The geographical evolution of manufacturing and industrial policies in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify geographic patterns of industrial agglomerations at the scale of the province within Turkey using employment levels of industries and to analyze their change over the time period 1992 to 2009. Deploying exploratory spatial data analysis, visualization tools, location quotients, and descriptive statistics, geographical dimensions of manufacturing are mapped and the affect of spatiality is analyzed for all industries individually. Results of the spatial statistics reveal the explicit presence of spatial dependence across the provinces in terms of the geographical concentration of industrial agglomerations during the period under consideration. The analyses highlight the spillover effects of first and second generation industrialized provinces to their neighbors while a long-standing gap between the east and the west remains stable. The findings assert the significance of spatial dependency in the geographical evolution of manufacturing and therefore suggest the necessity of integrated regional and sectoral specific industrial policies.