The Impact of Zakat on Income inequality in Iran

In the economy, in addition to the national production debate and the concerns about the rate of production and its growth rate, the issue of national income and its distribution among individuals and households and the existing inequalities are discussed. Zakat is considered as one of the important factors in reducing inequality and poverty, which is also obligatory in the Holy Qur'an as a process in which the flow of income from the wealthy population of the society to the poor population of society is considered. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of zakat on income inequality in Iranian provinces. To this end, countrywide data from 30 provinces from 2004-2014 (10 years)  have been used and inflation, unemployment and labor productivity have been used as a control variable. The results of this research show that inflation and unemployment have led to an increase in labor productivity and a reduction in income inequality in the period under study. Zakat distribution also reduces inequality, but its effect is low and short term.