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Dr Orkun Saka

Reader in Economics

School of Policy & Global Affairs Department of Economics

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About

Overview

Orkun is an Associate Professor (Reader) in Economics at the City St George's, University of London, a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE as well as a Research Affiliate at the CESifo network. He has previously visited several research institutions including the University of Cambridge and University of California, Berkeley. His academic papers have been published in some of the leading journals in economics and finance, such as the Journal of the European Economic Association, The Economic Journal and Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.

His main research interests are in financial intermediation, international finance and political economy.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Finance, City St George's, University of London, United Kingdom, September 2014 - July 2017
  • MRes/MPhil in Finance, City St George's, University of London, United Kingdom, 2012 - September 2014
  • MSc in Finance & Accounting, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, September 2010 - July 2011
  • BSc in Business (Finance), Middle East Technical University, Turkey, September 2004 - July 2009

Employment

  • Visiting Senior Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, September 2023 - present
  • Visiting Scholar, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, April - June 2023
  • Senior Lecturer in Economics, City St George's, University of London, United Kingdom, August 2022 - present
  • Visiting Scholar, University of California, Berkeley, United States, April - June 2022
  • Lecturer in Economics, City St George's, University of London, United Kingdom, September 2021 - August 2022
  • Research Associate, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, May 2021 - February 2025
  • Research Affiliate, CESifo Network, Germany, January 2021 - present
  • Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, April 2019 - August 2023
  • Lecturer in Finance, University of Sussex, United Kingdom, April 2019 - September 2021
  • Visiting Researcher, Bank of Finland, Finland, January - February 2019
  • Research Associate, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, November 2018 - August 2024
  • Postdoctoral Research Officer, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom, August 2017 - March 2019
  • Research Consultant, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, United Kingdom, March - August 2017
  • PhD Intern, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, Turkey, August - October 2016
  • PhD Intern, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, United Kingdom, May - August 2015

Administrative roles

  • Research Lead (Macro-Finance Cluster), City St George's, University of London, September 2023 - present
  • Deputy Director of Research & Impact Lead in Economics, City St George's, University of London, September 2022 - September 2024
  • Programme Director for MSc Financial Economics, City St George's, University of London, September 2021 - September 2022

Award

  • University of Sussex Business School (2021). Research Excellence Award for Emerging Scholars

Publications

Publications by category

Chapters (4)

  • Saka, O., Martelli, A., Campos, N., Ganslmeier, M. and Ji, Y. (2020). On the complementarity between labour market regulation and tax reforms in the European Union. Economic Growth and Structural Reforms in Europe Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108782517.
  • Saka, O., Campos, N., De Grauwe, P., Ganslmeier, M., Ji, Y. and Martelli, A. (2020). Structural reforms in Europe: Lessons from early experiences. Economic Growth and Structural Reforms in Europe Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108782517.
  • Saka, O., Campos, N., De Grauwe, P., Ji, Y. and Martelli, A. (2020). Financial crises and liberalization: Progress or reversals? Economic Growth and Structural Reforms in Europe Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108782517.
  • Bircan, C. and Saka, O. (2019). Elections and Economic Cycles: What Can We Learn from the Recent Turkish Experience? Crony Capitalism in the Middle East: Business and Politics from Liberalization to the Arab Spring Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198799870.

Internet publication

Journal articles (10)

Reports (3)

Thesis/dissertation

Working papers (3)

Professional activities

Editorial activity

  • I have acted as a referee for many leading academic journals in economics, finance and sociology including the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, The Economic Journal, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking and American Sociological Review (see my CV for the full list of journals)., Referee.

Events/conferences (6)

  • 3rd LSE Workshop on Political Economy of Turkey. (Workshop) London, UK (2021). Organising Committee
    Description: I co-organized the 3rd LSE Workshop on Political Economy of Turkey, which took place virtually on 3rd of September, 2021. The workshop involved the presentations and discussions of 5 high-quality academic papers. Topics ranged from the roots of nation-building via education and propaganda to what role political partisanship may play in bank depositors' behaviour amidst a currency crisis. The keynote speech was delivered by Daron Acemoglu (MIT).
  • 2nd London Political Finance (POLFIN) Workshop. (Workshop) London, UK (2021). Organising Committee
    Description: I co-organized the 2nd London Political Finance (POLFIN) Workshop, jointly sponsored by LSE's Systemic Risk Centre and the Business School (formerly Cass) of the City, University of London. The workshop involved the presentations and discussions of 8 high-quality academic papers. Topics ranged from politicians' corporate favouritism and influence on capital flows to polarization in finance and the role of dark money in elections. The workshop featured a keynote speech by Renée B. Adams (Oxford).
  • 2nd LSE Workshop on Political Economy of Turkey. (Workshop) London, UK (2020). Organising Committee
    Description: I co-organized the 2nd LSE Workshop on Political Economy of Turkey, which took place virtually on 10-11th of September, 2020. The workshop involved the presentations and discussions of 8 high-quality academic papers. Topics ranged from how to better integrate refugee kids via educational means to what role economic shocks play in intimate partner violence and political conflict. The keynote speech was delivered by Sule Alan (EUI).
  • 1st London Political Finance (POLFIN) Workshop. (Workshop) London, UK (2020). Organising Committee
    Description: I co-organized the 1st London Political Finance (POLFIN) Workshop, jointly sponsored by Cass Business School and LSE's Systemic Risk Centre. The inaugural workshop involved the presentations and discussions of 9 high-quality academic papers. Topics ranged from how financial crises can lead to the rise of populism to how banks can capture the media in order to benefit from biased news coverage. The workshop featured a keynote speech by Sir Timothy Besley (LSE).
  • ASSA Session on Social Capital and Banking Crises. (Conference) San Diego, USA (2020). Organising Committee
    Description: I organized a session for the ASSA Meetings on 3-5 January, 2020, in San Diego (CA, US). The set of papers in this session focused on the bilateral relationship between the failure of the banking systems and social values. Not only financial turbulence can cause individuals to change their social preferences, but also the nature of the financial system and its dynamics very much depend on the social structure upon which they are built. In this panel, we first see two cross-country studies using survey data to discuss how social capital in general and public confidence specifically in the banking sector might evolve in the aftermath of financial crises. We see a complementary perspective in the next two papers that use bank-level data in a national context in order to disentangle the disciplining effects of depositors’ social preferences on their banks’ (mis)behaviour. These papers illustrate how social values are incorporated into individuals’ financial decision-making and how banks react to this in return. The session was chaired by Paul Wachtel (NYU).
  • 1st LSE Workshop on Political Economy of Turkey. (Workshop) London, UK (2019). Organising Committee
    Description: I co-organized the 1st LSE Workshop on Political Economy of Turkey, which took place on 12th of March, 2019, at the Graham Wallas Room of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The first workshop of its kind involved the presentations and discussions of 7 high-quality academic papers. Topics ranged from how armed conflict may benefit politically-connected firms to how political communication may polarise voter attitudes. The workshop brought together some of the most promising junior scholars working on issues related to Turkey and its political economy. As a point of pride in the economics profession, six out of seven speakers were female, coming from a diverse set of academic institutions. The workshop also featured a policy panel with Selin Sayek Böke (Member of Turkish Parliament) as the main speaker and Sergei Guriev (former Chief Economist of EBRD) as the chair.

Media appearances (26)

  • BBC (Turkish). Yerel seçimler öncesinde kamu bankaları iktidar partisi lehine kredi dağıtıyor Link: https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-47415520
  • BBC (Turkish). İstanbul seçimi: 23 Haziran’da kazanan ne kadar büyük bir ekonomiden sorumlu olacak? Link: https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-48434512
  • Reuters. Mayor says Turkish state banks shut out Istanbul after poll win Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-politics-imamoglu-financing-idUKL8N28515T
  • Financial Times. Erdogan’s mission to defend lira unsettles overseas investors Link: https://www.ft.com/content/98d40f12-530f-11ea-90ad-25e377c0ee1f
  • Deutsche Welle. Turkey blames 'foreign powers' for fresh currency woes Link: https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-blames-foreign-powers-for-fresh-currency-woes/a-53431231)
  • Arab News. Suspension of lira transactions by European banks hints at trouble to come Link: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1676711/business-economy
  • Times Higher Education. Public trust in scientists ‘will decline in wake of Covid-19’ Link: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/public-trust-scientists-will-decline-wake-covid-19
  • The New Zealand Herald. Public battles over virus diminish trust in scientists Link: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-nanogirl-michelle-dickinson-public-battles-over-virus-diminish-trust-in-scientists/QCDQCVAP4MAXJSIPGI2GPPGQWQ/
  • Wall Street Journal. Maybe the Recovery Already Started Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/newsletter-maybe-the-recovery-already-started-01591958427?tesla=y
  • Daily Mail. Coronavirus crisis could undermine young people's trust in governments and political institutions for years to come, study shows Link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8435785/COVID-19-crisis-undermine-young-peoples-trust-governments-political-institutions.html
  • The Telegraph. Classroom bubble to be expanded, as Gavin Williamson commits to Prime Minister's September schools guarantee Link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/06/19/lockdown-uk-news-update-track-trace-schools-boris-johnson/
  • Euronews (Turkish). LSE araştırması: Pandemi sürecinde Z kuşağı hükümetlerine zayıf not verdi Link: https://tr.euronews.com/2020/06/21/lse-arast-rmas-pandemi-surecinde-z-kusag-hukumetlerine-zay-f-not-verdi
  • BBC (Turkish). Z kuşağı: Türkiye'de Z kuşağı kimlerden oluşuyor, yaşadıkları sorunlar ne? Link: https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-53250029
  • The Washington Post. Coronavirus will undermine trust in government, ‘scarring body and mind’ for decades, research finds Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/05/coronavirus-pandemic-trust-government/
  • World Finance. Cold Turkey: Coronavirus further weakens the lira Link: https://www.worldfinance.com/markets/cold-turkey-coronavirus-further-weakens-the-lira
  • The Guardian. The most dangerous phase of the US Covid-19 crisis may be yet to come Link: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/sep/10/us-covid-19-crisis-health-economy
  • Financial Times. Covid has made the state’s hand more visible but there are risks Link: https://www.ft.com/content/c5295c0d-ab82-49fd-afb4-0edba303ac4d
  • Bloomberg. Turkish State Banks Are Lending Along Party Lines, EBRD Says Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-10/turkey-s-state-banks-seen-lending-along-party-lines-ebrd-says
  • South China Morning Post. Generation C: for young Asians, coronavirus defines bleak new era of vanishing career prospects Link: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3109535/generation-c-young-asians-coronavirus-defines-bleak-new-era
  • Finanz und Wirtschaft (German). Vermindert Covid unser Vertrauen in die Wissenschaft? Link: https://www.fuw.ch/article/vermindert-covid-unser-vertrauen-in-die-wissenschaft/
  • Fortune. The pandemic paradox: surviving a public health crisis breeds more science skeptics, researchers find Link: https://fortune.com/2020/11/27/pandemic-paradox-science-skeptics-coronavirus/
  • Forbes. Science needs public relations Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/01/13/science-needs-public-relations/
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine (German). Warum Menschen der Wissenschaft nicht mehr vertrauen Link: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/corona-pandemie-warum-das-vertrauen-in-die-wissenschaft-sinkt-17187385.html
  • Bloomberg. The Legacy of the lost year will be devastating inequality Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-10/covid-pandemic-made-racial-income-inequality-much-worse
  • Daily Sabah. Turkish youth focus on reliability in politics Link: https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/news-analysis/turkish-youth-focus-on-reliability-in-politics-demand-firm-economy
  • USA Today. Fact check: 'Trust the science' critique includes 3 real ads – and one from a video game Link: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/30/trust-science-post-uses-3-real-images-one-video-game/5056020001/

Online articles (15)