The role of the extensive margin in export of Turkey: A comparative analysis

Abstract

We examine the role of extensive margin, in other words, new export products and destinations, onTurkish export performance between 1995 and 2013, in comparison with some other countries. We usetwo complementary methods together with several extensions taking into account critiques in theliterature. Our results suggest that, Turkey was quite successful in extending its extensive margincompared to other developing countries. The growth of extensive margin mostly comes from enteringinto new markets. Nevertheless, the level of the extensive margin is still low as of 2013 compared to theother countries. Turkey still has important opportunities to increase its exports via extensive marginespecially in products.