Sedef Akgüngör

Geographic concentrations in Turkey's manufacturing industry: identifying regional highpoint clusters1

Abstract The theory of economic development based on industry clusters emphasizes the importance of co-location of firms or industries with potential to share technical information and knowledge transfer. The paper identifies industry cluster templates in Turkey using the 1996 Turkish input/output table. Engineering and textile clusters are the largest ones with respect to the number of establishments and employment. Majority of manufacturing clusters are located in İstanbul, İzmir, Ankara/Kırıkkale and Çukurova districts. The study points out the importance of newly developing centres near the periphery of Ankara and several production centres in Anatolia.

Regional Specialization and Industrial Concentration Patterns in the Turkish Manufacturing Industry: An Assessment for the 1980–2000 Period1

Abstract Previous studies on geographical distribution of economic activity in Turkey demonstrate that firms are localized in major metropolitan areas as well as a set of emerging regions. The aim of the paper is to complement the findings of the studies on regional and industrial concentration in Turkeys manufacturing industry by exploring whether regional specialization and industrial concentration patterns changed during the 1980–2000 period. The paper further aims to explore the driving forces of industrial concentration in Turkeys manufacturing industry, particularly during Turkeys economic integration process that started with trade liberalization after 1980 and further developed with the Customs Union in 1996. Regional specialization and industrial concentration are measured by GINI indices Turkeys NUTS-2 regions at the four-digit level for the years between 1980 and 2000. To investigate which variables determine industry concentration, systematic relation between the characteristics of the industry and industrial concentration is tested. Following the method proposed by Paluzie, Pons and Tirado, a panel regression equation is estimated, where the dependent variable is the Gini concentration index and the independent variables are the variables that represent the characteristics of the sectors that follow the predictions of classical trade theory, new trade theory and new economic geography. The major finding of the study is that during 1980–2000, Turkeys regions became more specialized and industry became more concentrated. Increases in the average values of regional specialization and industrial concentration support the prediction developed by Krugman hypothesis that regions become more specialized and industries become more concentrated with economic integration. In exploring the driving forces of industrial concentration, the findings demonstrate that firms tend to cluster in regions where there are economies of scale.

National Industry Clusters and Regional Specializations in Turkey

The article aims to identify industry clusters in Turkey by examining inter-industry selling and purchasing relationships. The 1990 Turkish input-output table is used to identify similarities between selling and purchasing patterns of the 60 manufacturing industries and derive a matrix that describes relative linkages between them. The article also investigates the regional specializations by using the identified national clusters as templates for an analysis of local patterns. Principle component factor analysis reveals the presence of six identifiable industry clusters. The firms within the identified clusters provide a potential to share technical information and knowledge transfer through formal or informal interactions.

Public Policies and Development of the Tourism Industry in the Aegean Region

Evidence in developing countries, especially in the Mediterranean basin, shows that the tourism sector has an important role in regional industrialization and economic growth [Tosun, C., Timothy, D. & Öztürk, Y. (2003) Tourism growth, national development, regional inequality in Turkey, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 11(2–3), pp. 133–161]. Turkey has been successful in developing resort areas and attracting large number of tourists. The tourism sector is a highpoint industry and a crucial public policy area for the Mediterranean and Aegean Regions. The article has two aims: (1) to determine the significance of the tourism industry in the Aegean Region in Turkey by looking at specialization patterns in economic activities across the country and to identify the provinces of the region within which tourism is a highpoint industry and (2) to explore whether public investment in tourism in the Aegean Region has an impact on the value added created by the tourism industry. A comparison of regional structures of the regions reveals that 30% of tourism licensed accommodation establishments are located in the Aegean Region. The results from the location quotient estimates for 1995 and 2001 reveal that the Aegean Region is highly specialized in the tourism industry, particularly when the spatial distribution of the hotels is observed. Value added created by hotels of the Aegean Region is higher than the country average as well. In addition, the econometric model shows that the regional value added created by the tourism sector between 1995 and 2001 is significantly enhanced by public policies that focus on the sector.

Transportation infrastructure investment, growth and international trade in Turkey

Investment in transportation infrastructure facilitate the movement of the goods; leading to higher standards of living for the people of the whole globe. Although infrastructure is indispensable to achieve the main development targets in developing countries, such as urbanization, industrialization and sustainable economic development (Kim, 2006), the relationship between infrastructure expenditures, economic growth and international trade is inconclusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of investment on highway infrastructure on international trade and economic growth in Turkey for the period of 1970 to 2005. The empirical results from causality and cointegration analysis suggest only a very weak short run effect of share of exports in Gross National Product (GNP) on highway transportation expenditures but no long run relationships between highway infrastructure expenditures, economic growth and international trade in Turkey.

Knowledge Generation and Innovativeness in Turkish Textile Industry: Comparison of Istanbul and Denizli

Regional innovation system (RIS) requires that two subsystems co-exist in a region: The first subsystem is the knowledge exploitation structure of the industrial base (symbolic, synthetic and analytic knowledge bases) [Moodysson, J., Coenen, L. & Asheim, B. (2008) Explaining spatial patterns of innovation: Analytical and synthetic modes of knowledge creation in the Medicon Valley life science cluster, Environment and Planning A, 40(5), pp. 1040–1056]. The second subsystem is the regional supportive infrastructure or knowledge-generating subsystem which consists of firms, educational institutions, knowledge organizations and other similar infrastructural bases in the region. The objective of the paper is to compare two textile-related clusters in Turkey with respect to the strengths and weaknesses of the RIS. The first region is Istanbul with a textile and fashion design cluster, the second region is Denizli which is an example of a traditional export-oriented centre for bathrobe and home textiles. Results of the empirical findings prove that the two regions having different knowledge bases and RISs have different deficiencies in innovative performance even if they are the subsectors of the same sector (textiles).

The Effect of Railway Expansion on Population in Turkey, 1856–2000

The development of Turkeys railway network started in 1856 with the 130 km İzmir-Aydjn line. Turkeys total railway network now measures 11,005 km. The population distribution and the density of towns on railway routes increased as railway construction proliferated, particularly from 1856 to 1940. Public policies that favored transportation by road after the mid-twentieth century, however, marked the end of the railroads effect on the spread of population.

The innovativeness of the Turkish textile industry within similar knowledge bases across different regional innovation systems

Rapid technological and economic development in the world economy and the systematic and complex nature of innovation processes require specific innovation policy activities, such as having access to new knowledge. Through networking, individuals and organizations can become aware of new technologies and information by engaging in boundary-extending activities. Because there are dissimilarities between knowledge bases, each industrial activity is assumed to have specific types of innovation logics, innovative processes and innovation outcomes. In addition, the generation, diffusion, application and exploitation of knowledge are closely related to a region’s ability to undertake innovations. The objective and contribution of this paper is to compare the innovativeness of two textile-related industries in two cities (Denizli and Adıyaman) in Turkey with similar knowledge bases but differences in regional innovation systems. Denizli is a networked region, but it also shows properties of lock-in deficiency, whereas Adıyaman is an organizationally thin and peripheral region. The results reveal that there are significant differences in the knowledge generation and exploitation structures of the two regions, although they have similar knowledge bases. Such dissimilarities between the regions are explained by their respective knowledge-generating subsystems. The network maps of the Denizli and Adıyaman textile firms show that firms in Denizli have denser regional network ties than those in Adıyaman. The strong network ties of textile firms in Denizli allow the firms to be superior in innovative performance to Adıyaman firms, albeit with the danger of technological lock-in in the Denizli region. Adıyaman, being an organizationally thin region, lacks the necessary institutional structure for networking. Policy tools that are unique to each region are needed to enhance innovativeness.

The Role of Public Extension in Introducing Environment-Friendly Farming Methods in Turkey.

Abstract Public good will towards the investment in research and extension on environment-friendly production practices is the justification for publicly funded extension services. Although there are major environmental problems associated with agricultural production in Turkey, the present role of public extension service to control and reduce adverse environmental effects is minimal. The short term goal of the publicly funded agricultural extension is to establish a control and enforcement system which will ensure that the current production practices cause as little harm as possible to the environment. In the long term, however, publicly provided investment in research and extension on sustainable agricultural systems is necessary. The investments should aim towards ensuring a wholesome food supply for the community whilst maintaining the quality of the environment and natural resources.

The Impact of Nutrition Labels on Food Sales: An In-Store Experiment in a Turkish Supermarket

Nutrition information is a policy tool that aims to guide consumers towards healthier diets, thus preventing further increases in obesity. This study focuses on the impact of front-of-pack nutrition labels on Turkish consumers’ purchase decisions. In particular, the study investigates whether both the presence of the label itself and the content provided on the label (here: the presence [vs. absence] of health ticks) impact on consumer demand for food products. The authors propose two hypotheses that are grounded in cue utilization and consumer behaviour theories and conducted an experiment in a Turkish supermarket to test the hypotheses. They manipulated the product packages of three brands offering wafers (including a variety of flavours) to contain a nutrition label on front of the package with information on calories, fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt (in kcal and g per 100 g, respectively). The nutrition information was complemented with either a health tick (56% of the products were eligible) or a placeholder for products that failed eligibility criteria (44%). Total daily in-store sales of wafers were monitored before, during and after the manipulation. The results of the study showed that the presence of the label itself increased consumer demand for the follower brand (but not for the leader brands). The presence (vs. absence) of a health tick on the nutrition labels did not affect sales of more (vs. less) healthful foods. The findings thus indicate that consumers were partly more responsive to the nutrition label per se as opposed to the presence of a health tick on the label. The authors derive implications for implementation efforts of nutrition labels.