فصلنامه پژوهش های اقتصادی ایران
پیاپی 94 (بهار 1402)

The question that is considered by researchers in the field of knowledge-based economy is that among the factors affecting intangible investment, does information and communication technology have a heavier weight than the rest of the factors? In this study, using the Corrado,Hulten and Sichel (CHS) approach, the measurement of intangible investment is calculated. In their research, intangible investment has been divided into three major parts: computer information, innovative assets, and economic competencies. Then these three components are divided into nine parts. In this article, we select the component of information and communication technology, which is the first component of intangible transitory capital, and its effect on Total Factor Productivity(TFP) has been investigated. The field of study is manufacturing industries with a four-digit economic activity classification code for employees of ten and above during the years 1996 to 2018. Using panel data and GMM, the productivity function was estimated for manufacturing industries. The results of this research show that ICT has a significant role on the productivity of all production factors, and its coefficient is higher than other intangible investment components.

High and continuous inflation in Iran's economy as a structural dilemma has adverse economic, political, and cultural outcomes, and to control the inflation, policymakers should employ appropriate and well-timed policies concuring to the economic structures of the country. Hence, this study points to distinguish and analyze the nature of inflation. For this reason, the present study examines the dynamics of the causal relationship between inflation and liquidity as well as the relationship between inflation and exchange rate by applying the continuous wavelet transform approach using monthly data during the years 1982 to 2021 in Iran’s economy. The results indicate: 1. Liquidity does not infulence the inflation rate in the long term and there is a reverse causality (causality from inflation to liquidity) and this result affirms the endogeneity of liquidity in the long term in Iran's economy. 2. The exchange rate growth shocks (from the supply side of the economy) affect inflation, in a way that the exchange rate altogether influences the inflation in both the short and long term.

This paper studies the effect of central bank credibility (CBC) on interest rate from the perspective of fiscal and institutional factors, using a credibility loss index. As some central banks are not successful in channeling the actual inflation towards the announced targets, it seems necessary to investigate the impact of central bank credibility on the economic variables and also analyze the fiscal and institutional determinants of central bank credibility. Therefore, using a backward-looking indicator that measures the central bank's performance as the basis for obtaining credibility, this study analyzes the impact of CBC on the interest rate, assuming credibility is endogenous for 17 developing countries during the period 1996-2019. The result indicates that increasing the level of credibility loss positively affects the level of interest rate. In other words, increasing the central bank's credibility or improving its performance reduces the level of interest rate. Since performance is a function of external fiscal and institutional factors, improving the quality of democracy in society and legal implementation of fiscal rules along with the formal adoption of inflation targeting framework not only limits the behavior of governments and establishes financial discipline, but also improves the central bank performance. This will convince economic agents that governments and central banks are committed to their promises.

Equality of development opportunities is one of the socio-economic goals and a basic prerequisite for achieving economic stability and integrated progress in a country. In the present research, 69 development indicators related to cultural-social, educational, infrastructure, health-treatment, environmental and economic sectors were analyzed to identify and compare the development opportunities of 30 provinces of Iran. Shannon's entropy method was used to determine the weights of the indicators and the TOPSIS method was used to rank the provinces in terms of access to the opportunities of each sector. Finally, by using the taxonomy technique, the degree of enjoyment of the provinces from a total of six opportunities was evaluated. The results show that there is a deep gap in the distribution and allocation of facilities and opportunities among the provinces of the country. Tehran province was the most privileged and Kurdistan, South Khorasan, Lorestan, West Azerbaijan and North Khorasan provinces were determined as the most deprived provinces. Based on significant difference among provinces, it is recommended that the priorities of the budget allocation be determined according to the degrees of benefits for the provinces.

In this paper, attempts are made to empirically examine inequality in Iran which has hindered the government to achieve a balanced provincial socio-economic development. Income inequality affects economic growth sustainability through certain channels such as different saving rates of people, incentives to work hard, political instability and other factors as a whole. The effectiveness of government policies to address a balanced and an equitable development needs of each province depends mainly on quality of existing institutions, individual participation and their capabilities to contribute to development effort in each province. Inequality in provinces is partly due to regional inequality which in turn stems from unequitable provincial privilege to some resources, production specializations, the degree of centralization and unequitable budget allocation. In addition, the orientation and expenditure allocations mechanism pursued by government, if not rightly targeted, may affect spatial planning and economic growth which ultimately brings about inequality. In the present study, we examine how government policies have contributed (if any) to achieve the balanced growth objectives in order to decrease the existing provincial inequality gap. Based on Theil’s and Williamsons indices, we estimated inequality coefficient in Iran’s provinces for the period of 2000 to 2019. The findings in this research show that the policy measures adopted by government in some provinces, have had mixed consequences. For some provinces it has contained and reduced the inequality and for some other province it has worsened the inequality gap over the same period. Based on Theil’s Index, inequality coefficient has increased in provinces such as Tehran and some other relatively more developed provinces and for less developed provinces the index has decreased. Government budget expenditures disbursed among various provinces have had a bearing on inequality through the provision of public physical investment, promoting education provision, expanding health care services and capacity building enhancement.

The Targeted Subsidies Policy (TSP) was implemented as one of the biggest economic reforms in Iran in 2009. However, after more than a decade, it did not achieve all its predetermined goals. Regardless of its positive effects, this research aims to identify and determine the adverse effects of this plan after its implementation, which led to the inefficiency of TSP. This research is based on Sandelowski & Barroso Meta-Synthesis method in which, by searching keywords related to the topic in scientific databases, the relevant researches were found and systematically reviewed. The search results were filtered by reviewing titles, abstracts, and content, and screened articles were evaluated using the CASP tool. Finally, 86 sources were selected and analyzed. By coding and categorizing the articles, nine main categories were identified as disadvantages and negative effects of TSP: negative effects on macroeconomics, negative effects on the production sector, unfair distribution, decreased welfare, failure to save or reduce energy consumption, energy smuggling and corruption, adverse effects on medicine and health, adverse effects on transportation, and adverse environmental effects. The findings can help to structurally reform the current method and prevent the repetition of past mistakes.

In recent decades, international sanctions have become a recurring feature in political interactions between some governments. The United States has imposed the most economic sanctions since World War II. Also, several actions have been taken by the United Nations in recent years. In this study, the effect of economic sanctions of the United Nations and the United States on the misery index during the years 1991-2020 has been investigated by using the generalized least squares (GLS) method. The results indicate that the United Nations and United States sanctions have a significant effect on the misery index. On average, the imposition of sanctions by the United Nations and the United States have increased the misery index of the target country by 8.12 and 6.49, respectively. Also, the positive and increasing effect caused by the application of comprehensive economic sanctions of the United Nations on the misery index is more than the sanctions of the United States.