Competitiveness

The agriculture sector, as a key sector in the national economy, plays an important role in food security and economic development. Iran has a special position in the production of agricultural products with its climatic diversity and unique features, but due to dry and semi-arid weather conditions and scattered rainfall, it faces the problem of water scarcity. This issue has caused the inconsistency between water scarcity and agricultural competitiveness. The main purpose of the present research is to answer the question whether the shadow price of water is effective on the competitiveness of the agricultural sector. For this purpose and in the first stage, using the production function approach, the shadow price of selected Iranian agricultural products (including wheat, rice, potato and corn in selected provinces) was estimated during the period of 2001-2018 (based on the latest available data) and then in the next step, the research question was answered with the approach of system dynamics. The results of the simulation and sensitivity analysis of the model show that by applying the shadow price and increasing the price of water, the demand for water consumption in the agricultural sector is reduced, and with the negative effect on the product performance, the competitiveness of the selected agricultural products is reduced. Based on this and considering the strategic importance of the agricultural sector, water pricing should be done with special sensitivity, but technological and soft measures to save and increase water productivity in the agricultural sector and to improve the optimal cultivation pattern as well as the foreign trade pattern are essential.

In recent years, insurance industry has undergone profound changes that have changed the performance of this industry. Establishment of a significant number of private insurance companies and their entry into the competition scene, on the one hand, has reduced the concentration of the market in this industry, and on the other hand, the introduction of new technologies in recent years has created space for competition and forced companies to increase their efficiency. Considering the importance of competition in an industry as well as knowledge of its situation for policymaking, this study examines the competitiveness of Iranian private insurance companies admitted to the stock market, from 2013 to 2021 using Panzar-Rosse non-structural method in the form of panel data. The result of estimated model indicates the state of monopoly competition in the market for Iranian private insurance companies admitted to the Stock Exchange. Comparing the results of this study with previous studies, the assumption of improving competitiveness in the Iranian insurance industry is confirmed by increasing the number of private insurance companies as well as the rating of produced insurance premium in the world. The insurance industry has no barriers to the market entry, and the participation of large insurance companies (except Iran Insurance Company) in the market does not restrict competition significantly and, as a result, the assumption of a dominant firm is rejected. In addition, insurance companies have moved to specialized activity and focus on specific insurance to maintain survival and competition in the market

The economy of developing countries can be recognized by examining the two parts of the formal economy and the informal (shadow) economy. The official sector of the economy can be easily identified in the light of sources, reports and data contained in statistics and censuses, as well as by studying its structure, but the complex and invisible network of the shadow economy must be identified and evaluated with research studies and the role of quantitative and qualitative found this phenomenon in the country's economy. The purpose of this research is the analysis of the relationship between the shadow economy and the elements of competitiveness in Iran. The current research is applied in terms of purpose, descriptive-analytical in terms of inference method, and post-event in terms of the overall design of the research. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between the volume of the shadow economy and the shock on the input-oriented and efficiency-oriented elements of competitiveness in regime one (recession period) and the efficiency-oriented and creativity-oriented elements of competitiveness in regime two (boom period). The significance of input-oriented elements in regime two (boom period) and efficiency-oriented elements in regime one (recession period) was not confirmed. Considering the impact of the size of the shadow economy and the shock on the input-oriented, efficiency-oriented and creativity-oriented elements of competitiveness, in different eras, it is suggested to provide economic platforms, so that we can witness the prosperity of economic indicators in our country. The shadow economy absorbs vital resources from the formal economy and partially prevents the implementation of policies that are necessary for the public interest. Also, the size of the shadow economy of the countries is different and even in some countries it exceeds a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP). Although some shadow economies may have beneficial effects for some citizens or even the official economy of a country, in general, the shadow economy damages the country's competitiveness; Because it reduces the confidence of foreign investors in that country and, as a result, the possibility of their cooperation. On the other hand, competitiveness can provide incentives to bring underground operations to the surface and thus combat the undeclared economy. Using appropriate econometric methods, this research found evidence that the more competitive a country is, according to the global competitiveness index, its shadow economy becomes smaller (as a percentage of GDP). More precisely, as it was predicted, there is a negative relationship between the shadow economy and global competitiveness, and these results can help the relevant policy makers to curb the shadow economy with appropriate guidance towards increasing competitiveness. The country should help. A country that is interested in ensuring that its shadow economy will not expand; It should improve its competitiveness. Competition is a multidimensional and complex concept, especially when it refers to the national economy. Various indices of competitiveness describe its size and also its dimensions with regard to commercial activity, infrastructure and institutional environments and macroeconomics. At the same time, the competitiveness of a country primarily depends on its economic development, which in turn is affected by several factors. Some of these factors, such as investment, favorable business conditions, legal environment, etc., promote economic development, while others, such as low labor productivity, insufficient qualification of employees, etc., cannot meet the requirements of the labor market. They slow down the speed of economic development. Another thing that was confirmed in this research is the existence of a long-term relationship between the ease of doing business and the size of its shadow economy. In this regard, there is evidence that a country may be able to fight the shadow economy by increasing the ease of doing business. In fact, the shadow economy of a country is the result of the interaction between socio-economic development and its long-term psychological and cultural factors. Some of these factors can be considered and recognized as influential factors only with regard to the shadow economy and competition, but they cannot be significantly affected, at least in the short term. The issues can be considered in terms of the problem of people's mentality. A practical way to deal with the problem of the shadow economy, that is, to reduce the size of this phenomenon, is to promote socio-economic development and ease of doing business. When an economy is growing, ease of doing business also increases a country's competitiveness and most importantly, it helps to form a positive public attitude towards self-efficacy. By increasing business dynamism, developing skills, promoting the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT), increasing market size and infrastructure can be achieved. In addition, restrictive laws and higher living standards may lead to a reduction in the shadow economy. Higher levels of GDP also potentially provide a stronger financial system through macroeconomic stability and can provide more assistance in this area in addition to the guidelines that are formulated to curb unemployment. , because people can do transactions through the formal economy instead of the informal economy. In this regard, increasing exports as a percentage of GDP seems to be a useful tool to reduce the shadow economy. This is while reducing the consequences of the shadow economy through the ease of doing business and increasing GDP per capita and exports (as a percentage of GDP) is definitely a difficult task for the respective countries. However, achieving higher levels of (perceived) competitiveness is not inconceivable. According to the findings of the research, it can be generally stated that competitiveness is the ability of a country to maintain its relative advantages in order to support the economic growth and prosperity of its citizens, and the ease of doing business with the shadow economy are related.

National branding is responsible for reputation management on a global scale and it seeks to understand the global perception of the country's brand and create a reputation and credibility that is powerful and attractive and useful for economic, political and social purposes. This article discusses branding, positioning and improving the reputation or renaming of a country in a competitive environment with a focus on economic considerations. This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and in two documentary-field stages. The documentary stage was done with a systematic review approach and using the meta-composite method. At this stage, the results of selected researches related to the research topic in international reliable databases between 2000 and 2021 were analyzed based on seven qualitative stages. In addition, an integrated research model was presented. . In the continuation of the research, using the thematic analysis method, interviews were conducted with 7 university experts specializing in the field of research. In summary, the findings showed that national brands are competing in a competitive process in different dimensions (such as improving their image, increasing power and economic influence, etc.). This issue is processed in an interwoven process that combines the dimensions of marketing and public diplomacy, etc., but it can be argued that the output of this confrontation is re-injected into the cycle in a synergistic process. At the end, suggestions were made to strengthen the current image or, if necessary, modify or change the position of the country's national brand.Keywords: positioning, positioning, national branding, competitiveness, political marketing.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a symbol of the regional convergence chain in Asia, which is significant due to the economic or social position of the member countries as well as the geographical coverage of this group worldwide. Moreover, due to the large differences in the economic infrastructure of the member countries and their income levels, it is very important to study the index of resilience in the Shanghai group. In fact, the resilience index seeks to assess the ability of the economic compatibility of a country or a group of countries in the face of shocks and ultimately the potential to return to the desired equilibrium level, so a study of the level of resilience in the Shanghai group can show the prospects and future of the organization more clearly. In this research, the econometric method of space panel in the period 2014-2020 has been used. Therefore, two equations have been investigated and the SAR model has been accepted by the random effects method and the results show that the variables of trade volume and innovation have a positive and significant effect on the resilience index.

The competitiveness of different companies and industries is considered as one of the main criteria for evaluating their success. In a general definition, competitiveness is the ability of a company or industry to maintain or increase its share in national and international markets using different means. Upstream contracts, oil and gas industry is one of the key industries of the country. More than a hundred years have passed since the discovery of oil in Iran, and although this industry has a decisive role in the country's economy, Iran has never been able to be among the developers of the world's oil industry technologies, while the success of countries' trade, internationalization Oil and gas companies are based on technical and engineering capabilities and strong technological infrastructure, and not just selling crude oil. The purpose of this research is to compare the competitiveness of upstream oil and gas activities in the legal system of Iran and Norway. The research method is library. The results of this research show that considering that Norway does not rely only on the sale of crude oil and has achieved significant growth in this field with the development of technology. And with appropriate strategies such as using internal capacities (private companies) which causes more competition in this field. has provided. It is suggested that although the production of oil and gas may be under the control of the government or the private sector, its transmission and distribution should be managed by the private sector under special conditions and be competitive in the free market.

The Average share of the rail industry of freight The Average share of the rail industry of freight transportation for the last two decades is 11.5 percent and its average commercial speed is less than 4 km per hour. Freight trains departures and arrival times are not planned and predictable. In addition, there is a weak correspondence between railway infrastructure and the demand for rail freight transportation. If we consider these as an indicator of the not somehow desirable performance of rail freight transportation in Iran, then asking about the challenges of rail freight and its development strategies becomes relevant. Dealing with such issues is the main purpose of this paper. Challenges and strategies have been derived from deep interviews with the experts, according to the grounded theory. The results show that the improvement of rail freight transportation industry performance depends on (1) Separation of responsibility of regulatory, arbitration, and policy making from the Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RAI); (2) Managing RAI based on commercial logic and giving full responsibility for building the infrastructure and keeping it available; (3) Administration of movement, issuing bills of lading, granting licenses, setting timetables, and determining access rights based on the rules of the independent regulatory body, and (4) Considering full authority and responsibility in train management for freight companies.

The resilience index refers to the ability of a system to absorb turmoil and reorganization so that the system still maintains the task, structure, specifications, and feedback. This concept was introduced after the 2008 financial crisis economic issues, and its goal is to assess the capability of economic compatibility of a country with shocks and, ultimately, the potential return to the equilibrium level. Under the conditions of the Iranian economy, due to the practice of sanctions in recent years, which has faced many challenges, evaluating the resilience level of different channels is essential. So, this study investigates the effect of competitiveness and knowledge-based economics on the Resilience of the Iranian economy from 1985 to 2019, with mixed frequency, annual and seasonal, using the ARDL-Midas method. The results indicate that in the short-term and long-term periods, the variables of trade (Competitiveness) and innovation (Knowledge-based Economics) on the resilience index have a positive and significant effect. Also, the variables of the ratio of oil revenues to GDP and foreign direct investment have had a positive and significant impact on Resilience, and the variables of government size and inflation rate have had a negative and significant effect on Resilience. Therefore, creating appropriate infrastructure is recommended to use the benefits of the knowledge base and expand competitiveness levels

Cities usually have diverse and large attractions including museums, monuments, theaters, sports stadiums, manques, amusement parks, shopping centers, areas with historical architecture and places related to important events or famous people, which attract many tourists. Since Yazd province is one of the most important destinations for domestic and foreign tourists in the country and has a lot of potential in the field of tourism development (especially based on the cultural, heritage and historical capabilities of the city). Despite the many efforts, the prospect of development of tourism in this province is unclear and undefined.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:

The organization of attracting investment in the tourism industry in the form of an organization and the role of this organization in the development of attracting foreign investment in the tourism industry of countries should be considered. Due to the fact that the regions have many historical and cultural attractions, they are often considered important tourist destinations. Also, in the age of globalization, regional competitiveness has been emphasized as one of the new approaches to regional development. The concept of competitiveness is used by Michael Porter in a wide range from enterprise and industry competitiveness to national and global competitiveness. Today, the importance of this issue has reached the point where the leaders of the countries at the World Economic Forum in Davos evaluate and systematically monitor the competitiveness of their nation and country.

 The purpose of this research is to discover the relationship between investment and capital attraction in the regional tourism industry and planning to coordinate these relationships to make the region more competitive. The current research is an applied type and it plans for Yazd province by examination the theoretical foundations and extracting common indicators of capital attraction in order to promote regional tourism and regional competitiveness. So, firstly, the indicators of capital attraction were identified in order to promote regional tourism, which is related to regional competitiveness, and in order to check these indicators in Yazd province, the indicators of each component in the projects of Faradast in Yazd province were checked through MAXQDA software, and the level of attention of each plan to each component was determined. Finally, in order to analyze the interrelationships of regional competitiveness components, 5 components were used as input data to MicMAC software. The results show that among the 5 components examined in this research, 2 components have been selected as key factors effective in attracting capital in tourism in order to make a region in Yazd province more competitive.t.

 Among these 2 components, the political and economic management components, which have high influence and the least influence, have been selected as the most effective and key components. Considering that the development plans of Yazd province have paid attention to the economic components to a relatively appropriate extent, but not much attention has been paid to the administrative-political components. Therefore, in order to increase the competitiveness of Yazd province by attracting investment in the tourism industry, it is necessary to improve the indicators of political management components and also pay more attention to economic indicators in Yazd province. Also, by prioritizing the indicators of the economic and political-management components, it was determined that the indicators 1- profit and economic efficiency and currency conversion, 2- correct advertising, 3- coordination of organizations related to tourism affairs, 4- price competitiveness of the travel and tourism industry, and 5_ innovation and creativity, respectively. It has been a priority, and by focusing on these indicators and their improvements, Yazd province will find the ability to compete with other regions from the point of view of attracting investment in tourism. 

CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS:

 The results of our research show that in order to achieve the competitiveness of the region through attracting capital in the tourism industry, we must improve the indicators of the social, economic, physical, environmental, information technology, tourism, transportation and political-management components. However, the most key and main components are the economic and management-political components, which economic component indicators include: the variety and quality of food and beverages, proper advertising, the use of local products, etc. For example, if the variety and quality of food and beverages in an area are promoted can be found and can have a relative advantage in this field and compete with other regions, while the tourism of the region will also be promoted and generate income in this sector. It is also effective for other economic component indicators.

The primary goal of open data transparency is to improve government reliability and business opportunities from a political perspective by increasing government transparency and creating new employment and business opportunities from an economic perspective through greater participation and collaboration with the private sector.The next goal is to strengthen the government's competitiveness through economic innovation. As government data openness is expected to have a positive impact on national economies, governments around the world are under pressure for an open data policy.According to the regulations on the recognition of knowledge-based companies and institutions, knowledge-based companies are private or cooperative institutions that aim to increase science and wealth, economic development based on knowledge andrealize scientific and economic goals in line with the expansion of invention and innovation and finally the commercialization of research and development results.(Including the design and production of goods and services) is formed in the field of superior technologies with a lot of added value (especially in the production of related software).According to the approved regulations, knowledge-based companies pursue goals such as persuading the faculty of universities and research units for more activities in meeting the needs of society and the possibility of increasing the income of faculty members, commercializing research findings, increasing the specific income of universities and research units, the general theme of knowledge-based activity.Isfahan Science and Research Town as the first organization to establish growth centers and science and technology parks in the country in the area of Azadegan highway in Khomeinishahr and next to Isfahan University of Technology, and close to industrial towns and exemplary tourism areas of Khomeinishahr including Cheshme Lader while supporting the launch andthe development of knowledge-based companies and institutions has been able to take effective steps in the development of production and export of knowledge-based products and sustainable employment of university graduates. In any case, no study has been done on the transparency of government data and its effect on the competitiveness of governments.To fill the research gap, this study investigated the effect of government data transparency on the country's competitiveness with the mediating role of knowledge-based economy at the level of knowledge-based companies based in Tehran and Isfahan.This research seeks to answer the following questions: 1. How does the transparency of government data affect the formation of the knowledge-based economy of countries? 2. How does the knowledge-based level of a country affect competitiveness? 3. Can the formation of a knowledge-based economy play a mediating role in the effect of transparency of government data on the competitiveness of Iran?

 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:

In research studied open government data through a systematic empirical literature review. This study conducts a systematic literature review of 169 empirical studies of open government data and derives a theoretical framework of antecedents, decisions, and outcomes to understand the evidence of these data in the context of the digital economy and a theory-based research agenda to exploit the potential. Research in this framework is presented.In a research, researchers developed methodologies and applications in the knowledge-based economy by using multi-criteria decision-making analysis.The results showed that the simultaneous discussion of recent methodologies and applications using multi-criteria decision-making analysis and consideration of the challenges shaping the knowledge-based economy depends on the themes of technological forecasting and social changes.In a paper, researchers have studied the impact of globalization on peace and stability: governance concepts and knowledge economy of African countries.They stated that there is an indirect relationship between globalization and the knowledge-based economy of African countries, which affects peace and stability, and peace and stability are also affected by the knowledge-based economy of the government.The results of the research show that peace and stability of the government are more strongly influenced by globalization in commercial mode than foreign direct investment.The final result of the research indicates that foreign direct investment is not a suitable and useful mechanism for estimating and preserving African knowledge.Therefore, with the development of globalization, peace and stability will increase in African countries.In a study, under the title of the effect of openness of government data on the knowledge-based economy, they investigated the effect of open government data on the knowledge-based economy by using path analysis and factor analysis. The results of the research showed that the transparency of government data has a positive and direct effect on the formation of knowledge base in a country. Also, the knowledge-based level of a country has a positive effect on the global competitiveness of that country. In a paper, researchers conducted a systematic review on open governance data design. Researchers in research titled knowledge-based economy in the European Union, using cluster analysis on the main components of the strategy indicators for the studied countries, tried to find out the position of the 27 countries of the European Union from the perspective of the knowledge-based economy. Their study provided a basis for understanding the position of Romania among the countries of the European Union. Researchers in research entitled Redefining the knowledge-based economy-sustainable development relationship, examined various definitions and approaches related to the subject of knowledge-based economy and how to measure it, as well as various theories that have been presented in the field of sustainable development, withthe use of content analysis method has been discussed.In a paper, researchers have done research called knowledge economy by using content analysis.According to them, the advancement of information and communication technologies and the importance of knowledge as a determining factor in organizational competitiveness and productivity require special requirements for the organization.(Hsu et al., 2008) have paid attention to the investigation of competitive policies for the purpose of technological innovations in the era of knowledge-basedeconomy.The results of their study show the positive effect of competitive policies on technological innovations.In a paper, researchers also investigated the knowledge gap and the relative efficiency of the selected countries in the transition to a knowledge-based economy in an article titled "Development of Southeast Asian countries towards a knowledge-based economy" by using data envelopment analysis.In this article, the performance of selected countries is evaluated by two methods radar chart and data coverage analysis.In a research, researchers stated that in the knowledge-based economy, information, technology and learning have been introduced as factors of growth and productivity. In fact, with the continuous application and production of knowledge as the core of the economic development process, the economy necessarily becomes a knowledge-based economy. Knowledge-based economy is an economy in which knowledge is the main key to economic growth. In this economy, knowledge is acquired, producedand disseminated and is used efficiently and effectively to increase economic development.In a paper, researchers, during a study, examine the effect of different aspects of knowledge (within the framework of knowledge-based economy) on the economic growth of 92 countries during the period of 1960-2000. In this study, using modeling, several indicators are used for each axis of the knowledge-based economy. The results showed that different aspects of knowledge had a positive effect on the economic growth of 83 during the study period.

In this study, five constructs were extracted from the literature related to open data and the knowledge-based economy: data openness, knowledge distribution, knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion, and competitiveness.Data transparency is defined as the transparency of government data.Absorption of knowledge is the concept of acquiring knowledge in a country.Creating knowledge means producing new knowledge in a country.Diffusion of knowledge means the distribution of knowledge of one country to other countries.Competitiveness means the competitive advantages of a country.The competitiveness index is obtained from the announced economic reports of the world.The research method in this study is based on the research orientation, applied type and based on the research strategy, survey type. Also, based on the research method, a description of the type of correlation and the statistical population of this research including specialists, senior managers and experts in the field of government data, knowledge-based economy and competitiveness from knowledge-based companies based in Tehran (90 people) and knowledge-based companies based in Science City and the research was conducted in Isfahan (100 people), which is a total of 190 people. Considering the extent of these organizations, using the stratified sampling method, after dividing the statistical population of this research into two groups, Tehran and Isfahan, the number of samples was determined in proportion to the number of experts in each organization (82 and 68 people, respectively) and then by using the random sampling method and the sampling formula from the limited population and the accuracy of 5%, the number of people is estimated to be 150. Finally, managers and experts were randomly selected. In other words, in the present research, all the managers, specialists and experts familiar with the aforementioned systems in the companies are considered as the statistical population of the research, and the designed questionnaires will be distributed and collected within 2 months. This research was cross-sectional and the situation of the problem was measured in the spring of 2017 and the summer of 2017. Data collection is done by using a questionnaire.

According to the results of this paper, the value of R2 has been calculated for the endogenous structure of the level of knowledge-based economy (0.527), and the endogenous structure of competitiveness (0.468), which confirms the suitability of the fit of the structural model according to the three criterion values.According to the obtained values for Q2 of endogenous constructs, it is clear that there is a strong predictive power of the model regarding all constructs and the fit of the structural model of the research is confirmed again.Finally, after calculating all the fit criteria of the measurement models and the structural model of the research, the overall fit of the model should be calculated. As calculated in the output of the software, the value of GOF equal to 0.293 was obtained, which is a good value and indicates an almost strong fit of the structural model, as a result, the overall fit of the model is also confirmed.

CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS:

Considering the confirmation of the main hypothesis, we can conclude that: 1- Access to the government data line has a positive effect on the formation of the knowledge-based economy in Iran. 2- The release of sustainable data collection has a positive effect on the formation of knowledge-based economy in Iran. Comparing the output of this research with other researches, it was found that no research has been done in this regard. On the other hand, the output of this research is consistent with the previous researches.Considering the results of the research, the following policy recommendations and practical suggestions were presented: 1. Providing the necessary platforms for the dynamic and constructive interaction of our country's industries with regional and international industrial countries; 2. Providing the necessary incentives to attract foreign investment; 3. And applying outward-looking business policies, including basic and basic solutions to improve the competitiveness of our country's knowledge-based industries in global and regional markets; 4. Emphasizing on applied research and facilitating and encouraging the use of scientific findings in the process of globalization of production and trade as practical measures for the simultaneous promotion of knowledge base and development. 5. Providing favorable financial resources, including risk-taking investors, foreign investment and government budgets in order to launch knowledge-based businesses; 6. Providing appropriate infrastructure including telecommunications, information and communication technology, scientific networks; 7. Development of government policies, including business support environment, legal system, tax system and appropriate regulatory policies; 8. Rule the thinking of innovation, invention and creativity in the education system instead of reservations, to encourage the country's young forces to engage in entrepreneurial activities and start knowledge-based businesses.

The global competitiveness index of the economy in different countries shows the potential of countries for production and growth and competition in the world arena. Several factors affect this index. One of these variables is the innovation level of countries, which is measured using the global innovation index. Based on this, this study examines the effect of global innovation index on the global competitiveness of OPEC member countries during the time period of 2010-2022 using panel data. The countries investigated in this study include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates. The results of the model estimation have shown that the global economic innovation index has a positive and significant effect on the global competitiveness index of countries. Other research results have shown that research and development expenses and the productivity of all production factors have a positive and significant effect on the competitiveness of OPEC member countries. Also, the cross effect of innovation and research and development has a positive and significant effect on the competitiveness of countries.

The index of global economic competitiveness in different countries shows the ‎potential of countries for production and growth and competition in the world arena. ‎Several factors affect this index. One of these variables is the innovation level of ‎countries, which is measured using the global innovation index. Based on this, this ‎study examines the effect of the global innovation index on the global competitiveness ‎of OPEC member countries during the period of 2010-2022 using panel data. The ‎countries investigated in this study include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, and ‎the UAE. The results of the estimation of the model have shown that the global ‎economic innovation index had a positive and significant effect on the global ‎competitiveness index of countries. Other research results have shown that research and ‎development expenses and the productivity of all production factors have a positive ‎and significant effect on the competitiveness of OPEC member countries. Also, the ‎cross effect of innovation and research and development has a positive and significant ‎effect on the competitiveness of countries.‎The index of global economic competitiveness in different countries shows the ‎potential of countries for production and growth and competition in the world arena. ‎Several factors affect this index. One of these variables is the innovation level of ‎countries, which is measured using the global innovation index. Based on this, this ‎study examines the effect of the global innovation index on the global competitiveness ‎of OPEC member countries during the period of 2010-2022 using panel data. The ‎countries investigated in this study include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, and ‎the UAE. The results of the estimation of the model have shown that the global ‎economic innovation index had a positive and significant effect on the global ‎competitiveness index of countries.

the present study aims to identify and evaluate the indices of competition in the free trade market for products of saipa company .in the present study , the statistical population of this study includes experts and personnel working in saipa company and agency . there are 700 agencies , depending on the city and the number of agency sales , the number of personnel will be differen according to morgan table, the sample size is 130 and the questionnaire is distributed randomly among them . so that the shape and content structure of it is set as the five options of likert spectrum . to describe the data and observations , the cronbach 's alpha test for reliability of the questionnaire will be used . the validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the professors and related experts ( content validity ) . in this regard , based on the literature of research , a model is designed to show the impact of competition factors on the free trade market and smart pls software . the results showed that in the present study , the competitiveness index of saipa company in the free trade market has a positive impact and all assumptions are correct.

Today, many companies and manufacturers are trying to enter the international market. Due to the new conditions of the current markets, it is no possible to enter such markets by trial and error. Therefore, considering the importance of this issue, this study tries to examine the effects of sanctions resulting from the Barjam and post-Barjam agreements on two selected industries that are domestically produced in Iran and traded internationally. In other words, if these industries are subject to sanctions, although they are not subject to sanctions, what will be the performance of these industries at the international level. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the variability of market share of these industries during sanctions or the absence of sanctions.

Since the economic activities of each country are not limited to the domestic environment, their competitiveness is not focused on the domestic environment, and each country has trade relations with different countries. One of the important factors for countries to choose trade partners is proximity and geographical proximity, the existence of economic and political relations between the two countries. Based on this, Ragman proposed a concept model called dual diamond for smaller countries, which was a combination of the internal characteristics of countries and their trading partners. Ragman states his model that a country's competitive advantage is due to the internal and external environment of countries, and the outcome of the diamond model factors in these two environments determines the competitiveness of countries.

According to the analysis of the effectiveness of two commodities drug and steel trade, one of which is not subject to sanctions and the other has been subject to sanctions, the use of sustainable market share index is more beneficial than other methods of evaluating comparative advantage and competitiveness. According to this index, a country's exports are successful if they can grow at least as much as global imports. This growth can be due to a focus on commodities whose consumption is increasing worldwide (commodity effect) or a focus on target markets whose consumption is growing faster than the global average (national effect) or the internal factors of the exporting country that increase Influence and share in target markets (competitive effect). Therefore, in order to estimate the above three effects, in this paper, the CMS method developed by Lamer and Stern has been used. 

About of drug commodities, in 2016 and 2019, the commodity effect of commodity drugs has been positive for the countries under study. But in 2017 and 2018, the commodity effect of the drug has been negatived for all countries surveyed. Country effect in 2016 and 2017 was positive for Germany, Russia and Norway, and in 2019 was positive only in Russia. about of steel, in 2016 and 2019, the negative commodity effect was obtained, and in 2017 and 2018, it was positive for all countries. In other words, in 2016 and 2019, the growth of steel imports slowed down than the growth of imports of other goods in the world, and in 2017 and 2018, it also accelerated. Country effect of steel, among target market countries, shows in 2016 for Thailand and Belgium, in 2017 for Italy, Spain, Turkey and Belgium, in 2018 for Italy, Thailand, Spain and Belgium and in 2019 is also a positive year for Thailand.

Stable Market Share Index (CMS) in relation to drug products shows that Iran's advantage in the drug market in 2018 and 2019 is not stable. The change in net exports (total effect) in all export markets of the country is negative, which goes beyond the negative effect of goods in 2018 and the positive effect in 2019, which is outside the will of the country, on the one hand due to improper selection of markets such as France, UK, Germany. And Norway (their country effect is negative) and on the other hand returns to the negative competitive effect in the last two years of the study period. In 2016, among the target markets studied, Germany and in 2017 and 2019, Russia are the best target markets for Iranian medicine. According to the index of stable market share in relation to steel goods (goods subject to sanctions), Iran in abuot of commodity effect in 2017 and 2018 has a better situation than in 2016 and 2019. Country effect shows that among the countries studied, Turkey is the worst and Thailand is the best destination for Iranian steel exports during the years under study. As the results show, the competitive effect is positive for all countries surveyed during 2016 and 2017. This means that Iran has been able to control a large part of the steel imports of these countries in these two years, but in 2018 and 2019, due to the withdrawal of the United States from the Barjam agreement and the direct impact of these sanctions, this effect has been negative.

The concept of competitiveness was often formed in response to the question why some countries are richer than others. A question that was raised since the period of Adam Smith and is a concern of many governments until today. So that in recent years, the concept of competitiveness has become a common term in urban, regional and national economic analyzes and policies. Globalization and the economy based on information knowledge and removing the borders of countries have gradually reduced the geographical position of competition from national to regional scale, and since the 1990s, the concept of regional competitiveness has become a dominant issue in the public circles of developed countries and some developing countries. It was done so that countries can achieve a clear set of policies to strengthen regional development. In the meantime, East Azarbaijan province with 20 cities has high potential capacities and advantages in various fields, which has made it different from many other provinces in the country. And its competition with other provinces of the country. Therefore, one of the most important platforms for creating a competitive city is to pay attention to the common and current indicators in the field of competition. Because knowing the effective indicators in the competitiveness of different areas and the inequality between them is considered as the basis of work in planning, which causes inequality to be eliminated and the current situation to be transformed into the desired situation. In this regard, in order to measure the level of competition between regions, various indicators have been presented at the global level, and in this article, different indicators have been combined with each other, and due to the lack of access to many indicators, the proposed indicators have been replaced.

Since the 1990s, competitiveness has become an important theory in the public policy of developed countries and then one of the key issues in urban and regional planning theories. Various views have been presented about it. The first point of view is the doctrine of mercantilists, who believe that the most intuitive definition of competitiveness is the criterion of action and consider the economic competitiveness of countries in international contexts as possible in the way of companies, and their prosperity and recovery from existing crises depends on increasing the competitiveness of the national economy and establishing the trade balance is positive. The second point of view in this field is the Porter doctrine. Porter extended the concept of competitiveness, which was only discussed at the level of enterprises, in the mid-1990s, believing in the importance of the role of the external business environment in creating competitiveness to the territory level. The third point of view is the Paul Grossman. This point of view has been raised in the criticism of Porter's point of view, and the competitiveness which was mentioned in Porter's point of view as the meaning of increasing economic productivity in comparison with competitors for the economy of countries has been empirically unfounded and has called the comparison of place with the company as baseless.

The current research is descriptive and analytical in terms of application and nature. Library method was used to collect data and Prometheus multi-criteria decision-making method was used for data analysis.

In the current research, 39 indicators for 2006 and 45 variables for 2016 were used in 6 different dimensions in order to investigate the competitiveness of the cities of East Azarbaijan province. The used indices have been descaled after softening by the norm method, then to express the relative importance of the used variables, each of them has been weighted using Shannon's entropy method. The results of variable weighting show that in 2006, variables such as the number of literate people, the number of high school students, the number of middle school students, employment rate, teaching staff and the number of active landlines and for 2015, the total number of literate people , the number of electricity subscribers, the number of active fixed telephone lines, the number of high school students, the number of middle school students, the number of elementary school students, the number of pharmacies, the number of dentists, the number of library members, the number of veterinarians, and the number of state bank branches have the highest weight. To other variables have been obtained. In the following, after determining the weight of each of the desired variables, using the Prometheus method, the competitiveness level of the cities of the province has been leveled. Based on the results obtained from the Prometheus method for 2016, the cities of the province are placed in 5 levels from very high competitiveness to very low competitiveness. Of these, one city is in the highly competitive category, 4 cities with high competitiveness, 6 cities with low competitiveness, and 5 cities are in the level of cities with very low competitiveness. Also, the results of data analysis for 2016 show that one city is at a very high level, four cities are at a high level, seven cities are at an average level, six cities are at a low level of competitiveness and two cities are at a very low level of competitiveness.

By comparing the level of competitiveness of the cities of East Azarbaijan province in 2015 compared to 2005, it shows that the greatest improvement is related to the cities of Maragheh, Mianeh, Kalibar and Azarshahr, which is mainly due to the development of communication networks, the growth of mining and industrial activities and the expansion of tourism in the cities. It has been mentioned. On the other hand, Varzeghan, Shabestar and Osku cities have improved less than other cities, and because of this is different between cities. Also, in terms of competitiveness, the cities of the province have improved in 2015 compared to 2005, so that out of 5 cities that were in the category of cities with very low competitiveness in 2005, they have decreased to two cities in 2015 and more. The cities have had a positive movement.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between economic complexity and competitiveness using panel data in a sample of 39 emerging countries from 2002 to 2018. The results of the causality test of Dmitresco and Horlin Granger (2012) show a two-way cause between economic complexity and competitiveness. This indicates that the higher complexity of the economy helps countries to improve their average level of competitiveness, and vice versa. At the same time, the results of the model estimation using the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators confirm that economic complexity is a determining factor in the competitiveness of countries. This shows that economic integration with the creation of new sectors and new products creates significant opportunities for new jobs, which in turn leads to greater competition and a more dynamic environment. At the same time, the impact of variables on GDP growth, good governance, real exchange rates, human capital, and R&D costs on the competition of countries is also positive. Therefore, in order to increase competitiveness and develop a knowledge-based economy, emerging countries need to consider policies to increase economic complexity along with other factors affecting competitiveness.

In an age that we consider the age of knowledge and the economy to be a knowledge-based economy and competition to be global, we are witnessing intense competition between countries at the international level and cities at the national level. The flow of competition has a dynamic nature that for success in the future, we must use new and transformative competitive methods, which is a reason for the progress and development of cities based on knowledge. According to the components of competitiveness, to be able to understand the concept of competitiveness correctly, we must measure the performance of the macro economy and the standard of living of the society based on the productivity of the production factors. According to the research obtained, a competitive economy is where people enjoy a high level of living and employment standards and knowledge and innovation are among the driving forces in the growth and development of cities. Therefore, in this research, we try to analyze the key factors and the main driving forces affecting the formation of the knowledge-based economy of Kerman city and then its main elements and factors by designing possible scenarios in the future, the path of the region's economic progress will be presented with a future research approach. Therefore, the main question of the research is: What will be the key drivers of the impact of competitiveness components on the formation of the knowledge-based economy of Kerman in the future (10-year horizon 2031)?

In the current study, the research method is applied, and from the perspective of the nature of the work, a combination of descriptive-analytical and econometric methods was used in matching the data and in explaining the structure as a future research approach. In this way, the most important factors affecting the formation of a knowledge-based economy in Kerman city have been investigated. Information was collected by document method (library resources, scientific journals) and field method (using a questionnaire tool). In this research, the statistical population of 23 experts consisted of city managers (mayors, deputy mayors, heads of organizations, and managers of urban areas), members of the city's Islamic Council, civil engineering experts in the governorate and urban affairs office and the governorate councils of Kerman, Sciences and Technology Park of Kerman, Administrator of Industry, Mining and Trade of Kerman, Faculty member of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, and other universities of this city, together with professors of Shahid Beheshti University and specialists of the urban area.In the current research, structured interviews with several experts in the fields of the knowledge-based economy and urban competitiveness were carried out using the Delphi method to identify the key factors and then by combining the factors obtained from the interviews and the studied documents in the background,  the validity and reliability of the variables by experts were confirmed. Finally, the factors were evaluated in the form of a prospective research questionnaire.

The most important factors affecting the promotion of competitiveness components in the knowledge-based economy of Kerman city were identified by using field and library studies. Furthermore, the degree of influence or effectiveness of the identified factors was determined using quantitative future research methods and the use of Micmac software. Therefore, the findings of the research show that among the 29 key factors of the impact of competitiveness components on the urban knowledge-based economy, after examining the indicators and extracting the key influencing factors (direct and indirect), seven key drivers are "transparency and coherence in the ruling economic policies, laws and regulations", "Creating employment and creating new fields of activity for efficient and expert workforce", "training human resources to provide the necessary human capital for a knowledge-based economy", "Clarifying the economy", and "making it healthy and preventing actions", "Corrupt activities and fields in the monetary, commercial, currency", "Increasing people's use of domestic goods and creating a competitive advantage in price for exporting products in global markets", "Empowering the workforce and increasing the share of human capital through promoting education, skills", "creativity and entrepreneurship with a focus on growth Productivity and competitiveness in the economy" and "Development and strengthening of creativity in society (reliance of development on creativity in society)" have had the most significant impact on the promotion of competitive components in the urban knowledge-based economy in Kerman city.

In a summary of past research, it can be mentioned that competitiveness is a key term in the process of economic activities. To have a dynamic and efficient city, we must pay attention to all the components of competitiveness in line with the urban knowledge-based economy and apply them. Since Iran is far from the conditions of a knowledge-based economy at the international level, arrangements should be made in various fields such as innovation and creativity, investing in human capital, acquiring technology and strengthening and equipping infrastructure, setting up business environments and employment and entrepreneurship at the national level and in urban areas to provide access to knowledge and create a suitable environment by using communication and information tools in economic activities and investment in the competitive environment of the city. Now, with the rapid changes in cities based on the rapid growth of science, knowledge, and technology, according to the new phenomenon of globalization, we are witnessing intense competition between the cities of the world. The main driver of the economic growth and development of the city is the production, distribution, and application of knowledge in all the city’s economic activities. Looking to the future in this research, we aim to make a suitable model for the progress and development of the city based on the components of competitiveness and in line with the knowledge-based economy to move the cities towards progress in a competitive world.

One of the variables for measuring the competitiveness of countries in comparison with each other is the global competitiveness index. One of the factors affecting the global competitiveness index is human capital. Therefore, this study examines the effect of human capital spillover on the global competitiveness of Iran and major trading partners using the spatial econometrics model (spatial Durbin model) in the period 2010-2019. The results of model estimation have shown that human capital has a direct and indirect (spillovers) positive and significant effect on the global competitiveness index of countries. This shows that human capital not only have the positive effect on competitiveness of countries but also the competitiveness of trading partner countries through trade spillovers. Other research results have shown that research and development expenditure and total factor productivity also have a positive and significant direct effect on the competitiveness of countries. Therefore, strengthening human capital and also increasing research and development expenditures in order to strengthen competitiveness should be considered by policy makers.