Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Erinç Yeldan

Author

Erinç Yeldan
Professor of Economics and Dean, Kadir Has University

Erinç Yeldan, Professor of Economics and Dean at Kadir Has University. He is one of the executive directors of the International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs), New Delhi; and serves as a member-elect of the International Resource Panel of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). He is also a member-elect of the Science Academy (Bilim Akademisi) in Turkey. Dr Yeldan received his Ph.D. from University of Minnesota, USA, and joined the Department of Economics at Bilkent in 1988. During 1994/95 he was a visiting scholar at the University of Minnesota, and during 2007/2008 he was a Fulbright scholar at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and at Amherst College. Dr. Yeldan’s recent work focuses on development macroeconomics, vulnerability and fragmentation of labour markets, de-industrialisation, and economics of climate change, and on empirical, dynamic general equilibrium models. Over these subjects, Professor Yeldan has contributed over fifty refereed articles, written eight books, and participated in numerous project reports and briefings. Over thirty years of his professional experience as an educator, he had directed more than thirty master theses and supervised six doctoral dissertations.

Content by this Author

Europe’s carbon pricing plans: potential effects on Turkey’s economy

The European Union’s newly introduced carbon border adjustment mechanism will have considerable effects on outside countries’ bilateral trade with the region. As this column explains, the European Green Deal and other new EU regulations, such as the circular economy action plan, will force trading partners to be more active on climate policy. It is in the interest of those countries to establish national emission trading systems (linked to the EU’s existing scheme), which would minimise the possible costs.

Most read

Financing Lebanon’s Reconstruction: A Compact for Finance, Governance, and Accountability

As Lebanon embarks on another round of reconstruction, the key question is not how much financing can be mobilised, but whether each commitment is linked to a verified need, involves a transparent procurement process, is linked to clearly defined executing and operating institutions, and is based on a liability that is in line with the state’s ability to repay. This column proposes an operational mechanism for establishing that connection: a Reconstruction Finance and Accountability Compact.

Sanctions and conflict: why corruption changes the equation

Why do sanctions produce such different political outcomes across the countries that have been targeted? This column reports research examining the role of pre-existing corruption in shaping the relationship between sanctions and subsequent conflict or political instability. The evidence indicates that trade sanctions are associated with higher conflict-related deaths where pre-existing corruption is high.

The weak bread chain: cereal supply risks in six MENA economies

The Middle East and North Africa is one of the most food-import-dependent regions of the world, particularly for staple cereals such as barley, maize and wheat, and particularly in six countries – Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia. As this column reports, diversifying import sources has become an essential strategy for strengthening food security and improving resilience to geopolitical and climate-related disruptions.

The risks of a two-speed AI economy in MENA

Much of the debate about artificial intelligence in the Middle East and North Africa focuses on how many jobs it will replace. As this column explains, the more important challenge is that the new technology is likely to create a two-speed labour market, where countries with the capacity to invest in digital infrastructure and skills move rapidly ahead while others struggle to keep pace. Unless governments combine credible national reforms with targeted regional cooperation, AI could widen, not reduce, the economic divides across MENA.

Why energy efficiency still struggles to attract finance in Egypt

Egypt has reduced energy subsidies and gradually adjusted domestic energy prices toward cost-recovery levels, improving the economic case for energy efficiency investments – but financing has not kept pace. Drawing on structured interviews with banks, developers and public officials, this column traces why energy efficiency projects in the country still struggle to attract capital, and sets out how a ‘financing ladder’ used elsewhere – from revolving funds to risk guarantees to green bonds – could close the gap.

From mega-investment to mega-productivity: closing MENA’s conversion gap

Across the Middle East and North Africa, governments are investing heavily in infrastructure, technology, diversification and new industries. Yet capital accumulation alone does not guarantee productivity growth. As this column argues, the region’s deeper challenge is its ‘investment-to-productivity conversion gap’: ensuring that large-scale investment translates consistently into stronger firms, technological diffusion, skills and better jobs. A different metric of success is required: not how much capital is deployed, but how much productive capability that capital leaves behind.

Iran is still selling oil. But can it replace tomorrow’s barrels?

Iran’s oil exports have not disappeared, but continued sales may hide a deeper vulnerability. Arash Irani argues that selling barrels already in the logistics system is not the same as generating new export flows, and proposes five indicators to help policymakers judge whether trade under disruption is sustainable or merely running down its stocks.

The political economy of turning AI adoption into firm productivity in MENA

Generative AI can make individual tasks faster without making firms more productive. This column argues that across the Middle East and North Africa, turning AI adoption into better performance depends on organisational capabilities and on agreements within firms over authority, workloads and rewards. Public support can help by financing those capabilities through transparent selection, milestone-based assistance and independent evaluation.

Uneven growth, shallow integration: the case for deeper MENA cooperation

The war-related shock of 2026 has pushed economies across the Middle East and North Africa onto sharply different growth paths. This column argues that these short-term differences say little about long-term income convergence, but that they expose a more durable weakness: shallow regional integration. It proposes three measures to make MENA cooperation deliver tangible economic benefits.

Losing comparative advantage: the erosion of Lebanon’s export base

Lebanon's competitive exports were worth about $3 billion in both 2018 and 2022, but the steady total hides a narrower base. Mohamad Abou Haidar and Ali Fakih show that more than a third of that value rests on precious metals and scrap. They argue that export policy should start by establishing how much of Lebanon's export value reflects domestic production, and should support products on the basis of evidence on value added and viability rather than on trade rankings alone.




Linkedin