The Size of Public Sector: A Comparison of Turkey and the European Union Countries

Many studies in literature have used different indicators for measuring the size of public sector. This study aims to test whether results vary or not based on indicators employed To this end, Turkey and the European Union countries are considered, their public sector sizes have been compared based on statistical data, and it has been confirmed that the choice of indicator affects the results. In addition, the theoretical discussions that explain the change in the size of public sector have been examined, and the compatibility of different approaches with the actual situations observed in Turkey and European Union countries has been investigated Lastly, it has been concluded that theoretical evaluations, which assume that public institutions do not affect the size of the public sector do not apply to Turkey in case tax revenues are employed as an indicator of the size of public sector.