ABSTRACT

This study investigates the existence of nonlinear relationship between tertiary education and economic growth in the period of the Republic of Turkey, using annual time series data from 1924 to 2009. The econometric approach of this paper is based on the threshold autoregressive (TAR) model. The empirical results show evidence of one threshold value and the graduates of tertiary education have a positive contribution to economic growth above this value. The findings of this study exhibit that the government must be invest much more for the higher education to promote the development of the Turkish economy.