Factors Affecting the Income of Rural Employees in Iran

Education as the most influential factor in human capital with a significant role in the growth and economic development has always been of interest to economic planners and policy-makers. Given the importance of education and training and bearing heavy costs for improving the quality of human force in Iran, this study tried to assess the impact of education on rural people's income in the form of incoming Mincer function, and its focal point was to use multilevel models to estimate the effects of education and experience on the income. For this purpose, we used the data collected from rural household expenditure-income plan of Statistical Center of Iran for 13953 rural workers in 2012. Study results indicated that education had a significant positive role in the rural income; also, given a constant condition for other factors, rural men's incomes were 62% higher than rural womens, and their maximum experience was also more than that of the women group. Therefore, to enhance the rural income, the planners should pay more attention to educational development and optimal use of educated people, especially those with higher education.