Enhancing Local and National R&D Competitiveness: Strategies for Improving Turkey's Innovation Landscape

Abstract

In recent years, the literature has underlined the importance of industrial and innovative approaches in regional development and economic growth. The investments of R&D startups by giant international companies can inhibit national and local production capability and domestic competitiveness of developing countries. This study uses an innovative mindset to the innovation and R&D paradigms with a multi-disciplinary approach. It argues that since multinational companies can earn more value from their existing capacities and provide new ones in developing economies by investing more in R&D projects, developing countries can invest in and support to R&D startups on reverse engineering of existing innovation. Companies in emerging economies could theoretically learn from and catch up with investing multinationals and develop their capacities via venture capitalist fundings on corporate shares. Nevertheless, to do so, they need to build their innovative capabilities and move from a process to a product focus and from imitation to innovation, as Chinese global large firms do.