Design of public support for R&D: a study of Turkish technoparks

We report on and examine the consequences of the Turkish experience with public support for science/ technology parks (STPs). The Turkish government has been supporting STP development through a 2001 legislation that provides significant tax exemptions for tenants of STPs established according to its mandate. While the law has been successful in encouraging more than twenty STPs to be established, and getting more than 800 firms to move to STPs by 2007, it also has had some unintended consequences that seem to work against fulfillment of the full intention of the law. Using archival data collected by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, survey data collected from STP managers, and in-depth interviews with STP managers, tenants, university administrators, and other actors involved in STP governance, we report on the overall tenant population of STPs in Turkey and some practices and outcomes that are relevant for assessing the impact of the public support on R&D. The data at hand point to some significant progress being made as well as some shortcomings.