The effect of education and R&D expenditures on the level of international competitiveness in the Turkish economy

In today's conditions, it is inevitable for countries and companies to compete in order to maintain their economic existence and to ensure economic development and growth. Countries that want to gain competitive power invest in line with economic, political, socio-cultural policies. This investments also includes R&D activities that provide education, new technology and production techniques that contribute to the formation of human capital. The aim of this study is to explain the concepts and theories of international competitiveness, education and R&D activities, and to examine the impact of education and R&D expenditures on the Turkish economy on international competitiveness in an econometric framework. In this study, the Turkish economy is analyzed by the causality tests of Toda and Yamamota (1995) and Hatemi-J (2012). As a result of the analysis, it has been determined that the impact of education and R&D expenditures on Turkey's international competitiveness is not at a significant level.