PROJECT TEAM
BERKAY AYHAN - PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Berkay Ayhan is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Istanbul University. He received his undergraduate degree in economics from Gazi University, master’s degree in political science and public administration at the Middle East Technical University, and PhD degree in political science from McMaster University. Berkay received the Young Social Scientist Award of Turkish Social Sciences Association for his doctoral thesis in 2019. His research interests are political economy, public administration, and public policy. His work appeared in journals such as International Review of Administrative Sciences, Turkish Studies, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, and Amme Idaresi Dergisi.
HASAN TEKGÜÇ - CONSULTANT
I have obtained my bachelor’s degree from Boğaziçi University in 2000 and my PhD in Economics from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2010. My main fields of interest are development and labor economics. My studies in development field are focused on alternative poverty measures and impact of taxes and social spending on poverty and inequality. In the field of labor economics, my research is focused on gender wage gap, job transition, minimum wage and the impact of Syrian migrants on natives' employment in Turkey. Some of my work is published in Feminist Economics, ILR Review, Mediterranean Politics, IZA Journal of Labor Policy, International Journal of Educational Development, South European Society and Politics, New Perspectives on Turkey, Review of Economics of the Household, and Agribusiness. Two of my projects were funded by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). Since June 2022, I am an associate editor at Feminist Economics.
AHMET ULCAY - PHD STUDENT
He was born on August 12, 1995 in Gaziantep. He completed his primary education at Mehmet Çolakoğlu Primary School. He completed his high school education by studying at Emine Konukoğlu Anatolian High School. He started his university education in Gaziantep University, Economics Undergraduate department in 2013. During his undergraduate education, He completed a one-semester internship by working a position in the Department of Human Resources and Education of the Municipality of Şehitkamil. He completed his undergraduate education in 2017 by preparing a graduation project named "Globalization Process in Turkey". He completed his military service in Muş Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment Command in 2018. In January 2019, he started his master's degree with thesis in Gaziantep University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Economics. He graduated from his master's degree with thesis by completing his thesis named "Turkey-Africa Economic Relations in the Scope of Development Assistance (2000-2019)". The thesis work was completed as a BAP project, supported by Gaziantep University Scientific Research Projects (BAP). In June 2021, he started his doctorate education in Gaziantep University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Economics. Ahmet ULCAY, who passed the proficiency exam and interview in the 3rd semester of his doctorate education, continues his doctorate education in the thesis period as of the 4th semester of his education. In April 2023, he was accepted to the TUBITAK project titled “Household Debt in Turkey: Causes, Patterns, Consequences and Public Policy Suggestions” with the TUBITAK BİÇABA program and he continues her current role in the TUBITAK project as a PhD scholar.
MERİÇ BALKAN - MASTER'S STUDENT
Meriç Balkan is a master student in the department of Political Science and Public Administration at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration program at Istanbul Bilgi University as the third of her class. Her undergraduate thesis is named “Alienation in existentialist thought” where she discussed and compared the perspectives of thinkers such as Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Sartre on alienation. In her master’s thesis under the supervision of Sibel Karadağ, she investigates Turkey’s city-based registration and residence system and the processes of “illegalization” in practice. She is a researcher at Berkay Ayhan’s project “Household Indebtedness in Turkey: Causes, Dynamics, Consequences, and Public Policy Proposals” supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. Her academic interests involve political philosophy, social theory, critical migration and border studies, critical political economy and political sociology.
AYBÜKE AKÇAY - MASTER'S STUDENT
Aybüke Akçay is a master's student at Istanbul University, specializing in Local Governance, Urban, and Environment. With a double major in Political Science and Public Administration, as well as Economics, from Istanbul University. Currently working as a researcher on the project "Household Indebtedness in Turkey: Causes, Dynamics, Consequences, and Public Policy Proposals," supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. Her research interests include urban economics, critical political economy, and public policies. Aybüke's quest for creating sustainable urban environments.
FATMA KAVAK - MASTER'S STUDENT
Fatma Kavak is a research assistant in the Faculty of Political Sciences at Istanbul University. She received her undergraduate degree in economics from Marmara University. She is continuing her master in economics at Istanbul University. In her master’s thesis she studies how new media tools affect consumer behavior and positional of consumers. She is a researcher at the project “Household Indebtedness in Turkey: Causes, Dynamics, Consequences, and Public Policy Proposals” supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. Her research interests are behavioral economic, development economics, sociology, economic growth, and public economy.