Innovation and employment in manufacturing companies: The case of Turkey

ABSTRACT Kaçan, B., Innovation and Employment in Manufacturing Companies: The Case of Turkey,, Nuh Naci Yazgan University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Master's Thesis, Kayseri, 2024. Developing technology makes the competition war between businesses more severe. It is becoming more difficult for businesses to continue their existence for a long time and to maximize their profits in today's world. As a result, it is seen that innovation has become an indispensable necessity for businesses that want to continue their existence in the market. The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of employment in innovating businesses or to what extent businesses with high employment innovate and contribute to innovation processes. In this thesis, the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES) dataset was used to analyze the effects of factors such as age, size, location, female business ownership, presence of female managers, increase in exports, increase in sales, foreign ownership, multinational company ownership, R&D structure, education, quality certifications, and foreign licenses on the innovation processes of 1361 businesses in Turkey. In the second stage, the effects of the factors examined in the innovation impact process, sector barriers were also taken into consideration and the effects on employment growth in these businesses were analyzed using the logit method. In this direction, when the model for innovation was evaluated, it was concluded that the factors of being a multi-organization business, female business ownership, presence of female managers, certifications, exports, R&D structure, education, and foreign ownership affected innovation. When employment was examined, it was concluded that the factors of innovation, business size, sales, location, business age, female business ownership, business permits and licenses, corruption, crime, theft and irregularity, customs and trade regulations, and tax rates had a significant effect on employment growth. The aim of this study is to take into account the factors that affect innovation and employment activities, to shed light on all businesses, academics and sector professionals who will work on the subject and to contribute to their processes. Key Words: Innovation, Employment, Organizational Innovation, Logistic Regression, Businesses