Spatial Analysis of the Effects of Unemployment and Unemployment of Educated People on Iran’s Political Geography

Unemployment has a high potential for creating crises socially and politically, and thus it can call into question the state’s acceptability and legitimacy. The state’s response to unemployment is to delay the entrance of the new labor force into the job market by providing educational opportunities, which has led to an increase in unemployment among educated people in Iran. An spatial difference in unemployment and share of unemployed educated people in the country, a chronic spatial discrimination and domination of the core-periphery pattern and its adaption on the habitat of ethnic groups increase political concerns and the chance of rising unrests in Iran. This article uses descriptive-analytical and statistical methods with an emphasis on the discovery of spatial patterns of unemployment in general and unemployment of educated people in particular. The paper applies the methods of spatial analysis of Moran and Getis – Ord Gi * statistics to address the question on unemployment patterns in Iran and their effect on the country's political geography. The results show that the spatial patterns of unemployment are different from those related to the unemployment of educated people, and the sustainability of these patterns over time has strengthened the uneven processes of migration and development leading to the people's perceiving these as political. The continuation of this situation from a political geography perspective is a major challenge for the state and government.