Interlinkages between credit, debt and the labour market: evidence from Turkey

Karacimen E.

CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, vol.39, no.3, pp.751-767, 2015 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 39 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1093/cje/beu016
  • Journal Name: CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.751-767
  • Keywords: Labour Market, Consumer Credit, Indebtedness, Workers, Turkey, CRISIS
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article examines workers' use of credit in the context of a developing country, Turkey, based on empirical material collected through questionnaires and interviews with workers in the metal sector. The results provide evidence of a link between workers' debt and the type of wage employment in two ways. First, I demonstrate that insecurity of employment and income is important in determining the increased tendency to borrow and increasing the vulnerability of workers to debt service problems. Second, I reveal that debt adds new dimensions to capital labour relations by functioning as a disciplining mechanism.