Abstract:

Economic conditions and future expectations of individuals in a country can affect their spending and/or saving attitudes, the reflections of these behavioural patterns on the economy, in other words, the level of confidence in the economy can be measured with the consumer confidence index. In this study, the short- and long-term relationship among consumer confidence index with inflation, exchange rate, unemployment rate, youth unemployment rate and consumer loan interest was tested with regard to Turkey. To this end, Johansen cointegration analysis was carried out based on seasonally adjusted monthly data for the period 2007-2020, and as a result of the estimation, a cointegration relationship was determined between consumer confidence index and other variables. In addition, it was concluded that deviations from short-term equilibrium would reach long-term equilibrium after approximately 4 months by utilizing an error correction model. In another analysis carried out with respect to consumer confidence, Granger causality was tested, and as a result of the estimation, it was concluded that whereas exchange rate, unemployment rate, youth unemployment rate, inflation rate, and consumer loan did not influence the consumer confidence index in the short term, these variables affected the consumer confidence index in the long term by acting together. Based on the result of this study, it can be underlined that the policies aimed at decreasing exchange rate, unemployment rate, and consumer loan rates will result in effective results to increase consumer confidence index, which reflects the current economic conditions of consumers and their expectations for the future, and even to rise above the 100-threshold value, which has been far behind for a long time. For this reason, it may be suggested to prioritize the policies for improving the aforementioned variables so that resources can be used effectively.

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