Evaluation of public investment effectiveness of NUTS 2 subregions in Turkey by using data envelopment analysis

In this study, effectiveness of public investments in the NUTS-2 Subregions of Turkey has been examined. The output- oriented BCC model, which is a type of data envelopment analysis methodology, has been utilized in the study. Furthermore, the CRR model's findings have been compared with the BCC model's. The public investments carried out in the sectors of education, health and transportation/communication have been used as input variables. Gross value added per capita, employment rate, electricity consumption per capita, number of hospital beds per hundred-thousand people, provincial and state roads, total number of students having two-year degree education or undergraduate education, and share of exports in total exports have been selected as the output variables. The study covers the years 2009 to 2011. This study is of importance as it will present ideas on which areas and in what quantities public investments will be made in the regions discussed. The findings obtained from the study have been evaluated on a yearly basis. The CRR model for the year 2009 shows that while 9 of 26 regions used public investments efficiently, 17 regions do not seem to have done so. According to output-oriented BCC model, in 2009, the values from 16 regions out of 26 appear effective while those from 10 regions do not. According to the output- oriented CCR model for the year 2010, the values from 11 of 26 regions show up effective while those from 15 do not. Thus, in 2010 compared to 2009, there was an increase in the number of effective regions according to CCR model. In 2010, according to the output-oriented BCC model, the values of 17 regions are effective while those of 9 regions are not. In 2011, according to the CCR model, the scores of 12 regions are effective while those of 14 regions are not. Finally, BCC model for the year 2011 demonstrates that while 18 regions present effective values, the remaning 8 do not. As a result, over the years, there has been an increase in the number of regions that represent effective values. Namely, while some regions used the resources efficiently, some others could not. According to the output- oriented BBC model results, TR62 (Adana sub-region), TR63 (Hatay sub-region), TRA2 (Ağrı sub-region), TRB2 (Van sub-region), TRC1 (Gaziantep sub-region) and TRC3 (Mardin sub-region) used the public investments ineffectively in each of the three years covered in the study. Key words: Interregional Disparities, Regional Development Policies, Data Envelopment Analysis, BCC model, CCR model, NUTS-2 Subregions