly more than others, specifically because of the decisions made by the AKP government. Erdogan’s method of solving the ethnic issues seems to be mostly related to the economic performance.