EDITORIAL CONTENTS Teoman DUMAN
Faculty of Economics, Management Department
Welcome to the first issue of the Journal of Economic and Social Studies. The beginning of 2011 comes
with enthusiasm and great motivation for initiating an academic, peer-reviewed journal dedicated
to publishing scholarly work in economics and related scientific areas. In this journal, we plan to
publish conceptual and empirical papers that take an interdisciplinary perspective in the areas of
economics, business administration, public administration, political studies, international relations,
labor economics and industrial relations, econometry, sociology and psychology. As scientific inquiry
advances, researchers in different scientific areas benefit from theories and concepts in other areas,
which can bring a broader perpective to their explanations. As such, our journal will attempt to bring
academics from various backgrounds to advance theories and offer solutions for society’s problems.
The number of academic journals that publish papers in economics and related areas has risen in
proportion to the advancements in information technologies. The increasing number of journals
have also motivated researchers to produce more specific research studies in different academic
disciplines. In relation to this matter, one of the areas on which we expect our prospective writers to
conduct research will be Balkan studies, through which we plan to offer solutions to the problems of
this complicated area. The problems that arose following the recent war and political conflicts in the
area necessitate a journal that gives priority to scientific research specific to the area. Balkan-specific
research is also related to the largest economic and polical union in the world, namely the European
Union. Expectations from and expected influences of the integration of Balkanic countries into
the European Union are receiving closer attention from researchers and the public. In addition to
economic, administrative and political perspectives, sociological and psychological perspectives on
the problems of the Balkanic area attract a great deal of attention. This portion of Europe is extremely
culturally diverse and these diverse cultures live in close proximity to each other. Many of the past
problems of this area are rooted in sociological structures and solutions to these problems can only be
found by understanding social structures and the psychology behind them.
In the current issue, we publish seven papers and one conference report. In the first article, Ulussever,
Yumusak and Kar report a research study from the Saudi Arabian equity market and show proof of
the day-of-the-week effect in this market. The authors use data from January 2001 to December
2009 from the Saudi stock exchange TADAWUL and suggest that investors take the day-of-the-week
variations into account in the volatility of the Saudi stock exchange.
In the second article, Kaplan and Kalyoncu measure the level of international capital mobility for the
twelve MENA countries (Algeria, Israel, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey) over the period 1963-2007. The authors show that capital mobility levels
differ for different sub-periods, e.g., there was perfect capital mobility during the 1981-2007 period.
In addition, Yildiz, Hotamisli and Eleren test a performance measurement model for businesses where
they argue that they use both qualitative and quantitative data together in a modified gap model. The
authors test performance levels of 42 enterprises in Turkey where they use gap percentages instead
Yuksel, Zaim and Yuksel introduce different aspects of a radio frequency identification system (RFID)
which is heavily used by most businesses in their business systems and supply chain management.
Technology use is becoming more important especially for small to mid-size enterprises in order to
stay competitive in today’s business world.
Astrom proposes a paradigm shift in sustainable development through the perspectives of Islamic
economics. Astrom questions the role and possible contribution of Islamic economics in today’s
understanding of sustainable development, with a debatable viewpoint.
In the sixth article, Ucan and Ozturk investigate the effect of financial development on investment
levels in Turkey for the period of 1970 through 2009. The authors conclude that high financial
development is an indicator of future domestic investement. The authors argue that, according to the
results, financial developments in the 1980’s contributed to the investment levels in Turkey.
In the last article, Celebioglu presents an investigation of development indicators in Balkan countries
for the post-socialist period. Celebioglu compares Balkan countries with respect to economic
indicators and presents the current economic situation in these countries.
Finally, Uc summarizes his observations from the latest conference held at International Burch
University. It was a successful and comprehensive conference which stimulated us to prepare the
Journal of Economic and Social Studies, A Contemporary View on Economic and Social Research
I would like to thank to the authors of this issue for their hard work and cooperation. Also, I would
like express my gratitude to the reviewers who spent their valuable time reviewing papers for this
issue. I hope that this will be a good start and promising future for our journal.
Key role of proline L209 in connecting the distant quinone pockets in the reaction center of Rhodobacter sphaeroides J. Tandori†‡, P. Maroti‡, E. Alexov§, P. Sebban†¶, and L. Baciou† †Centre de Ge´ne´tique Mole´culaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France; ‡Department of Biophysics, University ofSzeged, H-6722, Szeged, Hungary; and §How