What Factors Drive the Financial Performance of Technology Firms Listed on Borsa İstanbul (BIST)? The Role of R&D, Technopark Membership and Leverage

Title

What Factors Drive the Financial Performance of Technology Firms Listed on Borsa İstanbul (BIST)? The Role of R&D, Technopark Membership and Leverage

Creator

Nur Ayca Ilhan

Date

2026

Abstract

This study examines how R&D expenditure, Technopark membership, and leverage are associated with the financial performance of technology firms listed on Borsa İstanbul (BIST). Using panel regression on 41 firms over 2015–2025, with Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) as performance measures, the study estimates Fixed Effects or Random Effects models as selected by specification-specific Hausman tests. Three hypotheses grounded in the Resource-Based View, Triple Helix, and Trade-off theories are tested. R&D Intensity shows no statistically significant association with either performance measure. Technopark membership is positively associated with ROA in all four specifications and statistically significant in two, while none of the four ROE specifications is statistically significant. The relationship between leverage and financial performance varies according to the leverage measure, performance measure, and model specification. Overall, the findings provide updated evidence on the determinants of financial performance among BIST-listed technology firms during a period extending into Turkey’s recent high-inflation years.

Subject

Finance

degree

MSc Finance, Investment and Wealth Management

This item was submitted on October 28, 2026 by [anonymous user] using the form “Student Submissions” on the site “Regent's University London Repository”: https://repository.regents.ac.uk/s/main