The role of selected socio-economic variables in regional development: An assessment on the TRC region

Development is a dynamic concept that refers to improving all indicators affecting societies, especially social and economic ones. Therefore, living standards in developed countries are high and significant economic and social advantages are achieved. The increase in production and population with the emergence and development of the Industrial Revolution has led societies to take advantage of various opportunities to achieve higher living standards. Differences in social and economic development can occur between countries as well as between regions of countries for various reasons. All of the activities carried out to reduce and eliminate the development differences between regions are considered under the name of regional development. Policies carried out through state authorities to ensure the development of underdeveloped regions are known as regional development policies. Within the scope of these policies, multifaceted plans and programs are made to ensure the social and economic transformation of the regions. Turkey has adopted the method known as IBBS or NUTS within the scope of EU harmonization laws, and three different levels of regional classification have been established. This study determined 23 social and economic variables for 26 regions in NUTS level 2, and a "regional development index" was obtained for 2013-2022 by performing a Principal Component Analysis. Within the scope of the analysis, the variables that are effective for the index were examined, and Cronbach's Alpha value was calculated to examine the compatibility and consistency of the variables. With this value the compatibility of the variables selected for the index calculation was very high. As a result of the analysis, index weights were determined for the variables and the index was calculated for each region. Within the scope of the role of selected variables in regional development, the index value of the regions in 2013-2022 is on an increasing trend. In terms of the average index value during the analysis period, it was concluded that the TR10 region has the best opportunities and is in the best condition, while TRC3 is the region that is inadequate or can be characterized as backward.