Doors and Engines: A Theory of Selection and Treatment Effects in European Integration, with Evidence from Greece and Türkiye

Aida Idil Okyar

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This mixed-methods study examines whether economic development preceded or was strengthened by European Economic Community (EEC) membership through a comparative analysis of Greece and Türkiye. Drawing on economic growth, transformation, and institutional theories, it uses comparative, qualitative, and quantitative evidence to assess European integration's determinants and consequences. The findings indicate that Greece's accession depended mainly on democratic consolidation, institutional quality, and macroeconomic stability, not economic development, with long-term economic benefits emerging gradually after accession. Although full European Union (EU) membership offers larger economic gains than Türkiye's partial integration, these benefits depend on domestic institutional capacity and reform. Overall, the study concludes that accession was a political and institutional selection process, while membership acted as a conditional driver of long-term economic growth.

Keywords: European integration; European Union (EU); Europeanization; Economic development; Institutional quality; Structural transformation; Political conditionality; Türkiye; Greece (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F15 F53 O19 O43 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-08-04
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:130345

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