Evaluating the Relationship between Distance from the Border and Amount of Income and Employment from Smuggling (Case study: Villages of Khav and Myrabad district, Marivan County)

The subject of free trade and paying attention to marketing strategies and attracting customers can be considered as one of the significant factors in economic growth and development nowadays، so that many governments consider the international trade as one of the important priorities in their macroeconomic policy agenda. Currently the definition of smuggling and trafficking is not limited solely to the entry and exit within geographic borders of a country، rather، the illegal storage and distribution and transportation of goods in the country is also act of smuggling. Trafficking problem in our country due to geographical conditions for entry and exit of goods and lack of stability in neighboring countries is very significant. The aim of this research is to review and assess the existence of a relationship between the distance from border and degree of impact of trafficking in the “khav and mirabad” rural areas. The main research question thus arises: how the distance from the border has affected smuggling activities and its position in the income of rural households? Related to the general research question، the following hypotheses are offered: It seems that the distance from the borders affects the rate of employment of residents of the «Khav and Myrabad» villages in goods smuggling. It seems that the distance from the borders affects the amount of income earned by residents of the «Khav and Myrabad» villages in the goods smuggling activity. Theoretical bases: This research is based on descriptive - analytical and statistical methods. The required data were provided on the basis of documentation، literature review and field studies. The main tools used to gather the required data were questionnaires and interviews. Computer programs such as SPSS software was used for the purpose of data analysis. The study population consists of 32 villages «Khav and Myrabad» district in the township of Marivan and stratified sampling method based on the distance from the border of five villages with a population of 3،634 persons in 764 households was chosen. The sample size was determined based on Sharp - Cochran formula of the total studied rural households in 140 samples، which were distributed based on the principle of proportionality between the villages.

Research findings show that 43. 8 percent of income is coming from smuggling activities; while activities such as agriculture and animal husbandry have not significant role in the economy of rural households. The Pearson correlation coefficient of -0. 299 and also Spearmen correlation coefficient of -0. 380 at the significance level of 0. 01 was indicated for the relationship between the amount of income by smuggling and the distance from border. This means that with increasing distance from border، the smuggling and the amount of income from these kinds of activities decreases and vice versa.

Trafficking and especially goods smuggling has different effects in the border villages. This problem has different impacts in different places and times and therefore requires a coherent strategy to tackle this issue and eliminate it. Test of the first hypothesis indicates that، in general، the main job or sub-70 percent of the respondents constitute smuggling. This means that 70 percent of rural households rely on smuggling revenues and this activity has a positive influence on income of households residing in this area. Althogh this amount varies amongst villages studied based on the distance from the border. This indicates that، in villages near the border، this amount increases to 80 to 100 percent and in villages far from the frontier، severely reducing the amount of people involved in smuggling goods to come forward and 33. 3% decreases. But for the second hypothesis، the Pearson correlation coefficient of -0. 499 and also Spearmen correlation coefficient of -0. 580 at the significance level of 0. 01 was obtained for the relationship between the amount of income by smuggling and the distance from border. This means that، with increasing distance from border، the smuggling and the amount of smuggling income decreases and vice versa. Therefore impact of distance from border on the amount of income earned by residents of the «Khav and Myrabad» villages from smuggling activity is confirmed. Suggestions: Some suggested guidelines for the optimal use of available resources in order to reduce unemployment، creating jobs and decreasing the impact of smuggling activities in rural households economies can be mentioned below: Reducing the state intervention in production activity in the studied area. Investing in rural small industries that have high employment potential. Developing agriculture in the studied area with wells and exploitation of underground water resources. Activating cross-border market in this district for the development of trade between Iran and Iraq.