Search

In this panel the panelists will discuss the indigenous technology development attempt of Turkey delving in to the case of TOGG, Turkey’s electric automobile that is planned to hit the roads by the end of 2022. The discussion will touch on hot debated topics such as the future of automobile and convergence of automobile sector to ICT and technology and innovation policy and the green deal.

International audience; This paper aims to analyse international collaborations in science and inventive activity and investigate how the landscape of knowledge production in Europe has changed in the past 25 years. We further aim to analyse to what extent collaborations in science and collaborations in patents are related at the regional level. These collaborations can be set up by researchers, universities and firms, and governments fund such collaborative initiatives (e.g., EU’s Framework Programmes). Thus, both academics and policy makers will benefit from knowing the impact of collaborations in research and patents. The paper has four research questions: 1) Do patent and research networks in Europe have similar dynamics? 2) Do patentshave any impact on the formation and evolution of research networks? 3) Do the innovation performances of regions affect the formation and evolution of research networks? 4) Do the innovation performances of regions affect the formation and evolution of patent networks? By answering these questions our ultimate aim is to coin a new concept we refer as “knowledge cohesion” and provide a critical look at the smart specialization policies in Europe.

Social capital increases efficiency by reducing transaction costs, creating new forms of information exchange and by inducing change in individual attitudes. How Royal Society of London, the Media and the Private Prosecution Societies functioned in the 17th and 18th century Britain display astonishing similarities with these three elements that have been identified by contemporary scholars. By and large current literature treats social capital as novel phenomenon, as "manna from heaven". We argue that social capital is no such magical discovery and it could emerge whenever and wherever social networks exist.

There has been a recent surge of interest in social economics and social capital. Articles on social capital that are published in the last five years constitute more than 60 percent of all articles on social capital. Research on social capital is now massive and spans sociology, economics, management, political science and health sciences. Despite this interest there is still not a consensus on the definition and the measurement of social capital. This paper argues that this is due to lack of interaction between disciplines. The social capital of social capital researchers is low between disciplines. Different from other theories of capital, social capital theory has concurrently been developed by various disciplines and as such, advancements in social capital research could only be achieved by conducting cross-disciplinary research.

This paper investigates the interplay between social capital, innovation and economic growth in the European Union. We identify innovation as an important mechanism that transforms social capital into economic growth. In an empirical investigation of 102 European regions in the period 1990-2002, we show that higher innovation performance is conducive to economic growth and that social capital affects growth indirectly by fostering innovation. Our estimates suggest that there is only a limited role for a direct effect of social capital on economic growth.

This research investigates the role of social capital and government intervention in explaining the differences of innovation output and economic growth for regions of the European Union from 1990-2002. Using several measures of social capital and innovation, and the European Union’s Objective 1, 2 and 5b figures for EU regional support, the estimates suggest that EU funding is not significantly contributing to economic outcomes, while social capital is. Investigation of a possible complementary relationship between social capital and government support reveals that regions with higher levels of social capital are more likely to effectively gain from EU regional support programmes. This result implies that aside from the benefits associated with the direct effect of social capital on economic outcomes, social capital appears to be a critical prerequisite for the effective implementation of government programmes. From a policy perspective, it appears to be important to stimulate education to foster human capital formation. When combined, human capital and social capital are likely to yield stronger effects for effective policies which increase economic outcomes.

In this paper we question the validity of the arguments against Turkey's membership of the EU and challenge the political wisdom of excluding Turkey from Europe. First, we argue that fundamental European values are not as uniform as they are made out to be. There are significant differences among the member states and the different European regions on basic values relating to religion and democracy. Second, we argue that many of Turkey's supposed cultural differences with the rest of Europe are in fact unsubstantiated. We support our arguments by analyzing widely available macroeconomic evidence and the data from the European Values Study, 1999 (EVS99).