The Effect of Mines Sector on The structure of the economy in Iran and China: Using the input-output table

The mining sector is one of the valuable sectors that have considerable effects on growth and development process in a country. In this paper, regarding the high growth rate in China in recent years and also plenty of mining resources in this country, we analyze the contribution of the mining sector in high economic growth in China with considering backward and forward linkages of this sector that can be calculated by using the input-output table. Then we address this sector in Iran and compare the role of this sector in these two countries in 2011. In this research, we assess the role of the mining sector in these two economies through the traditional method. Then with using the modern method, effectiveness of mining sector to other sectors is calculated by determining the net backward and forward linkages. The results show that the mining sector in the Chinese economy has the strongest backward linkage, but this sector's demands from other sectors (forward linkages) is less than the economy average. In another hand, mining sector in Iranian economy has a weaker position than Chinese's economy in both aspects (backward and forward linkages). These results show that output of the mining sector in Iran has not the sustainable trend that induces this output convert to raw material export and does not motivate domestic productions.