Abstract:

Regional development contributes to the elimination of inter-regional inequalities. Public investments in education, health and infrastructure play an important role in combating inequality, as it increases factor productivity in regions. International migration affects regional development through two channels: human capital and foreign trade. Migrants contribute to regional development as they increase the human capital and hence factor productivity in a region. The trade channel largely stems from the network effect. Migrant networks create a business climate based on trust, facilitating economic transactions between home and host countries. In the light of this explanation it is important to investigate the effect of international migration on regional development in Turkey as a country of both immigration and emigration. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of international migration on regional development by using panel data analysis. For this purpose, the data of Turkey's 26 regions based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics) 2 level are used for the period of 2012-2017. Since all regions are included in the analysis, coefficients are estimated by fixed effects model. In the model, international migration and regional development are proxied by the number of legal immigrants and regional gross domestic products per capita, respectively. Data related on both variables is retrieved from the Turkish Statistical Institute database. The main finding of the study is that international migration inflows has a positive effect on regional development. Furthermore, labor force and public investments on education have a positive impact on regional development. In the light of these evidences, qualified migrant workforce can be considered as an external human capital source for the regions. Finally, there is a weak positive effect of exports on regional development.

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