Product Complexity and Participation in Global Value Chain: The Case of Iran and OIC Member Countries

In today's competitive world, one of the ways to achieve higher economic growth is to enter the global value chains. One of the determinants of participation in global value chains, is the complexity of products. Due to the importance of this issue, in this study, the effect of degree of complexity of products on participation in global value chains for Islamic countries was measured. For this purpose, a panel data covering time series for the period of 2018-2008 for 56 Islamic countries (including Iran) was developed. Then the factors affecting participation in global value chains were examined using the generalized and the ordinary least squares method. According to the study, the complexity of Iranian products has increased significantly in the recent years, compared to the other countries. The significance of effect of product complexity index and technology absorption index on participation of Iran and Islamic countries in global value chains was statistically confirmed. Thus, one of the proposed policies for economic development and growth is to enter the global value chains by increasing the complexity of products and absorbing technology. It should be noted that no study has been conducted on this issue in Iran and this study for the first time has discussed the effect of export complexity on the participation of Islamic countries and Iran in global value chains.