ISE REVIEW

An Analysis of Pre-Privatization and Post-Privatization Financial Performance and 
Activities of Privatized Cement Companies

Osman Karamustafa

 Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to explore changes in pre-privatization financial performance and activities of 24 cement companies. It is found that changes in net period profits and capacity utilization ratios have not been statistically significant, whereas changes in investments and production levels have partially been significant in the pre-privatization and post- privatization periods. We have also found that decrease in the number of employees and increase in productivity levels have been statistically significant in the aforementioned periods.

Business Ethics and a Research for Ethics Cultures of the Companies Traded 
on the Istanbul Stock Exchange

Ali Halıcı 

Abstract 

The aim of the study is to determine the ethics cultures of the companies traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). Therefore, content analysis with quantitative methods were applied to official and written documents of 192 companies. Consequently, statements were determined for 36 different subjects. Among these, 'high quality production' is the most, 'supplier satisfaction' and 'union relations' are the least frequently mentioned subjects. Also 'human resources' is the most, 'environmental issues' are the least examined subjects within the business functions. Research results show that companies mainly have behavioral ethics cultures. Also, they intimately follow the modern approaches in marketing ethics.

Purchasing Power Parity and Real Exchange Rates in Case of Developing Countries 

Murat Doğanlar & Mehmet Özmen

Abstract 

Purchasing power parity states that changes in the nominal exchange rates should reflect the inflation differences. This indicates that if nominal exchange rate changes reflect home and foreign inflation differences, then real exchange rate should remain unchanged. Recent time series econometrics techniques can test this proposal. If the real exchange rate series contain a unit root, then the series are told to be nonstationary which means that PPP (Purchasing power parity) does not hold. Augmented Dickey Fuller and Phillips-Perron unit root tests are used to test the stationarity of the real exchange rate series. The real exchange rate is defined in terms of both United States consumer prices and industrialized countries’ consumer prices. This study is conducted for the period 1986.1-1997.4 for 18 developing countries. The countries under consideration are Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, S. Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. Unit root test results indicate that none of the real exchange rate series are stationary for these countries. Therefore, it can be claimed that PPP does not hold for these countries when PPP is defined in terms of real exchange rate.

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