The middle-technology trap: the case of the automotive industry in Turkey

Date

2017-10-13

Author

Bürken, Serkan
Akçomak, İbrahim Semih

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

119
views

0
downloads

This paper argues that Turkey has fallen into a middle-technology trap on the borders of a weak innovation system (IS) and strong global value chains (GVCs). Detailed information from a primary R&D and innovation funding agency is used to show that the technological characteristics of the funded automotive R&D and innovation projects remained reasonably stable between 1995 and 2011. This result is cross-validated with two qualitative designs on beneficiary firms and automotive industry experts. The qualitative designs aided in identifying three mechanisms that explain how the Turkish automotive industry has fallen into a middle-technology trap. Analysis at the project, firm, and expert levels indicate that despite extensive upgrading and learning in manufacturing, the automotive industry has failed to build innovation capabilities. Turkey's delegated role in the automotive GVC, the joint venture (JV) structure and the lack of complementarities collectively work in creating a trap that impedes further technological development.

Subject Keywords

Middle-technology trap, Automotive industry, Technology, Innovation, Turkey

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/77508

Conference Name

Globelics Conference, Athens ,(11 - 13 Ekim 2017)

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Conference / Seminar

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

The Shifting influence of the United States on European Union - Turkey relations: a neoclassical realist approach Özkan, Duygu; Eralp, Yakup Atila; Department of European Studies (2013) This thesis explores how and why the United States (U.S.) support for Turkey’s participation in the European Union(EU) shifted from being an asset to a liability for Turkey between the years of l995 and 2005. There have been some earlier studies that analyzed the impact of U.S. support for Turkey’s inclusion in the EU on EU-Turkey relations. The purpose of this study is to contribute further to that literature with a plausible explanation for the shifting influence of the United States on EUTurkey relations...
The Theory and the practice of neoliberal transformation in Kyrgyzstan: the case of gold extraction in the Bozumchak mining field Manasov, Zamirbek; Bedirhanoğlu Toker, Pınar; Department of International Relations (2019) This thesis offers a critical analysis of how Turkey’s socialist movement interpreted “the post-war world order and paradigm shifts in the foreign policy of Turkey” between 1945 and 1980 by mainly basing on “primary sources”. The thesis also explores the relationships between socialist groups’ theoretical frameworks and IR theories and the meta-theoretical bases of their theoretical frameworks. The main argument is that Turkish leftists’ analyses were dominated for the most part by realist assumptions and t...
The Turkish economy and the challenge of technology: a trade perspective Ege, Aylin; Ege, A. Yavuz (2017-11-01) This article provides an analysis of Turkish trade deficits from the perspective of technology, with particular focus on the period that began with the new millennium. It draws special attention to the technological structure of Turkish exports vis-a-vis Turkey's major trade partners and illustrates how Turkish trade deficits are primarily structural in nature and essentially caused by weak technology as compared with Turkey's partners. Turkish products lack competitiveness, particularly in the case of rela...
The External dimension of the European Union's immigration policy and its implications for transit countries : a comparison of Turkey and Morocco YIldız, Ayselin Gözde; Eralp, Yakup Atila; Department of International Relations (2012) The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the external dimension of the European Union’s (EU) immigration policy and its implications for transit countries through a comparative study of Turkey and Morocco. The thesis examines the development and institutionalization of the EU’s externalization of its immigration policy within a chronological and theoretical context. Applying the theoretical debate concerning “Europeanization beyond EU borders”, it investigates to what extent the EU has successfully external...
The essence of EU strategy in South East Europe : The Republic of Macedonia Atay, Niyazi Güneş; Bağcı, Hüseyin; Department of International Relations (2004) This thesis examines the South East European policy of the European Union, which promoted the prospect of a ءUnited Europe̕. After the end of the bipolar world system, the ultimate aim of the East European countries has been the integration into the European Union. The transition and integration process, that they initiated in accordance with this aim, made up the basis of their relations with the Union. Nevertheless, the South East European countries, which became a sub-region within East Europe, joined to...

Citation Formats

S. Bürken and İ. S. Akçomak, “The middle-technology trap: the case of the automotive industry in Turkey,” presented at the Globelics Conference, Athens ,(11 - 13 Ekim 2017), Atina, Yunanistan, 2017, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/77508.