An Operational Framework for Calculating Import Smuggling in Iran

Smuggling has been one of the main problems of the Iranian economy in recent years. So, achieving a proper technique for periodical estimating it can be fruitful. This study is mainly aimed to estimate smuggling import in Iran. This paper, by offering a combination of available computational methods (such as apparent consumption, smuggling detection rate, and ...) tries to estimate the volume of smuggled commodities imports in Iran during 2014. The results imply that the value of smuggled and semi- smuggled commodities imports in Iran was about 21.97 billion dollars which is so much considerable. Moreover, According to the findings, the per-capita smuggling import for selected commodities are as follows: Bags and Shoes (42.2$), Mobile Set (17$), Home Appliances (22.4$). In order to eliminate smuggling import volume, promoting national products competitiveness and encouraging to consume national products, besides amending relative prices of the domestic economy in order to minimize profit margin of smuggling can be recommended.