Evaluation of economic growth acceleration and reversal periods in Iran (With an emphasis on structural changes and within-sector productivity)

Economic growth acceleration is one of the critical topics and a relatively new concept in macroeconomic studies, which has received less attention in research related to economic growth in Iran. Examining growth acceleration aims to find turning points in the country's economic performance. Since growth spurts are related to limited changes in policy reforms, examining the acceleration of economic growth helps policymakers adopt a short-term growth strategy. With a review of global experiences, the acceleration of growth experienced in most of the developing countries has been exhausted and is not reproduced in their economy and does not continue. Therefore, evaluating periods of acceleration and reversal of economic growth is very important. In this study, after determining the period of accelerations and reversals of economic growth in Iran during the years 1955-2019, the period of growth acceleration is analyzed under the Within-Effect and Shift-Effect, using the Modified Shift-Share method. The research results show that the only period of accelerated economic growth experienced in Iran during the investigated period happened in 1965. Also, in 1975 and 1985, Iran's economy experienced a reversal in economic growth and entered a period of deep recession. Second, the Modified Shift-Share method results show that in 2014, both positive structural changes and within-sector productivity positively created growth acceleration, and the resulting growth was fast and stable.