MICRO-EVIDENCE FROM BUSINESSES OPERATING IN THE BIST TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION SECTOR

Abstract

Today, technology trade and investment represent a global economy that disregards national boundaries. Within the scope of this study, it is aimed to reveal the effect of whether businesses operating in the technology and IT sector operate in technology zones or not on their financial performance, and customer satisfaction and internationalization levels are examined. The financial statements of 31 businesses listed in Borsa Istanbul (BIST) technology and IT sector for the year 2022 were subjected to ratio analysis. Businesses located in technology development zones and businesses located outside technology development zones were grouped and the results of the ratio analysis were compared with the Mann-Whitney U test. According to the findings, no difference was found between the businesses located in technology development zones and the businesses outside the zone in terms of liquidity ratios, activity ratios, and customer satisfaction. However, a significant difference was found in terms of the ratio of non-current assets to continuing capital among financial structure ratios; a significant difference was found in terms of gross profit margin ratio and operating profit margin ratio among profitability ratios. In terms of internationalization level, it was determined that the businesses located in technology development zones showed superior performance.