Does innovativeness matter for international competitiveness in developing countries? The case of Turkish manufacturing industries

We examine the determinants of export performance of firms in the Turkish manufacturing industry. Prominent differences show up between innovator and non-innovator firms in terms of the impacts of such variables as firm size, advertisement intensities, ownership structures, and composition of employees. Importance of innovations and R&D activities, conduciveness of capital intensity, and insignificance of the real wage are meaningful as far as a rational international competition policy is concerned. Results are suggestive of a technology-oriented and capital-formative development path, if Turkey is to come up with the international competitive standards