Human capital theory was developed to study how individual agents make rational choices or how they invest in human capital to maximize their welfare. One of the leading founders of this perspective, Becker, argues that schooling, on‐the‐job training, medical care, migration and searching for information about prices and incomes are different types of human capital as all these investments improve skills, knowledge or health, thereby increasing individual welfare. He states that education and training are the most important investments in human capital. Apprenticeship training is, thus, identified and treated as a type of investment in human capital. At first glance, it seems that apprentices who are being trained are acquiring skills in a specific vocation. One would suppose that the trainees are getting knowledge and skills and that they would become masters in their profession after a long training process. However, further enquiry is needed to see if this is the case in reality. The present small‐scale, exploratory study, based on 20 interviews – 10 with apprentices and 10 with their employers – aims to investigate the apprenticeship training system in Turkey. In doing so, it seeks to test the basic tenets of human capital theory against the facts discovered. The findings, if they could be generalized, suggest that the Turkish apprenticeship system is a form of child labour rather than a training process. Contrary to apprentice training being a human capital investment, the study finds that trainees do not rationally decide to enter an apprenticeship nor are they selected by a meritocratic system. All of them come from poor peasant families or low‐wage working families where the most pressing need is for the child to earn money.

Türkiye 1980 sonrası dönemde uluslararası göçlerin uğrak yeri olmuştur ve olmaya da devam etmektedir. Bu göçler içerisinde Batılı ülkelere geçmek amacıyla Türkiye'yi geçiş yeri olarak kullanmak isteyenler, sığınmacılar, yerleşmek için gelenler, çalışmak için gelenler ve insan ticareti mağdurlarını görmek mümkündür. Bu çalışmada, kaçak işgücü göçleri konu edilmekte ve bu göçleri Türkiye'ye çeken nedenler araştırılmaktadır. Türkiye'ye yönelik kaçak işgücü göçleri, 1980 sonrası dönemde uygulamaya konulan ekonomi politikalarının işgücü piyasalarında yol açtığı dönüşümlerle ilişkilendirilerek açıklanmaya çalışılmaktadır.Anahtar Kelimeler: Kaçak işgücü göçü, kayıtdışı istihdam, yedek işgücü, esnek vize uygulaması, kaçak göçmen işçi istihdamı ile mücadele.

In itself, the term 'social dialogue' signifies that the historical conflict between social classes has been replaced with 'compromise'. In this paper, compromise discourse is first hesitantly approached, and then critically evaluated. In the first instance, it is clear that contrary to what the term 'social dialogue' might imply, in reality it is used as a curtain with which to cover hegemonic power relations. Secondly, the question as to whether the term 'social dialogue' can describe Turkish industrial relations is raised. As a result, it is argued that social dialogue is not a suitable word with which to discuss the current industrial relations climate in Turkey.

This paper considers student employees in tourism in Antalya, Turkey. The appearance of undergraduate students in the labour market in Turkey has been an observable fact, especially since the beginning of the 2000s. One can see them in many different areas of the labour market. What matters in terms of labour demand is their student status, not their skill, experience, etc. The tourism industry is one of the economic activities in which undergraduate students are densely employed. Undergraduate students are employed informally for casual jobs by agencies functioning like employment agencies, but they are not officially employment agencies. The tourism industry in Antalya has a seasonal nature, and of course employment in this area is seasonal as well. However, in some seasons, there is an instant labour demand, and undergraduate students are viewed as a good labour supply for this demand. Currently, no scientific work has been carried out on this issue. This paper intends to present some preliminary findings on student employment.