A Driving Force of Economic Growth in Turkey: Human Capital

One of the main concerns of developing countries is seeking sources of economic growth. A controversial debate on studies in recent decades focuses on the real basis of economic growth. It seems that physical capital accumulation does not provide a sufficient explanation as a capital factor in the process of economic growth. There are some indicators that illustrate a countries’ human capital. The most important one among them is education performance, which is considered a pushing factor of economic growth. Education performance can be seen as an indicator of human capital. In this study, Turkey’s education expenditure and gross domestic product (GDP) are investigated between the period of 1970-2013 via the co-integration structure. Results show that education expenditure and GDP are co-integrated in the long-run. The series prove a strong relationship between the GDP and education expenditures.