Inequality of Provincial Budget Allocation and its Impact on Inequality of Regional Income in Iran

Regional inequality has economic, social and cultural dimensions. One of the main concerns of planners and policymakers in economic development programs is reduction of poverty and inequality based on provincial income per capita. Therefore, through budget allocation tools, the government can reduce inequalities in provincial incomes per capita and create more balance among provinces. In this paper, the effects of inequality in the allocation of provincial budget on provincial inequalities are estimated using dynamic panel data method for period 2005-2016 in 30 Iranian provinces. The estimation results indicate that the increase in inequality of provincial capital formation budget has reduced inequality in provincial income. This result indicates an increase in government investment in infrastructure and a higher share of government development budget in less-developed provinces. Also, with increasing inequality in provincial current per capita budget, inequality in regional income has increased; because an increase in inequality of current per capita budget in the provinces can lead to unbalanced public service provision and an increase in inequality of income per capita.