Vol. 14 No. 3 (2026): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

Sectoral classification of SMEs in Türkiye in terms of employment and economic value creation: An empirical analysis

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  • Erol Işıkçı
Erol Işıkçı
Dr., Avrasya University, Trabzon, Türkiye

Published 2026-09-25

Keywords

  • SME, Employment, Turnover, Sectoral Classification, Hierarchical Clustering
  • KOBİ, İstihdam, Ciro, Sektörel Sınıflandırma, Hiyerarşik Kümeleme

How to Cite

Sectoral classification of SMEs in Türkiye in terms of employment and economic value creation: An empirical analysis. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(3), 1346-1362. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i3.2781

Copyright (c) 2026 Erol Işıkçı

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Sectoral classification of SMEs in Türkiye in terms of employment and economic value creation: An empirical analysis. (2026). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 14(3), 1346-1362. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v14i3.2781

Abstract

This study examines how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Türkiye differ across sectors in terms of employment generation and economic value creation. Using TurkStat data for 2020–2024, 17 NACE Rev.2 sections with complete turnover data are evaluated according to SMEs’ shares in the total number of enterprises, total employment, and total turnover. Five-year arithmetic means are calculated to reduce annual fluctuations, the variables are standardized using z-scores, and hierarchical clustering is performed with Euclidean distance and Ward’s linkage method. A four-cluster solution is selected by considering the dendrogram, agglomeration distances, silhouette coefficients, and theoretical interpretability together. Manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade form the cluster with the greatest economic weight; transportation, construction, accommodation, professional activities, and administrative support form a labour-intensive service cluster. Education, health, information and communication, and real estate form a specialization-oriented cluster, while agriculture, mining, energy, water and waste management, arts and culture, and other services form a basic resources and infrastructure cluster. The findings indicate that SME policy instruments should be differentiated across sector groups.

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