THE KEY ACTORS OF KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION FUNCTION IN TURKEY: THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES AS A KNOWLEDGE PRODUCER

By taking the projects which are carried out in the universities in Turkey and are funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council (TÜBİTAK) as an output, the paper tries to estimate the knowledge production function of Turkey. In the study, an OLS analysis is made with cross-section data by utilizing the datum of state universities operating in Turkey at the NUTS III level. The dependent variable of the knowledge production function that is developed by using Cobb-Douglas production function is the annual R&D fund transferred to universities by TÜBİTAK for the projects. Other variables in the analysis are the annual R&D expenditures of universities, the number of academic staff, number of postgraduate students and the existence of Technology Transfer Office and/or Technopolis. According to the analysis results there is a positive and significant relationship between R&D fund, and postgraduate students and technology transfer offices/technopolis. However, the relationship between R&D expenditures and the R&D funds transferred to the universities is found to be statistically insignificant. A negative and insignificant relationship is found when R&D funds and academic staff are estimated together, but in the models in which academic staff is decoupled, the results differ.