Regional Diversity or Specialization? Ranking of Provinces According to Diversity/Specialization Levels in Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

Differences in regions' innovation-growth processes and the reasons behind regional diversification/specialization have recently been on the agenda of scientists and policy makers. In this regard, there are two major concepts in the Regional Science literature that have gained increasing interest in recent years. These are "regional specialization" and "regional diversification". Both concepts have various implications for innovativeness, competition, growth performance or the ability of regions to respond to crises-recessions. The purpose of this study is to determine the variety/specialization level of provinces in manufacturing industry in Turkey. Relative diversity/concentration index (Duranton-Puga Index) is calculated by using the employment data by provinces by the year of 2019. Then, by using sectoral diversity/specialization value of the provinces, provinces are ranked in the manufacturing sector. As a result of the analysis, the Duranton-Puga Index varies between 0.58 and 3.76 for 81 provinces. Index value is high in provinces such as İzmir, İstanbul, Adana, Samsun and Tekirdağ, and the concentration in these provinces is distributed to different industries. In provinces such as Hakkâri, Artvin, Siirt, Bitlis and Bayburt, it is found that employment is concentrated in certain sectors where there is not much diversification.