The Efficacy of Iran Increasing Researches in the Country Development

In recent decades, research has grown increasingly in Iran and consequently, the country has risen dramatically in world rankings based on the number of scientific documents. However, there are many evidences that show these researches were ineffective. Therefore, their efficacy should be evaluated which is the main purpose of this study. In this regard, using the descriptive-analytical method and valid secondary data and statistics, the most recent situation or the trend of impact pathway components (from investment to development) were compared with other countries. The required data were extracted from valid databases including UNESCO, World Bank, OECD, Thomson Reuters, SCImago, Islamic Parliament Research Center, National Iranian Productivity Organization, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and
Enerdata. The necessary calculations and rankings were done using Excel 2007. The results showed that, first, compared with other countries, Iran hasn’t given high priority to research and isn’t in a serious way to address this matter because in 2010 it ranked 66 (among 89 countries) based on share of R&D expenditure in GDP, 54 (among 88 countries) based on R&D expenditure per capita, 57 (among 72 countries) based on R&D
expenditure per researcher, 79 (among 89 countries) based on average investment per research, and in 2000 it ranked 19 (among 21 countries) based on share of basic research in total R&D expenditure. Second, apart from the period leading to 2006, despite an impressive growth in research quantity, Iran share of High Technology products in industrial export shows deterioration.
Third, during 1980-2014 Iran Economy Complexity Index has always been negative and
placed among third weakest countries. Forth, despite a unique growth in science production, Iran couldn’t increase its total factor productivity and has fallen dramatically in orld rankings based on energy intensity and GDP per unit of energy used. Therefore, according to the results of current and preceding studies, it is clear that even if there is no external deterrent,these researches cannot still play a tangible role in Iran development.