IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v14y2023i3d10.1007_s13132-022-00965-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating the Relationship Between Informal Economy and Competitiveness in Iran’s Metropolises

Author

Listed:
  • Ali Asghar Pilehvar

    (University of Bojnord)

Abstract

This article aims to analyze informal economy and competitiveness after the 1979 Revolution in Iran with an emphasis on its eight metropolitan cities. The research method is descriptive-analytical, and data is collected from official resources and statistics. The analysis for data related to economic competitiveness was carried out using technique for order of reference by similarity to ideal solution, entropy, and numerical taxonomy. The results of this study suggest that state modernism has been effective in the growth of urbanization and the decline of urbanization, which has changed Iranians’ life patterns from rural to urban in the wake of the 1979 Revolution. There is also a direct relationship between rural–urban migration and informal economic growth in the process of urbanization and urbanization in Iran. The informal economy sector, which accounts for 31% of Iran’s economy, ranks 30th in the world. The survey of informal economy in Iranian metropolises shows that 35% of its metropolises’ GDP comes from the informal economy. The results illustrate the imbalanced employment situation in these metropolises. The highest rate of female and male employees was recorded in Mashhad (81.16 and 90.55) and the lowest in Ahvaz (64.38 and 77.00), respectively. The majority of industrial workers lived in Qom (35.61), and the lowest number of industrial workers was in Mashhad (14.09). Also, the highest number of service workers was in Shiraz (78.40) and the lowest in Qom (54.34). Most of the agricultural labor force lived in Ahwaz (2.74) with Tehran hosting the lowest number of agricultural workers (0.98).

Suggested Citation

  • Ali Asghar Pilehvar, 2023. "Investigating the Relationship Between Informal Economy and Competitiveness in Iran’s Metropolises," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(3), pages 2515-2538, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:14:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s13132-022-00965-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-022-00965-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-022-00965-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-022-00965-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael La Porta & Andrei Shleifer, 2014. "Informality and Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 109-126, Summer.
    2. McMillan, Margaret & Rodrik, Dani & Verduzco-Gallo, Íñigo, 2014. "Globalization, Structural Change, and Productivity Growth, with an Update on Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 11-32.
    3. Ruxandra Irina POPESCU, 2011. "Study Regarding the Ways of Measuring Cities Competitiveness," Economia. Seria Management, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(2), pages 288-303, December.
    4. Hausmann, Ricardo & Rodrik, Dani, 2003. "Economic development as self-discovery," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 603-633, December.
    5. Jian Yang & Yinggang Zhou, 2013. "Credit Risk Spillovers Among Financial Institutions Around the Global Credit Crisis: Firm-Level Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(10), pages 2343-2359, October.
    6. Brian Snowdon & George Stonehouse, 2006. "Competitiveness in a globalised world: Michael Porter on the microeconomic foundations of the competitiveness of nations, regions, and firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(2), pages 163-175, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Lynch, 2025. "Breaking Bad: Sanctions and Illicit Economic Activity," Working Papers 202517, Center for Global Policy Analysis, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tamberi, Massimo, 2020. "Productivity differentials along the development process: A “MESO” approach," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 99-107.
    2. Naude, Wim & Nagler, Paula, 2015. "Industrialisation, Innovation, Inclusion," MERIT Working Papers 2015-043, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Alberto Alesina & Sebastian Hohmann & Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2021. "Intergenerational Mobility in Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(1), pages 1-35, January.
    4. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/46k9rkvut99i7qnn4vqm25t53b is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Kelishomi, Ali Moghaddasi & Nisticò, Roberto, 2024. "Economic sanctions and informal employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Dalila Chenaf-Nicet, 2020. "Dynamics of Structural Change in a Globalized World: What Is the Role Played by Institutions in the Case of Sub-Saharan African Countries?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 998-1037, September.
    7. Dosi, Giovanni & Roventini, Andrea & Russo, Emanuele, 2019. "Endogenous growth and global divergence in a multi-country agent-based model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 101-129.
    8. Ulrich Schetter & Adrian Jäggi & Maik T. Schneider, 2021. "Inequality, Openness, and Growth through Creative Destruction," CID Working Papers 130a, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    9. Gallé, Johannes & Overbeck, Daniel & Riedel, Nadine & Seidel, Tobias, 2024. "Place-based policies, structural change and female labor: Evidence from India’s Special Economic Zones," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    10. T. Gries & R. Grundmann & I. Palnau & M. Redlin, 2018. "Technology diffusion, international integration and participation in developing economies - a review of major concepts and findings," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 215-253, January.
    11. Betty ASSE & Dalila CHENAF-NICET, 2021. "Note on the role of domestic and external demand on the process of premature deindustrialization," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 54, pages 145-160.
    12. Gries, T. & Grundmann, R. & Palnau, I. & Redlin, M., 2015. "Does technological change drive inclusive industrialization? : A review of major concepts and findings," MERIT Working Papers 2015-044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    13. Rougier, Eric, 2016. "“Fire in Cairo”: Authoritarian–Redistributive Social Contracts, Structural Change, and the Arab Spring," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-171.
    14. Valeriy V. Mironov & Liudmila D. Konovalova, 2019. "Structural changes and economic growth in the world economy and Russia," Russian Journal of Economics, ARPHA Platform, vol. 5(1), pages 1-26, April.
    15. Francisco David Kunst, 2019. "Premature Deindustrialization through the Lens of Occupations: Which Jobs, Why, and Where?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 19-033/V, Tinbergen Institute, revised 30 Dec 2020.
    16. Yeboah, F. Kwame & Jayne, T.S., 2016. "Africa’s Evolving Employment Structure," Food Security International Development Working Papers 246956, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    17. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/46k9rkvut99i7qnn4vqm25t53b is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Schetter, Ulrich & Schneider, Maik T. & Jäggi, Adrian, 2024. "Inequality, openness, and growth through creative destruction," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    19. Linda Calabrese, 2024. "Diversifying Away from Extractives: The Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese Capital and Industrialisation in the Kyrgyz Republic," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(3), pages 601-638, June.
    20. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2019. "Trade Policy Space and Production Diversification in Developed and Developing Countries," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 10(02), pages 1-39, June.
    21. Vu, K.M., 2017. "Structural change and economic growth: Empirical evidence and policy insights from Asian economies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 64-77.
    22. Otchia, Christian S., 2015. "Mining-based growth and productive transformation in the Democratic Republic of Congo: What can an African lion learn from an Asian tiger?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 227-238.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:14:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s13132-022-00965-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.