KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO EMPLOYMENT IN TURKEY

Abstract

In this study, the current status of knowledge economy in Turkey has been examined and its contribution to employment in Turkey economy has been investigated. As a result, it was determined that R&D spending a leading indicator of the knowledge economy has been increased in all sectors particularly in private sector R & D expenditure and the number of employees parallel to R & D spending and patent registration has also been increased. At the same time, R & D growth in employment yielded a positive result by reflecting patent applications. However, the share of R & D employment in total employment was determined average 1.5%. To provide more employment in sectors depends on knowledge economy, entrepreneurial culture should be developed and efficiency of SMEs that has an important place in employment should be increased by supporting formation of the IT infrastructure.