Burhan Can KARAHASAN
Principal
Burhan Can Karahasan is a Professor in Economics at the MEF University. He is currently also a Research Fellow for the Economic Research Forum (ERF). Previously, he was a Miguel Dols Fellow at Canada Blanch Centre at LSE (2024), a Visiting Research Fellow at the LSE (2014) and a Resarch Fellow at the University of Barcelona (2010). Karahasan received his PhD in Economics from Marmara University. He received his BA degree in Economics from Istanbul University and holds a MA degree in Economics and Finance from Boğaziçi University. His main area of research is economic development and regional economics. Karahasan received the PhD Award of Turkish Economic Association in 2010 and the Ibn Khaldun Research Prize of Middle East and Economic Association in 2013.
Alpay FİLİZTEKİN
Scientific Advisor
Alpay Filiztekin received his BA degree in economics from Boğazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1989 and earned his Ph. D. in economics from Boston College, Massachusetts, USA, in 1994. He worked as an assistant professor at Koç University, Istanbul, between 1994 and 2000 and joined Sabancı University afterwards where he is awarded full professorship in 2011. After serving as the Dean of Business School at Özyeğin University between 2016 and 2019, he returned to Sabancı University. He has published a number of articles on applied economics focusing on productivity, regional growth, price dynamics, labor market and inequality in Turkey. His recent research interests are on the economic history of the Ottoman Empire and the Young Turkish Republic.
Bilge ERİŞ DERELİ
Senior Researcher
Bilge Eriş Dereli has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics (lectured in English) at Marmara University since 2022. She previously worked as a lecturer from 2013 to 2022 and as a research assistant in the same department from 2009 to 2013. She received her PhD in Economics from Marmara University in 2013. As part of her academic pursuits, she was a research fellow at the University of Warwick Department of Economics during the 2014-2015 academic year and conducted doctoral research as a visiting scholar at the Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREi) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in 2011-2012. She has also contributed as a researcher to projects led by The Conference Board and The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey. Her research interests are labor economics, education economics, and applied econometrics.
Burcu DÜZGÜN ÖNCEL
Senior Researcher
Burcu Düzgün-Öncel, an associate professor at the Department of Economics at Marmara University, has been working in the same department since 2011. She received her BA (2006), MA (2008) and PhD (2014) degrees from the English Department of Economics at Marmara University. She spent the years 2008-2010 at the University of Bonn for her PhD studies. She worked as a visiting researcher at Pompeu Fabra University in the summer of 2007 and at the Vrije Amsterdam University and Tinbergen Institute in the academic year 2013-2014. Her PhD thesis was selected as the best thesis of the year by the Turkish Economic Association in 2014. She has studies in the fields of Applied Microeconometrics, Health Economics, Labor Economics, and Female Labor Force at the Household Level.
Tolga AKSOY
Senior Researcher
Tolga Aksoy is an Associate Professor of Economics at Yildiz Technical University. He received his bachelor’s degree from Yildiz Technical University in 2006 and his master’s degree in Economics from Marmara University in 2008, before completing his Ph.D. in Economics at Bocconi University in 2014. His research lies at the intersection of macroeconomics, economic growth, and labor economics. He studies how labor and product market imperfections shape income distribution, productivity, and long-run development. His work in labor economics focuses on labor market institutions, human capital dynamics, and the structural factors influencing wages, unemployment, and inequality.
Cemre KÜÇÜK PEKMEZCİ
Junior Researcher
Cemre Küçük Pekmezci has been working as a research assistant in the English Economics program of the Department of Economics at Marmara University since 2018. She received her bachelor’s (2016) and master’s (2019) degrees from the same department and is currently continuing her doctoral studies there. Her studies are conducted in the fields of international trade and applied micro econometrics.
Simay AYDENİZ
Junior Researcher
Simay Aydeniz is a senior Economics student at Koç University. She is interested in particular macro development. She is currently an undergraduate research and teaching assistant at Koç University. As a TUBITAK scholar, she is a research assistant on the project.
Yunus Emre ÖZCAN
Junior Researcher
Yunus Emre Özcan received his BA in Economics from Anadolu University in 2021 and his MA in Economics from Yildiz Technical University in 2024. He is currently pursuing his PhD studies in Economics at Yildiz Technical University. He has been a research assistant in the Department of Economics at Yildiz Technical University since 2022.
Yasin Enes AKSU
Junior Researcher
Yasin Enes Aksu is a research assistant in the Department of Economics and Finance at Piri Reis University.
Emine Sıla BAĞLAYİCİ
Junior Researcher
Emine Sıla BAĞLAYİCİ is a junior Economics student at MEF University. She is a research assistant on the project.
MPI Turkey 