Serbest ticaret bölgesi ve gümrük birliği karşılaştırması: İsviçre ve Türkiye örnekleri
Özet
Economic integration started to take an important place in the literature since 1950s. The discussions, which started largely with Viner's customs union (CU) analysis, expanded into other integration stages. However, efforts to compare the economic effects of the free trade area (FTA) and CU have been limited. Theoretical analysis claimed that the economic effects of FTAs and CUs were similar or FTAs was superior. This study aimed to compare the effects of relationships started with the FTA agreement signed between Switzerland and the EU in 1972, and the CU between Turkey and the EU established in 1996, on GDP and exports. General findings indicate that Swiss-EU relations are significantly affected by Switzerland's tradition of neutrality and direct democracy. This relationship, which has gained momentum since early 2000s, has enabled the free movement of people besides goods. Compared to the Switzerland's, Turkey's model has remained more static and in need for updating. In the period from the early 1970s to 2016, under synthetic control method, empirical analysis findings of the compared economic impact of Turkey-EU and Swiss-EU integration also show that the hypothesis, claiming the FTA will yield superior or equal results compared to the CU for export effects, has not been verified. However, the impact of Swiss-EU pattern on GDP is greater than the Turkey-EU's one nearly every period. It supports the theory that the FTA is superior to the CU. Consequently, it is seen as a reasonable choice for them to carry their EU relationships to a higher level.