Investigating Inequality of Income Distribution among Iranian Provinces Using Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis Approach

The main objective of this study is to investigate the inequality in the distribution of per capita income among Iranian provinces using the spatial data analysis. To this end, per capita income data are collected for the period of 1997 to 2014 in two cases, including oil and excluding oil. Then, with using the Gini coefficient and Theil index, the amount of inequality in per capita income is calculated between the provinces of Iran. Moreover, Moran' I index, Moran scatter plot and LISA index is used to identify the spatial patterns in per capita income distribution among Iranian provinces. The results show that there is a high instability in the spatial pattern of per capita income distribution in Iran. Also, the inclusion of the oil sector in calculating per capita income affects on the conclusion and changes in inequality and the spatial pattern of inequality. The results also show that there is a spatial clustering phenomenon in per capita income of provinces in Iran. In addition, there is evidence of core-periphery patterns based on the distribution of per capita income in Iran.