172 Int. J. Diplomacy and Economy, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2018 Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. The middle income trap: an empirical evidence on the Turkish economy Sevilay Konya* Taşkent Vocational School, Selçuk University, Taşkent 42960, Konya, Turkey Email: sevilaykonya@selcuk.edu.tr *Corresponding author Zeynep Karaçor Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Selçuk University, Ardıçlı Neighborhood, Alaaddin Keykubat Campus, Selçuklu 42250, Konya, Turkey Email: zkaracor@selcuk.edu.tr Pınar Yardımcı Silifke Taşucu Vocational School, Selçuk University, Taşucu Neighborhood, Prof. Dr. Halil Cin Street, No. 43, Silifke, Mersin, Turkey Email: pinar@selcuk.edu.tr Abstract: The concept of middle income trap is a frequently discussed issue in recent years. In this study, time series analysis was conducted using annual data for the period 1971–2015 in Turkey. This study, GDP per capita, manufacturing industry, domestic savings and schooling rate in higher education were selected as variables in the study considering the frequency of use in the literature. Findings show the existence of a long-term relationship between the variables we use. It is also determined that manufacturing industry and gross domestic savings are the cause of GDP. Policies for manufacturing industry should be developed, and domestic savings rate should be increased not to fall into the middle income trap of Turkey’s. Keywords: middle income trap; GDP; time series analysis; Turkish economy; economy. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Konya, S., Karaçor, Z. and Yardımcı, P. (2018) ‘The middle income trap: an empirical evidence on the Turkish economy’, Int. J. Diplomacy and Economy, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.172–184. Biographical notes: Sevilay Konya is a Lecturer at the Taşkent Vocational School, University of Selçuk, Turkey. She is also a PhD candidate. Her main research interests include economics.