Technology Development in Turkish Automotive Industry: a Case of Middle Technology Trap
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TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN TURKISH AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY: A CASE OF MIDDLE TECHNOLOGY TRAP A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SERKAN BÜRKEN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY STUDIES SEPTEMBER 2014 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Teoman Pamukçu Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assist. Prof. Dr. Semih Akçomak Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Erkan Erdil (METU, ECON) Assist. Prof. Dr. Semih Akçomak (METU, STPS) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Teoman Pamukçu (METU, STPS) Prof. Dr. Erol Taymaz (METU, ECON) Assist. Prof. Dr. Erdal AKDEVE (YBU, BA) PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Serkan Bürken Signature : iii ABSTRACT TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN TURKISH AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY: A CASE OF MIDDLE TECHNOLOGY TRAP Bürken, Serkan Ph.D., Department of Science and Technology Policy Studies Supervisor : Assist. Prof. Dr. Semih Akçomak September 2014, 267 pages This dissertation questions the dynamics of leapfrogging by focusing on technology developmentin the Turkish Automotive Industry. We abstract from the research questions whether automotive firms in Turkey are investing in more sophisticated R&D projects that have potential to generate higher value-added and whether this process has led to a catch-up or leapfrogging. In order to investigate thesequestionsthis dissertation uses a mixed approach involving both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In the quantitative part, TTGV data involving iv submitted projects supported by TTGV in the automotive sector between the years 1991 and 2011, has been utilized. Thus, we are able to observe a time period of 20 years to investigate whether technological knowledge developed by the automotive firms become more sophisticated through time. In the qualitative part, the findings from TTGV data has been combined with the views of high status experts in the domestic industry and selected firms from the TTGV sample in order to deepen and validate our findings. The findings suggest that Turkish firms are mostly performing similar projects mostly at the traditional level of R&D in the automotive industry and with the exception of some examples, contemporary fields such as electronics, embedded software, telematics, smart cars, fuel efficiency in engines are not at the focus of the national industry. Turkey looks more of a manufacturing centre rather than a hub specialized in R&D. JV-dominated structure was effective in the establishment of national industry, however, this thesis argues that it is also an important impeding factor to further foster the current state of the industry since the main strategic decision-making processes of Turkish R&D and automotive industry is being done abroad. Given this situation, we assert that Turkey is in a middle- technology trapsuggestingthat Turkey’s position as a latecomer has reached a level of maturity but this development will not continue unless the government actively plans further development strategies. In order to overcome the middle technology trap, some policy recommendations such as establishing more sophisticated supplier industry with intensive R&D base, participating in knowledge intensive international networks and implementing more activepolicies by the government that aims at creating markets rather than fixing markets are being offered. v Keywords: technological sophistication, middle technology trap, automotive industry, catching up, leapfrogging vi ÖZ TÜRK OTOMOTİV ENDÜSTRİSİ’NDE TEKNOLOJİK GELİŞİM: BİR ORTA TEKNOLOJİ TUZAĞI VAKASI Bürken, Serkan Doktora, Bilim ve Teknoloji Politikası Çalışmaları Tez Danışmanı: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Semih Akçomak Eylül 2014, 267 sayfa Bu tez, Türkiye’nin kendisi için büyük önem arz eden Otomotiv Sektörü’nde sıçrama yapıp yapamadığını mevcut Ar-Ge projesi faaliyetlerine odaklanarak sorgulamaktadır. İlgili araştırma probleminin sorgulanabilmesi için nicel ve nitel çalışmalardan oluşan bileşik bir araştırma yaklaşımı kullanılmıştır. Buna göre, ilk olarak nicel çalışmada, TTGV arşivinde bulunan Ar-Ge destek dosyalarında yer alan ve son 20 senede TTGV’ye yapılan Ar-Ge proje başvuruları arasından uygun veriler toplanarakprojelerin teknolojik sofistikasyonu sorgulanmıştır. Nitel analiz kısmında ise, Türkiye Otomotiv Endüstrisi’nde söz sahibi profesyonellerle ve vii seçilen firmalarla uzman mülakatları ve firma ziyaretleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu çalışmalar sonucunda, yeni bulgulara erişilmiş, mevcut bulgular kontrol edilmiş ve geliştirilmiştir. Gerçekleştirilen araştırmalardan Türkiye’nin genel olarak daha geleneksel otomotiv teknolojilerinde Ar-Ge projeleri yaptığı ve telematik, elektronik kontrol sistemleri, motor ve yakıt sistemleri, gömülü yazılımlar gibi daha çağcıl ve katma-değeri yüksek teknoloji alanlarında birkaç örnek dışında varolmadığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Çok Uluslu Şirketlerle ortak girişime (JV) dayalı yerli firmalar, ulusal sanayinin gelişiminde büyük katkı sahibi olsalar da, halen karar alma süreçlerinde ana firmaya bağımlılık Türkiye’nin Ar-Ge’de sıçrama yapmasını engellemektedir. Bu durum, literatürde yeni bir kavramla adlandırılmış; Türkiye gibi Ar-Ge süreçlerini daha karmaşık hale getiremeyen, ama üretimde belli bir yetkinliğe ve yoğunlaşmaya sahip olan geriden gelen ülkeler “orta-teknoloji tuzağında” olarak isimlendirilmiştir. Son olarak, Tez kapsamında bazı politika önerileri geliştirilmiş; orta teknoloji tuzağından kurtulmak için Ar-Ge yoğun tedarikçilerin desteklenmesi, uluslararası bilgi ağlarına ve projelere erişim ve küresel karar alma süreçlerine daha kuvvetli katılım içinaktif devlet müdahalesini ve mevcut destek yaklaşımının değiştirilmesini de kapsayan bazı politika ve stratejiler önerilmiştir. Anahtar kelimeler: teknolojik sofistikasyon, orta teknoloji tuzağı, otomotiv endüstrisi, öndekini yakalama, sıçrama viii DEDICATION To my beloved mother who cares me insanely, To my yearned father who is now in eternity, To my truehearted uncle who contributed much to my personality, and To my lovely grandmother who is waiting for me to hear “I am a PhD”. ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to his supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Semih Akçomak for his guidance, advice, criticism, encouragements and insight throughout the research. Without his support, this thesis would not have been completed at this quality. The author would also like to thank Mr. A. Mete Çakmakcı, Ph.D., General Secretary of Technology Development Foundation, and Mr. Yücel Telçeken, Coordinator of Technology Development Foundation of Turkey who gave great support and guidance throughout the dissertational studies. The author also wishes to thank all the experts and firms who contributed much to case studies. The technical assistance of Mr. Serkan Aksoy, M.Sc., is gratefully acknowledged. This study was realized by the data provision of Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV). All the data being used was confidential; project and firm names were not given throughout the study. I would like to acknowledge that the provision of data by TTGV was an invaluable contribution to this study. x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM .......................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................ vii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. xiv LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................................. xv CHAPTERS ............................................................................................................... 1 1.Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Problem statement ....................................................................................... 1 1.2. Chapter outline of the dissertation ............................................................... 5 1.3. Scope of the dissertation .............................................................................. 8 2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework ................................................... 10 2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 10 2.2. Catching up, leapfrogging and industrial development ............................. 11 2.2.1. Catching Up ....................................................................................... 14 2.2.2.