Regional Determinants and Spatial Differentiation of Innovation in Turkey

Abstract

This study investigates the spatial distribution and regional determinants of innovation in Turkey. In this study, we applied regression analysis which is called global (GR) and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The empirical analyses show that human capital as an internal resource and export as an external resource/openness are the determinants of innovation in the Turkish case. GWR showed that these predictors do not affect innovation in every region. Our method differentiates us from other studies in the literature. The research depicted an important image reflecting the policymakers' urging to take the local and regional dynamics into account and their top-down policies on innovation. The present study proves empirically that place-based approaches are needed in innovation policy.

Keywords

• innovation
• spatial determinants
• geographically weighted regression