Abstract
In recent years, it seems that the volume of sales revenues, exports and R&D expenses of Turkish defence companies have been growing rapidly. When considered that the sales revenue of Turkish Defense Industry companies, which was $1.205 billion in 1997, reached $10.884 billion in 2019, the export income of $138 million reached $3.068 billion, and the R&D expenditures of $34 million reached $ 1.672 billion, it is possible to say that the sector has grown significantly. According to the studies in the literature, although it is seen that there is a positive correlation between R&D expenditures and growth and exports in general, it can be seen that different results such as non-correlation have been obtained. Investigating the period of 1997-2019 of Turkish defence companies, this study analyzes the causality relations between sales revenues, exports and R&D expenses of the sector. As per the results, there is a positive correlation between the variables and the causality analyses imply that the export of sector is the Granger cause of R&D expenses. This result can be interpreted as the R&D expenses of Turkish defence companies are adjusted according to the companies’ integration to foreign markets.