Interlinkages between credit, debt and the labour market: evidence from Turkey

Abstract

This article examines workers' use of credit in the context of a developing country, Turkey, based on empirical material collected through questionnaires and interviews with workers in the metal sector. the results provide evidence of a link between workers' debt and the type of wage employment in two ways. First, I demonstrate that insecurity of employment and income is important in determining the increased tendency to borrow and increasing the vulnerability of workers to debt service problems. Second, I reveal that debt adds new dimensions to capital labour relations by functioning as a disciplining mechanism.