EDUCATION AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN TURKEY: NEW EVIDENCE FROM PANEL DATA ANALYSIS

Income gini coefficient shows that income inequality has a downward trend in Turkey between 2008 and 2013. As it is expected, the east part of Turkey has higher income distortions, while Marmara and Black Sea regions have relatively lower income Gini coefficients. In this paper, we also computed education Gini at the provincial level from 2008 to 2013. Similar to the income Gini index, the education Gini coefficient is also higher in Eastern and South-eastern regions. Besides, the data show that the provinces that have more equal education distribution are generally located in the Marmara and Central Anatolia regions. In this study, we examine the impact of education inequality on income inequality by analysing provincial level panel data between 2008 and 2013. We have employed both static and dynamic panel data models and also controlled for the endogeneity problem. Econometric analysis provides evidence for a negative association between education Gini coefficient and income inequality.