Dynamic effects of tariff reduction on the value added in Iran’s main economic sectors

This paper aims to analyze the long-run effects of Iran's tariffs reduction on the value added in agricultural, industrial and service sectors. The study is conducted in the framework of accession to the WTO and by applying the Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (DCGE) model. To this end, the model is first calibrated using the data base of the 2011 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). Next, the model is simulated as a rival scenario on the basis of the market access commitments of 22 developing countries acceded to the WTO. Under the Business as Usual (BaU) scenario, the economy, without joining the WTO, is supposed to be developed at the rate of the population growth (2 percent) annually. The results indicate a substantial reduction of the value added in industrial and services sectors following accession to the WTO, but there is a moderate growth in the value added of the agricultural sector after a decade of slow reduction. By the third decade after accession to the WTO, the value added in the industrial and service sectors under the rival scenario will be respectively 80 and 55 percent less than the value added under the BaU scenario. The average value-added growth of agricultural, industrial and service sectors under the rival scenario are found to be 0/5, -3/4 and -0/7 respectively.