Analysis of Determinants of the High Technology Export in Turkey: Policy Recommendation for High-Tech Companies

Abstract

This study analyzes how to improve and build high technology export strategies for high tech companies in Turkey. In this framework, oil prices and the real effective exchange rate are selected because Turkey’s export companies hugely depend on imported inputs, and oil prices are essential imported products. Besides, the real effective exchange affects the cost of the imported inputs and shows countries’ comparative advantages in foreign trade. Within this context, comprehensive different theoretical frameworks and literature reviews are presented to lead the companies’ correct way. Subsequently, an investigation is performed with Vector Autoregressive Analysis (VAR) on data covering 2016-Q1 and 2018-Q3. According to results, the real effective exchange rates and oil prices have an essential impact on the high-tech companies’ performance. Regarding the relationship between the real effective exchange rate and the high-tech exports, the J curve condition is valid. Besides, an increase in oil prices leads to expanding the high-tech exports in Turkey from the first month to the third month because the oil-exported countries are imperative partners for the Turkish export companies. Furthermore, the effects become reversed since an increase in oil prices leads to production costs. Regarding the results, the energy diversification policies, less dependent imported inputs, and expanding the market will contribute to developing the high-tech exports in Turkey.