Identifying Provinces with Competitive Advantage in "Manufacture of Coke, Refined Petroleum Products and Nuclear Fuels" Sector

Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel is one of the ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Rev.2) that produced 8.5 percent of industry value-added in Iran in 2007. Isfahan, Tehran, Khuzestan, Hormozgan, and Markazi provinces accounted for 90 percent of the value added in this sector. To determine competitive advantage in this sector, the regional input- output technique is used and AFLQ (Adjusted Flegg Location Quotient) is employed for making regional input- output tables. But this method is misleading, because it defines weak provinces as key sectors. This article presents new method (MFLQ) that provides better result than AFLQ. Isfahan (as a developed province) is not key sector in AFLQ method but it is key sector by MFLQ method.