Innovation or Commercialization? Evidence from Firm-Level Staggered Entry into Technology Development Areas in Türkiye

Innovation or Commercialization? Evidence from Firm-Level Staggered Entry into Technology Development Areas in Türkiye | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Innovation or Commercialization? Evidence from Firm-Level Staggered Entry into Technology Development Areas in Türkiye Saliha Ergün Tanrıverdi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725619/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper evaluates the causal impact of Technology Development Areas (TDAs) on firm-level innovation and commercialization in Türkiye. Exploiting staggered firm entry into TDAs and rich microdata from the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology’s 2012 Impact Evaluation Survey, treatment effects are estimated using the cohort-specific Difference-in-Differences framework of Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021), which is robust to heterogeneous treatment timing. The study examines multiple stages of the innovation process, including project completion, product development, patenting, and domestic and international sales. The results show that entry into a TDA has no statistically significant effect on patenting activity in the short run. In contrast, TDA participation leads to sizable and economically meaningful increases in applied innovation and commercialization outcomes, particularly completed projects, developed and sold products, and turnover. These effects emerge quickly after entry and are robust to alternative specifications and controls. The findings suggest that TDAs primarily enhance the efficiency with which existing innovative capabilities are translated into market outcomes, rather than immediately expanding firms’ upstream inventive capacity. JEL Codes : O31; O38; R58; C23 Technology Development Areas Innovation Policy Staggered Difference-in-Differences Commercialization Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8725619","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":584195236,"identity":"c82c1a87-92f0-4a35-91f4-63b4a6c72194","order_by":0,"name":"Saliha Ergün Tanrıverdi","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Bahçeşehir University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Saliha","middleName":"Ergün","lastName":"Tanrıverdi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-29 00:08:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725619/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725619/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101774598,"identity":"e8592d62-887d-4ad4-ab17-524ad153484f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-03 13:43:59","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":817831,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"JTTManuscriptInnovationorCommercializationEvidencefromFirmLevelStaggeredEntryintoTechnologyDevelopmentAreasinTurkiye.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8725619/v1_covered_70336024-c41a-446b-9082-3d00966df5bd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Innovation or Commercialization? Evidence from Firm-Level Staggered Entry into Technology Development Areas in Türkiye","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Technology Development Areas, Innovation Policy, Staggered Difference-in-Differences, Commercialization","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725619/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725619/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper evaluates the causal impact of Technology Development Areas (TDAs) on firm-level innovation and commercialization in Türkiye. Exploiting staggered firm entry into TDAs and rich microdata from the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology’s 2012 Impact Evaluation Survey, treatment effects are estimated using the cohort-specific Difference-in-Differences framework of Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021), which is robust to heterogeneous treatment timing. The study examines multiple stages of the innovation process, including project completion, product development, patenting, and domestic and international sales. The results show that entry into a TDA has no statistically significant effect on patenting activity in the short run. In contrast, TDA participation leads to sizable and economically meaningful increases in applied innovation and commercialization outcomes, particularly completed projects, developed and sold products, and turnover. These effects emerge quickly after entry and are robust to alternative specifications and controls. The findings suggest that TDAs primarily enhance the efficiency with which existing innovative capabilities are translated into market outcomes, rather than immediately expanding firms’ upstream inventive capacity.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJEL Codes\u003c/strong\u003e: O31; O38; R58; C23\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Innovation or Commercialization? Evidence from Firm-Level Staggered Entry into Technology Development Areas in Türkiye","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-03 13:41:19","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8725619/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"da48d615-ccd0-4f2d-b080-0bcece81c656","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 3rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-09T08:10:10+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-03 13:41:19","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8725619","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8725619","identity":"rs-8725619","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}