Economic Policy in Iran: an Investigation of Government Budget Deficit between 1979 and 2019

The budget deficit crisis is among the most significant economic issues in Post-Islamic Revolution of Iran and has been the cause of many other crises like the two-digit inflation rate and destructive governmental interference in the market. Keeping the government’s budget deficit under control is a critical factor in economic stability and a prerequisite to achieving high and sustainable economic growth. The main question of the present study was what are the roots of the constant economic policy that resulted in the government budget deficit in Post-Islamic Revolution of Iran. The hypothesis of the study, based on the historical institutionalism approach, Is that the constant economic policy leading to budget deficit was rooted in the monticore model of state-society relationships – i.e., a combination of ideological and election relations, leads to a continuous increase in government expenses. Therefore, in order to overcome this situation, there needs to be a change in the nature of the state and its unique pattern of relations with society.