Measuring Iran's Intra-Industry Trade

This paper tends to calculate the extent of Iran's intra industry trade, using Grubel & Lloyd index. The index is measured at two statistical classifications. First, it has been measured at the 5-digit level of Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) between 1994-1998 and then at the 6-digit level of harmonized tariff schedule in the period 1997-2001. The results show that share of intra industry trade in total trade is very low in Iran and is not comparable with the developed countries. Iran’s Intra industry trade with developed countries tends to lie in industrial products. These products are basically from manufactured goods (6), machines and transport equipments (7) & other manufactured articles (9) categories. On the other hand, simultaneous exports and imports of natural resource-intensive goods and labor-intensive products mostly occur between Iran and developing countries.