The Role of the Geographic Concentration of Industries and ‎Regional Specialization in the Formation of Spatial structure of ‎Iran during the Period 1997 – 2011‎

Determining the location of the different areas in the national division of labor and the structure of industry in the country is of particular importance. One of the most important elements of industrial structure is geographic concentration. As in most studies related to regional development, spatial concentration and regional specialization are considered as two sides of a coin. This research aimed to analyze the patterns of regional specialization and geographic concentration of industries in the country in the period 1997–2011, to answer the question of whether between regional specialization and geographic concentration, there is a significant relationship. To achieve the goal of research, various techniques such as Gini coefficient and location quotient were taken into consideration. The results indicated that the average of spatial concentration during the studied period increased by 21 percent which means that the manufacturing industries tend to become geographically concentrated. However, it seems that this concentration in 2011 tended towards the provinces such as Khorasan, Yazd, and Khuzestan. Finally, the results showed that there is a direct relation between geographical concentration and regional specialization in Iran and the concentrated provinces have become specialized in concentrated industries as well. Thus, the division of space in some regions of Iran formed.