Technological Diversification or Structural Convergence? Türkiye's EPO Patent Portfolio in Comparative Perspective (2016-2025
This paper analyzes Türkiye's EPO patent portfolio from 2016 to 2025 to demonstrate that while the country achieved greater technological diversification and strengthened specialization in applied industrial fields, it experienced structural convergence with Europe's industrial profile rather than with the digital-electronics frontiers of the US or Asia.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Imagine the world of technology as a giant, bustling marketplace where countries are like stalls selling their best inventions. For decades, economists have tried to figure out which stalls are the most successful. They used to just count how many items each stall put on the shelf, thinking that the stall with the most items was the winner. But that's a bit like judging a chef just by how many plates they serve, without tasting the food. A better way is to look at the menu: does the stall sell a little bit of everything, or do they specialize in a few amazing dishes? This is the heart of "patent analysis." Instead of counting every single invention, researchers look at the mix of technologies a country is creating to see if they are just spreading out (diversifying) or if they are actually learning to cook the same fancy meals as the world's top chefs (converging). It matters because if a country only makes simple tools but the future is all about smart, digital gadgets, they might get left behind, even if they are busy making lots of tools.
So, what did this paper actually do? It took a close look at Türkiye's "invention menu" from 2016 to 2025, comparing it against the big players like the United States, China, Japan, and a group of European nations. The author, Kamil Taşcı, wanted to know: Is Türkiye just adding more random dishes to its menu, or is it starting to look more like the top kitchens in the world? The answer is a mix of "yes" and "no," but with a very specific twist.
First, the bad news for the "just counting" crowd: Türkiye didn't really get bigger. Its total number of patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO) barely moved, going from 3,069 in the first five-year chunk to 3,109 in the second. Meanwhile, the rest of the world was zooming ahead, so Türkiye's slice of the global pie actually got slightly smaller. But here is the fun part: while the size of the menu stayed the same, the contents changed dramatically.
Think of Türkiye's invention portfolio like a backpack. In the first period, the backpack had a certain mix of items. By the second period, the author found that the number of applications for digital gadgets and electronics (like computers, smartphones, and semiconductors) had declined, while the space was increasingly filled with chemistry, medicines, and heavy machinery. The backpack became more balanced—less concentrated on one type of item—but it didn't become a backpack like the ones the high-tech giants (like the US or South Korea) were carrying. Those giants are still packing mostly digital and electronic gear.
Instead, Türkiye's new backpack started to look a lot more like the ones carried by Spain and Italy. It's as if Türkiye's relative strength in making specialized machines, environmental tech, and pharmaceuticals grew stronger, while its position in digital fields weakened. The paper suggests that Türkiye is "diverging" from the digital-electronics frontier and "converging" with the applied-industrial profile of Southern Europe.
The study is pretty confident about this shift. Using some fancy math tools (like measuring how "mixed up" the backpack is), the author showed that Türkiye's portfolio is indeed more diverse and less concentrated. However, the paper is careful to say this isn't a total victory lap. It suggests that while Türkiye is getting better at its specific industrial strengths, it is falling further behind in the digital race. The paper argues that this isn't a mistake, but rather a natural path: countries tend to build on what they already know how to do. Türkiye knows how to build machines and mix chemicals, so it got better at that. But it didn't magically become a digital powerhouse.
So, the big takeaway is that "getting more diverse" doesn't always mean "catching up to the future." Türkiye is definitely changing its menu, but it's shifting away from digital dishes and toward more industrial ones, making it look more like its European neighbors and less like the tech giants of Asia and America. The paper concludes that for Türkiye to keep growing, it can't just stick to its current strengths; it needs to figure out how to mix its new industrial skills with the digital tools that are becoming essential for everything else. It's a story of a country finding its own unique flavor, but realizing that the world is slowly moving toward a different kind of cuisine.
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