Change in development policies: Regional development agencies

Regional development agencies have originated as an instrumental mechanism in development policies. The first example originated in USA in 1933 and in 1950s and 1960s they appeared in European countries. It came to agenda in Turkey after Helsinki Summit in which Turkey was approved as a candidate country and began to function in 2005 with the required legal legislation. In this respect there does not exit any comprehensive study to put forward the theoretical ground for agencies to originate and the transformation of the agencies that have taken place since they originated in the literature.In this study the altered development policies in parallel with the dominant economic perceptions since mercantilism when the development policies came into existence, have been handled and the basic frame of new regional development approach, which existed after 1973 petrol crisis and is still implemented, and the implementation of regional development agencies, which are the most important instrumental mechanism of new regional development policies, in USA and EU has been studied. Moreover, the regional development policies implemented in Turkey before and after planned period and policy instruments have been involved in the study. Also the preparation period until 2005 when the agencies started to function and the organisation characteristics, legal status, functions and funding of agencies according to organization act are among the subjects involved in the study as well.Within this frame, the results of the study show that the from mercantilism till today as the prevalent economic perception in capitalist system in order classic economics, keynesyen economics and neo-liberal economics have been predominant. Especially transition from keynesyen economics as the prevalent economic perception after 1973 petrol crisis to neo-liberal economic, the transition from fordism to post-fordism in production organisation and as a result of the failure of the implemented perception of development based central planning until that time, alternation in development policies occurred. In this period the policy bucket called as new regional development policy in which regions were given importance, the development parameters to uncover each region?s internal potential and relatively superior features were determined with an administrative base, regional/local actors took place in decision making and implementation mechanisms, appeared. Within this respect the most important instrumental mechanism of new regional development approach is development agencies. The regional development policies implemented before and after planned period being unsuccessful and not having gained the expected results from policy instruments, the positive results of agencies and regional policies in USA and EU countries and the adaptation works for EU acquis communitaire after Helsinki Summit in 1999 in which Turkey was approved as a candidate country for EU in 1999, were effective in activation of agencies in Turkey.