RETHINKING THE PHILLIPS CURVE IN TÜRKİYE: NEW EVIDENCE FROM THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the short- and long-run relationship between the inflation rate, which has come to the fore after a long break all over the world, and the unemployment rate for the Turkish economy. For this purpose, the relationship between the two variables is analyzed using a causality test in the frequency domain, with monthly data for the period 2005:01-2023:03. The symmetric findings of the test indicate the existence of a unidirectional and short-run causal relationship from unemployment to inflation. The asymmetric findings of the test provide two important pieces of evidence. The first of these is the existence of a unidirectional and long-run causal relationship from the positive component of unemployment to the negative component of inflation. The second is the existence of a unidirectional, short- and long-run causal relationship from the negative component of unemployment to the positive component of inflation. These findings confirm the trade-off predicted by the Phillips Curve. It is also important for policymakers to try to increase productivity by making structural and institutional reforms in the labor market, as far as settling for a moderate inflation rate while struggling with inflation and unemployment problems.