Clustering potential of Istanbul maritime sector

Purpose - Turkey is a maritime country with its current merchant fleet and shipyards, geographical location, young population and growth potential. Clustering, being one of the important improvement methods of global competition power, is widely used in the maritime sector. Analysing the clustering level and potential of Istanbul, which is the major city of Turkey, in regard to economic and social aspects is a basic step for increasing global competitiveness in this sector. This study aims to measure the clustering level of Istanbul's maritime sector and also define the effect of clustering level on firm performance. Design/methodology/approach - The clustering levels of Istanbul's maritime transportation and supporting firms, shipyards and maritime equipment manufacturers are measured by means of a survey based on Porter's diamond theory in this paper. The relationship between clustering level and firm performance is defined by using simple linear regression and fuzzy linear regression methods. The weights of the criteria are calculated by means of entropy method. Findings - It is concluded that despite its deficits, Istanbul's maritime sector has significant potential to become a major maritime cluster not only in its region but also worldwide. The effect of clustering level on firm performance was observed to be statistically significant, but not high. The results of the simple linear regression and fuzzy linear regression methods are compared. Originality/value - According to the author's knowledge, this paper is the first study using fuzzy linear regression and entropy methods to analyse maritime clusters. It evaluates the effect of clustering level on firm performance in the case of Istanbul maritime sector.