Specialization Level and Sectoral Development Trends in Turkish Manufacturing Industry Foreign Trade

Abstract

In this study, it is aimed to determine the specialization level in Türkiye's foreign trade in the 2010s in terms of the general and sub-industries of the manufacturing industry and to examine the development trends. The level of specialization in the manufacturing industry in general is determined by using both the Michaely index and the foreign trade specialization index in the 2010-2019 period. Specialization analyses in sub-sectors are made according to the foreign trade specialization index, taking into account the feature that includes additional information in terms of intra-industry trade. In these analyses, the positions of the industries are listed and their development trends are examined in terms of export and import-based specialization. It is determined that there is no significant change in the specialization level of manufacturing industry trade in general. However, significant differences have been identified in the development trends and technological qualification structures of sub-industries, both in the level of specialization, in the form of export or import-based or transition from one to another.