Economic Complexity and Regional Growth in Turkey: Implications for East-West Disparity

Abstract

Economic complexity has significant implications for regional imbalances in Turkey, given the pronounced economic differences between its eastern and western provinces. This study aims to provide evidence to support the hypothesis that economic complexity has a significant positive effect on regional growth and long-standing regional imbalances in Turkey prevent the eastern region from benefiting equally from the economic gains of rising complexity. Using annual export data from 2007 to 2020 we calculated economic fitness and economic complexity indexes for the provinces of Turkey. We demonstrate that both economic fitness and economic complexity indexes are important determinants of regional growth in Turkey.