Foreign Investment in the Ottoman Empire International Trade and Relations 1854-1914 by V. Necla Geyikdağı [1]Published:01-30-2011
232 pages
ISBN:9780857719430
Imprint:I.B. Tauris
As the borders of the Ottoman Empire crumbled throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, unprecedented amounts of foreign capital poured in from investors who were eager to capitalize on its sparsely regulated industries. Yet the abundance of literature concerned with the Empire's tumultuous financial landscape has done little to examine the role of foreign direct investment within the country's ultimate attempt to modernize.
Economist V. Necla Geyikdagi sheds light on the motives, means and policies which shaped foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Ottoman Empire. In addition to providing a general overview of the Empire's successive financial crises throughout the nineteenth century, she looks at the Ottoman Public Debt Administration which served as the guiding authority for foreign investment entering the country. The book weighs political motivation against economic incentive in an in-depth look at the trade practices and foreign policies of the major capital exporting countries. Delving into the tangled network of investors, foreign representatives and government officials, Geyikdagi indentifies the key players in each sector of the Ottoman economy. As investors channelled millions into the Empire's evolving infrastructure, FDI emerged as a complementary extension of international trade relations. From the railways to mining and manufacturing, Geyikdagi uncovers the hidden motives and political ambitions of commercial foreign entities.
Drawing from political speeches, personal journals and popular publications, the socio-economic implications of FDI across the Empire's heterogeneous population are explored. In hopes of attracting much needed capital to finance modernization, the Tanzimat government's sweeping free trade reforms provoked widespread protest from Turkish intellectuals, military officers and religious scholars who expressed concern over the droves of foreign investors who flocked to the country's largely untapped wealth of natural resources. A synthesis of historical, economic and political analysis, 'Foreign Investment in the Ottoman Empire' offers an immensely valuable new perspective on the impact of FDI within the ailing Empire, and represents a significant contribution to Ottoman History more widely.
Table of contents
1. THE PRE-NINETEENTH CENTURY OTTOMAN ECONOMY
Economic Mentality
Economic Disintegration
Why the Ottoman Economy Could Not Industrialize
Industrialization Efforts in the Nineteenth Century
Foreign Influence on Ottoman Economic Thought
The 1838 Anglo-Ottoman Trade Convention
The Impact of Trade Agreements on Trade and Industry
2. FOREIGN CAPITAL: BORROWING
First Attempts at Borrowing
The Persistence of the Financial Crisis and Foreign Loans
The Road to Bankruptcy
The Ottoman Public Debt Administration
The Distribution of Foreign Debt by Countries
3. FOREIGN CAPITAL: DIRECT INVESTMENTS
Motives for Foreign Direct Investments
Capital Exporting Countries
4. THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT BY SECTORS
Railways
Banks and Insurance Companies
Ports and Docks
Urban Services
Mining
Industry and Trade
5. FOREIGN INVESTMENT POLICY AND POLITICAL RISK
The Ottoman Attitude towards Foreign Capital
Political Risk
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS
[1] V. Necla Geyikdağı
Professor of Economics
necla.geyikdagi(at)yeditepe(dot)edu(dot)tr
Office: İİBF-500
Phone: 216 578 0741
Research Interest
International Economics
Foreign Direct Investment
International Trade Flows
Inestment in the Ottoman Empire
Biography
BA: Ankara Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences 1969
MS: Concordia University, Montreal, Canada 1978
Phd. University of Bradford, England 1992
Articles
“Economic Convergence: A Panel Analysis of Growth Variables in
Selected Asian and Latin American Countries”, Economia Internazionale,
68(3), 2015, pp. 385-400 (Filiz Karaman ve E. Tomris Aydoğan ile).
“Foreign Direct Investment and Profit Transfers: The Turkish Case”,
Journal of Balkan & Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 15, Issue 4, Dec. 2013,
pp. 383-395 (F. Karaman ile).
“Foreign Investment in the Ottoman Empire: Attitudes and Political Risk”,
Business History, Vol. 53, No. 3, June 2011, pp. 375-400 (M.Yaşar
Geyikdağı ile).
“Economic Views of a Nineteenth Century Ottoman Intellectual: The
Relationship between Trade and Foreign Direct Investment”, Middle
Eastern Studies, Vol. 47, No. 3, May 2011, pp. 529-543.
“French Direct Investments in the Ottoman Empire before World War I”,
Enterprise & Society, February 2011, 12 (3), pp. 525-561 “
“Liberalization in Turkey: Does History Repeat Itself?”, Middle Eastern
Studies, Vol. 45, No. 1, 2009, pp. 71-86 (M.Y. Geyikdağı ile).
“Regional Integration in Central Asia”, Journal of Asia-Pacific Business,
Vol. 6, Issue 4, 2005, pp. 61-74.
“The Modern-Postmodern Debate in Economics and Business
Management”, Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e
Commerciali (International Review of Economics and Business), Vol. LIINo. 1 - March 2005, pp. 19-34.
“The Relationship between Trade and Foreign Direct Investment: Testing
Ahmed Midhat Efendi’s Hypothesis”, International Journal of Middle
East Studies, 40, 2008, pp. 547-549.
Books
Foreign Investment in the Ottoman Empire: International Trade and
Relations 1854-1914, London: I.B Tauris, 2011
Osmanlı Devleti’nde Yabancı Sermaye 1854-1914, İstanbul: Hil Yayın,
2008