Investigation of Employment Status in Major Economic Sectors of Urban areas in Iran between 1372 and 1382 (Guideline for Shift - Share and LQ Index)

Labor force in general and employment in particular are among the critical economic issues. In Iran’s economy, employment is a major concern of economic policy-makers. The investigation of the trend of employment in the country as well as in different regions involves accurate information about the potentials and capabilities of different areas and their configurations. This will reader planning for balanced employment in each region possible. The present study aims to determine the employment status of the sectors and major activity groups of cities in Iran during 1372 and 1382. To do so, “Shift-share method” was applied to distinguish sectors enjoying a relative advantage and competive power. Appling LQ index, those basic sectors which were able to export their words force were detected.The results of the study indicate that, among the ten activity sectors, the sectors of the study indicate that, among the ten activity sectors, the sectors of mining, construction, water, electricity and gas, whole-sales, transportation and financial services are of positive competitive effects, the sector composition effects being positive as well. Based on the above findings, one can conclude that these sectors are expected to play a substantial role in the economy of the country in future. The study also revealed that in 1372, all of the above sectors except agriculture and mining were among the basic groups sectors.