The central contribution of this work is the identification of the determinants of the changes in the profit rates and wages among different subsectors of the Turkish manufacturing industry, with a major emphasis on the impact of changing conditions of external competition. In the Turkish manufacturing industry, the force of external competition reveals itself particularly when the state\'s direct role in accommodating private returns diminishes. One outcome of this has been intensification of the conflictual features of the economic system, resulting in changes in the distribution of income between and within classes. A long-term analysis of the structure of profit rates and real wages at subsectoral level is the main analytical approach of the investigation.