Efficiency of export oriented goverment incentives: An application on Mersin-Tarsus Organized Industrial Zone

The development of foreign trade, which is one of the most important actors of the economic growth of countries, depends on the effectiveness of the applied foreign trade policies. Therefore, countries attach great importance to their foreign trade policies. However, since increasing competition conditions in international markets restrict the movement of businesses, countries are implementing policies that will support and increase their competitiveness in these markets. Incentives given to companies to encourage their exports are one of the tools countries use to interfere with foreign trade. In this study, the effectiveness of export incentives applied in Turkey was evaluated through the enterprises in Mersin-Tarsus Organized Industrial Zone. In addition, within the scope of the study, the problems experienced by enterprises in the process of reaching and using incentives for both exports and exports were investigated and the solution proposals were discussed. The research was designed as a quantitative research and analyses were carried out using statistical and mathematical methods. 196 enterprises operating in Mersin - Tarsus Organized Industrial Zone constitute the universe of research. In the scope of the study, the sample was not selected and the full count was done. Of the 106 respondents who were contacted by 196 businesses but agreed to respond to the survey, 101 respondents were included in the analysis. Nonparametric tests were performed on the nonparametric data obtained and nonparametric tests were performed through the SPSS package program. As a result of the analysis, the effectiveness of export incentive policies differed according to the educational status of the business owner, the number of employees of the business, the duration of the business to export and the level of internationalization of the business, it has been determined that the business does not differ according to the management situation, capital structure and the sector in which it operates. The enterprises covered in the study most complained of excessive bureaucratic procedures, prolonged support processes, relatively low amount of incentives and lack of qualified staff. Within the scope of the study, recommendations were made to policy makers and businesses to use incentives more effectively.