Research Paper
Public sector economics
Bagher Darvishi; Fereshteh Mohamadian; Ali Asghar Salem
Abstract
Universal subsidies not only have a limited impact on the welfare of vulnerable groups but also increase government expenditures and primarily benefit high-income groups. Therefore, there is a pressing need to reconsider the subsidy payment method and identify the poor. In this regard, one of the proposed ...
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Universal subsidies not only have a limited impact on the welfare of vulnerable groups but also increase government expenditures and primarily benefit high-income groups. Therefore, there is a pressing need to reconsider the subsidy payment method and identify the poor. In this regard, one of the proposed ideas is to regionalize the subsidy system in Iran. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to compare national and regional subsidies targeting at the urban level. To this end, using data from the Urban Household Income and Expenditure Survey in 1401, we calculated the poverty line and poverty indices. Subsequently, urban areas of provinces were classified into eight regions based on these indices using the hierarchical clustering method. Finally, by employing a numerical optimization method, we compared the results of subsidy targeting at the national and regional levels. The results indicate that targeting based on individual and combined characteristics of the most vulnerable groups revealed significant differences at national and regional levels. These differences exist in optimal subsidy amounts, reductions in poverty, efficiency of targeting, and resulting errors. Therefore, even if policymakers want to target specific households based on the same characteristics at both national and regional levels, it is still necessary for payment amounts to vary among different population groups across regions.
Research Paper
Financial Economics
Mohammad Feghhi Kashani; Teimur Mohamadi; Hadi Pirdaye
Abstract
Corporates adjust their information voluntary disclosure according to the volatilities they experience in their cash flows. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of news concerning risk, ambiguity level, and investors' ambiguity aversion on the policy adopted by firms as to the voluntary ...
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Corporates adjust their information voluntary disclosure according to the volatilities they experience in their cash flows. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of news concerning risk, ambiguity level, and investors' ambiguity aversion on the policy adopted by firms as to the voluntary disclosure (conservative or non-conservative) of soft and hard information in the digital industry subset of Tehran Stock Exchange within the period of 2012-2022. Further, we have used the corporate voluntary disclosure lag to capture the disclosure dynamics along with the control variables including the cost of capital, financial leverage and stock liquidity by dynamic panel models to explain the voluntary disclosure behavior of soft and hard information of the corporates. The results indicate that managers of companies active in the digital industry, depending on the type of information available to them for voluntary disclosure conservatively or non-conservatively, respond differently to the news related to risk, ambiguity and ambiguity aversion of investors. That could be due to the nature of the disclosed information (credibility of information for investors). Likewise, the findings confirm the increasing effects of voluntary disclosure of previous periods on the disclosure of subsequent periods, which somehow confirms the existence of inertia in voluntary disclosure policies in the studied industry.
Research Paper
Financial Economics
Ali Nassiri Aghdam; Mahtab Moradzadeh
Abstract
Why do countries exhibit significant disparities in tax revenue performance? This study addresses this question by conducting a comprehensive multi-level meta-analysis of 48 empirical studies, encompassing 799 effect sizes. After controlling for publication bias and moderator variables, we identify the ...
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Why do countries exhibit significant disparities in tax revenue performance? This study addresses this question by conducting a comprehensive multi-level meta-analysis of 48 empirical studies, encompassing 799 effect sizes. After controlling for publication bias and moderator variables, we identify the key drivers of tax revenue. Our results demonstrate that gross domestic product (GDP), international trade, inflation, industrial sector value-added, and the lag of tax revenue itself have significant positive effects on tax revenues. Conversely, agricultural sector value-added and corruption exert significant negative impacts. Foreign direct investment (FDI), however, does not show a statistically significant relationship with tax revenues. Furthermore, the study reveals that the measurement of tax revenues—whether inclusive or exclusive of social security contributions—critically influences the relationship between these determinants and the outcome. The analysis also confirms that methodological choices (e.g., model type, estimation technique), study period, and control variables such as population and institutional quality significantly account for the heterogeneity observed across previous research findings.
Research Paper
Political economy
Mahsa karimi; Hossein Raghfar
Abstract
The issue of underdevelopment in Iran has always been accompanied by a paradoxical phenomenon. On the one hand, there was a general agreement on the necessity of development to achieve social welfare and well-being, and on the other hand, there was no theoretical and political consensus on the path to ...
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The issue of underdevelopment in Iran has always been accompanied by a paradoxical phenomenon. On the one hand, there was a general agreement on the necessity of development to achieve social welfare and well-being, and on the other hand, there was no theoretical and political consensus on the path to its realization. In this article, relying on modern ideas in explaining underdevelopment that consider inequality to be the most important factor in the failure to realize development, the category of power imbalance between the people and the government was considered the most important factor in intensifying inequalities. Based on the institutionalist approach and using the combined theoretical model of North, Fukuyama, and Acemoglu, the role of the balance of power between the superiors and the inferiors in reproducing or containing unjustified inequalities in Iran was examined. The research findings showed that inequality in the distribution of power, wealth, and status was the result of the lack or weakness of a stable balance in the relations between the state and the nation, and the further away from unified governance, the less inequalities were achieved. Finally, the article emphasized that moving beyond the status quo and toward development requires institutional restructuring and the creation of a constrained Leviathan that is simultaneously capable of enforcement, and pursues the rule of law and democratic accountability; something that is only possible through creating a balance between the state and civil society in the form of a strong state, a strong nation.
Research Paper
Economic Development
Rozita Moayedfar; Nematullah Yaqubi
Abstract
Migration constitutes one of the most critical challenges facing the contemporary world, as it gives rise to profound challenges within the social, economic, and even political structures of host regions. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of Afghan migrants on Iran’s ...
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Migration constitutes one of the most critical challenges facing the contemporary world, as it gives rise to profound challenges within the social, economic, and even political structures of host regions. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of Afghan migrants on Iran’s regional economic development. The data employed in this research span the period from 2010 to 2024; however, in order to maintain temporal continuity and ensure the consistency of the panel structure, the spatial panel model is estimated based on a continuous ten-year sub-period. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive–analytical in terms of nature and methodology. In the first stage, a composite regional development index was constructed based on twelve economic and social indicators using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Subsequently, to analyze spatial relationships and to examine both the direct and indirect effects of migration-related variables, the Spatial Durbin Panel Model (SDM) with fixed spatial effects was employed. Model estimation was conducted using the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) method, enabling the simultaneous measurement of local effects and spatial spillover effects among neighboring provinces. The results indicate that spatial spillovers exert a significant influence on adjacent provinces and that the economic participation rate of Afghan migrants has a positive and statistically significant effect on regional economic development. Furthermore, foreign direct investment demonstrates a positive local effect but a negative spatial effect, reflecting the existence of regional competition among provinces in attracting investment.
Research Paper
Information and communication technology economy
Reza Maaboudi; Zeynab Dare Nazari
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the threshold effect of FinTech on the relationship between oil rent and economic growth in Iran. The threshold regression approach and seasonal data for 2013-2022 were used to analyze the relationships among variables. The results indicate that oil rent has a significant ...
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This study aims to investigate the threshold effect of FinTech on the relationship between oil rent and economic growth in Iran. The threshold regression approach and seasonal data for 2013-2022 were used to analyze the relationships among variables. The results indicate that oil rent has a significant and negative impact on economic growth both before and after FinTech reaches its threshold level of 0.146. However, once FinTech surpasses this threshold, the intensity of the resource curse's effect on economic growth diminishes. Additionally, the interaction effect between oil rent and FinTech has a significant and negative effect on economic growth before FinTech reaches the threshold, but after surpassing the threshold, the interaction effect of oil rent and FinTech on economic growth is significant and positive. Inefficient use of oil revenue through increased rent and corruption reduces economic growth. However, the expansion of FinTech, using digital technologies, increases the access of non-oil sector firms and entrepreneurs to financial services, which in turn leads to an increase in employment and a decrease in the pivotal role of oil in the economy. Therefore, fintech development reduces the negative impact of oil rents on economic growth. According to results, it is recommended that the government, by developing FinTech platforms and blockchain technologies, in addition to further monitoring the allocation of oil revenues to the country's public budget, facilitate access to capital for entrepreneurs and small businesses active in the high technology sector, and reduce the negative effects of oil rent on economic growth through optimal resource management and balanced development of various production sectors.
Research Paper
urban economy
Morteza Ghanbarzadeh Chaleshtori; Parsa Riahi Dehkordi
Abstract
Economics is the science that addresses the optimal allocation of limited resources in the face of unlimited wants, and to achieve this, access to appropriate information for prioritization is essential. In development literature, attention to the capacity and position of regions within the production ...
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Economics is the science that addresses the optimal allocation of limited resources in the face of unlimited wants, and to achieve this, access to appropriate information for prioritization is essential. In development literature, attention to the capacity and position of regions within the production system is considered a key pillar of balanced development. This study aimed to rank the counties of Iran based on their contribution to value added.The research method was descriptive-analytical, and the statistical population consisted of 457 counties in the years 2017 and 2020 (corresponding to 1396 and 1399 in the Iranian calendar). No sampling was conducted, and the data were examined through a census approach. The VIKOR decision-making method was employed, with Shannon entropy used for weighting. The input variable was the share of each county’s value added in comparison to the national total for the respective sector. Data collection tools included statistical tables from the Statistical Center of Iran and the results of regional accounts.Findings revealed that Tehran, Rey, and Mashhad counties ranked highest in both years, while Margoun, Karkheh, and Angut were among the lowest-ranked. Provinces were also ranked using both direct and indirect approaches. In the direct method, Tehran, Khuzestan, and Bushehr ranked highest, while Ilam, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and North Khorasan were at the bottom. In the indirect method, Qom, Tehran, and Bushehr ranked highest, whereas Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, and Sistan and Baluchestan ranked lowest.The results indicate a concentration of production in specific regions of the country and underscore the need for regional policies to achieve balanced development. These findings can serve as a guide for policymakers in resource allocation and regional economic planning.
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