Essays on the impact of knowledge on economic growth

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Bilim ve Teknoloji Politikası Çalışmaları Anabilim Dalı, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2016

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: FATMA MUAZZEZ UTKU İSMİHAN

Danışman: Mehmet Teoman Pamukcu

Özet:

This Ph.D. thesis comprises of three essays on the role of knowledge on economic growth. The first essay aims to investigate the role of knowledge in the economic growth and catch-up process of the OECD member countries during the 1995-2011 period, by utilizing panel data techniques. The empirical results suggest a positive impact of knowledge indicators on the economic growth performances of OECD countries and that there is convergence to the common long-run equilibrium in OECD. The second essay analyzes the impact of knowledge on the economic growth performance of Turkey over the 1963-2010 period, by using a production function approach and time series techniques. This essay also introduces a knowledge index to measure various dimensions of knowledge all together. The results indicate that the higher level of knowledge has a positive impact on the growth rate of Turkish economy over the sample period. The last essay analyzes the impact of knowledge on the productivity of manufacturing firms in Turkey by using firm level panel data from 2003 to 2010 and production function approach. The essay attempts to take earlier studies one step further by utilizing a more comprehensive dataset both in terms of scope and time dimension. The findings indicate that the level of the technological capability of a firm influences both its ability to utilize R&D and knowledge diffusion, to increase its productivity level.