Market Access and Regional Dispersion of Human Capital Accumulation in Turkey

Abstract

Building on the early advances in development economics, the theoretical construct of the New Economic Geography asserts that geography plays a crucial role in educational human capital accumulation. Based on this expectation, this study investigates the impact market access on provincial human capital accumulation in Turkey. Results indicate that market access matters for understanding why some regions lag behind others in terms of average years of schooling. Our results are robust to the inclusion of spatial mechanisms, different specifications of the spatial weight matrix, endogeneity and alternative measurements of market access and to a host of other factors that affect regional human capital accumulation.

Keywords: Human Capital; Market Access; Turkey

JEL Classification: R11; R12