European Integration and Regional Specialization Patterns in Turkey's Manufacturing Industry

The dynamics of industrial agglomeration across the regions and the reasons for such agglomeration have been the focus of interest particularly in exploring the effects of economic integration of regions on the spatial distribution of economic activity. In this context, following the predictions of the literature on economic geography, Turkey’s integration with the European Union as a candidate member is a likely cause of changes in economic dispersion of the economic activity over the years. The major objective of the study is to complement the findings of the studies on industrial agglomeration in Turkey’s manufacturing industry by exploring whether specialization and concentration patterns have changed over time and to expose the driving forces of geographic concentration in Turkey’s manufacturing industry, particularly during Turkey’s economic integration process with the European Union under the customs union established in 1996. Industrial concentration and regional specialization are measured by GINI index for NUTS 2 regions at the 2-digit level for the years between 1992 and 2001. To investigate which variables determine industry concentration, the systematic relation between the characteristics of the industry and geographical concentration is tested. A regression equation is estimated, where the dependent variable is GINI concentration index and the independent variables are the variables that represent the characteristics of the sectors. The major finding of the study is that Turkey’s manufacturing industry has a tendency for regional specialization. Increase in the average value for regional specialization supports the prediction developed by Krugman that regions become more specialized with regional integration. But there is no evidence for increased industrial concentration in Turkish manufacturing industry, contrary to the expectations. As for the answer to which variables determine industry concentration, the analysis supports the hypothesis that the firms tend to cluster in regions where there are economies of scale and there are significant linkages between firms, supporting the predictions of new trade theory and economic geography.