Iranian Journal of Economic Research

Measuring Spatial Power Inequalities in Iran: Economic-Political Power Matrix

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Abolfazl Shahmohammadi 1
Mohammad Ali Feizpour 2
Mehdi Hajamini 3
Mohammad Abedi Ardakani 4

1 PhD Student of Development Economics, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

2 Associate Professor of Economics, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Economics, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

4 Associate Professor of Political Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/ijer.2022.65115.1060
Abstract
Many studies have evaluated political power from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. But the present study tries to provide a quantitative criterion for calculation of power. To do this, using the country’s budget law, the institutions that enjoys from national budget are identified and then the officials who are at the head of those institutions from each province are identified. Then the importance coefficient of each official is calculated based on multiplication of two indicators: the allocated budget to his/her institution or organization and the duration of his/her tenure in each year. The power matrix for each province is made. Finally, the power index for Iranian provinces is calculated using methods of Simple Additive Weighting, TOPSIS, and Numerical Taxonomy. Then, according to TOPSIS method, the regions of Iran were divided into four groups. The findings show fundamental inequalities in the distribution of economic- political power in the regions of Iran during the period of 2009-2019. Also, The most fluctuations in economic-political power index have occured mainly in the middle groups. Since, most previous studies have emphasized regional inequalities in Iran based on various indicators, it seems that there is a correlation between the distribution of economic-political power and  regional  inequalities of Economic development. As a result, given the current status without change in the political power of the provinces, one can not expect a significant change in the economic development of the regions.

Keywords

Budget
Political Economy
Economic-Political Power
Power Matrix
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 01 December 2021
  • Revise Date 07 August 2022
  • Accept Date 03 May 2022
  • First Publish Date 09 August 2022

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