Journal of Economic Research
Year:2013 | Volume:48 | Issue:2|Papers Count:12

This paper examines the short- and Ions-run effects of domestic Research and Development (R&D) and foreign R&D (throw the channels of capital goods import and foreign direct investment) on Iranian economic growth using of endogenous growth models and Bounds test approach to level relationship over the period of 1351-1386. Bounds test approach results confirm the existence of long-run relationship among variables in both growth models: where import R&D is considered from capital goods import channel and foreign direct investment channel. Respectively, Based on Bounds test results. Long-run relationship among variables in the second model is stronger than the first one. Our results show that Iran has not been successful to attract foreign R&D from capital goods import channel. Moreover the long-run effect of domestic R&D and foreign R&D from the foreign direct investment channel is positive and can be accepted at 5 percent significance level.

In this paper, by using dynamic stochastic general equilibrium, optimal monetary rule derived for central bank of Iran. Monetary transmission mechanism of the model includes four equations, aggregate demand, aggregate supply, oil price and Taylor rule. We have proved that dynamic structure of aggregate demand relation, regarding monetary inflation in Iran, is a function of money growth rate. With this assumption that the goal of central bank is to pursue target inflation rate and output gap, and subject to monetary transmission mechanism, optimal rule of monetary policy obtained for Iran economy that is a function of inflation gap, output gap and oil income growth rate. Estimation results show that money growth rate has no effect on output gap and fully reflexes in inflation expectation. Moreover, one percent increase in oil income causes four percent increase in inflation rate.

This paper using generalized Roeger's model calculated the Lerner index for Iranian active industries in 4-digit ISIC codes during the period 1995-2007. The findings indicate that the Lerner index has been between 8 to 16 percent in 38 industries among 131 ones. The index also in different industries shows that more than 50 percent of Iranian industries have monopolistic power such that they have generated a significant gap between price and marginal cost. Comparing the Lerner index with Herfindahl-Hirschman and four - firm concentration ratio indices gives this result that the industries with high concentration ratio have greater value of Lerner index so that The four-firm concentration ratio of 20 industries (among the 29 industries) has had a value more than 40.

The minimum wage determination is one of the most significant economic issues exerting effects on macroeconomic variables. This study provides an empirical model using VAR method to analyze the long run relationships and short run dynamisms of factors affect general price level (with emphasis on minimum wage) during the period of 1978-2010. To examine long run relationships we used Johansen-Juselius Co-Integration method and we also applied impulse response functions and variance decompositions to see how the short run dynamisms work. The results indicate that though minimum wage does not playa considerable role in explaining price level variations in Iran's economy, price level is able to explain minimum wage variations properly.

In this paper, besides of studying and reviewing the theoretical analysis of the trade liberalization and industrial growth, the effect of trade liberalization on productivity in the industrial sector of the Iran’s economy is investigated. In this study, a Translog cost function and SUR model for the period of 1974-2006 are used in order to evaluate the trade liberalization variable. At first, the demand function for industry production factors (labour, capital, energy and raw materials) are estimated with related price, income and substitution elasticities and then, production and cost structure of Irans industry have been studied.After that, the effects of trade liberalization with two aspects of cost and production that is the application of the dual theorem in this paper, is investigated and shows that the one percent increase in the volume of trade through trade liberalization, on the one hand, will increase industrial production by %0.47 (primal effect of productivity), and On the other hand, will decrease the cost of production by %0.26 (the dual effect of productivity). Moreover, Industrial inputs demand functions shows that moving towards a freer trade regime leads to adoption which methods by the firm that save energy and raw materials, and tends to increase the use of labour and capital.

Iran is one of the most concentrated areas of Afghan migrants and refugees. Most Afghans dispersed throughout the country mixed with Iranian households. The majority of Afghan immigrants are typically unskilled and illegal workers. This study aims at investigating the nature of the causal relationship between Afghan immigrants and two main labor market indicators, average wages and unemployment rate, in Iran using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure and Granger-causality within vector error correction model (VECM) based on annual data spanning the period between 1976 and 2006. Results of the ARDL bounds test are supportive of the theory that the variables are in a long-run equilibrium level relationship. Results of the Granger-causality tests support the existence of a long-run, bidirectional causality between immigration and unemployment. While in the short run there is unidirectional Granger causality running from immigration to unemployment rate.

This paper evaluates the welfare effects of price changes in the main commodity groups in Iran. Using the Iranian urban households' data issued by the Iranian Statistics Center over the period 1994-2007 we estimate the subsistence level. In addition, using the results from the linear expenditure system we calculate the price and income elasticities along with the compensation and equivalent variations for the Iranian urban households.Results show that the subsistence level for the Iranian household in year 2007 was 39141117 Rials. Furthermore, calculated compensation and equivalent variations show that the price changes had caused the maximum welfare decline in the Food and Housing groups.

In the economic literature, firm entry and exit are considered as two basic concepts and the time interval between them, known as life duration, is almost a neglected subject in Iranian economy. Accordingly, this study tries to investigate the life duration of new firms in food and beverage industry as one of the most manufacturing industries in Iran during 1996-2005. Factors affecting the life duration have been divided into four categories namely, firms, as well as industry, personal and expenditure characteristics. Furthermore, the Cox proportional hazard model is used as the econometric model. The results show that the life duration of new firms in this industry are affected by eight variables: firm size at the time of entry, profitability, capital intensity, industry concentration rate, optimal size of industry, advertising expenditure, investment and labor force gender composition. In terms of policy implication, firm size as the most affective factor on life duration shoul be considered in all of new firm formation program.

US 2008 financial crisis, spreaded out across the international stock markets in the second half of the year 2008. The crisis decreased the returns and increased the volatilities of almost all of the stock indices; however, its effects on Iran's stock markets were unexplored. Financial limitations create an exclusive situation in Iran's stock market. Using weekly data on the stock indices from July 2006 through August 2009, this study aims to exam in the contagion effects of the global financial crisis through the main indices such as S&P500 and FfSE100 on Tehran Stock Exchange indices: industrial and financial intermediary indices and The First and the Second indices of Tehran's Stock Exchange. The DFGM2 contagion test model is employed to identify the contagion effects. Our findings reveal that the crisis has been transmitted to Tehran Stock Exchange index and has decreased the index. Moreover, the industrial and the First indices are affected by the crisis negatively, however, the results shows that the crisis did not have any significant effects on TSE's financial intermediary and the Second indices.

According to concern the role of population on growth of economic, in this study precedes the study of age structure population on growth of Iran's economic. To achieve the experimental results, period of 1966-2009 is selected and used of auto regressive distributed lag method to achieve the experimental results. Independent variables include the per capita income, population growth rates of 64-15 years, population growth rate and rate number of workers with higher education. As well as another independent variable is used the life expectancy that can be effective on savings, productivity and human capital. Experimental results of the estimation model are the theoretical and empirical expectation. So in the long-run, the effect of growth rate of overall population and growth rate of the working age population on the per capita income is negative and other variables have a positive and significant effect on economic growth.