Institute for Management and Planning studies 2251-9092 14 1 2010 1 1 Optimal Interest Rates Estimation of Banking System to Maximize Iran’s Economic Growth using Simultaneous Equations System 3 30 FA Akbar Keshavarzian Peyvasti One of the most crucial and effective tools for macroeconomic policy-making, economic stabilization and growth is the interest rating. There are three different viewpoints about interest rating with their own specific reasoning behind. Some professionals support increasing the interest rates while some others support decreasing them and at the same time a third group advocate floating the interest rates. This paper tries to estimate an optimal banking interest rate to maximize national economic growth. With this aim in mind, first, it reviews the related literature. Next, a model is described through briefly explaining the theoretical principles. System model estimation is later conducted through Three Stage Least Square method (3SLS) in various scenarios. It is revealed that there is a relationship between real interest rate and growth in investment equations in such a way that the amount of investment and production goes up when the real interest rates increase in Iran’s banking system. Real interest rates have the highest multiplier in money demand function and it shows that along with interest rates increase, a great deal of people’s money is attracted to banking system resulting in economic stability. Finally, it was reasoned that the best scenario for banking system interest rating was “inflation rate + 4%”

Institute for Management and Planning studies 2251-9092 14 1 2010 1 1 The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Greenhouse Gases Emissions: An Empirical Test of Pollution Haven Hypotheses and Environmental Kuznets Curve 31 58 FA Asghar Mobarak Navideh Mohammadlou Trade liberalization has impacts on the quality of the environment, i.e. on the emission of pollutant gases according to its size, composition and technology. On the other hand, trade liberalization is followed by international capital mobility intensification. Meanwhile according to the Pollution Haven hypothesis, transfer of pollutant industries starts from countries with tough environmental policies toward those with moderate environmental policies. This paper tries to assess the impacts of trade liberalization on the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide (CO2, NO2, and SO2), as well as to examine the relationship between Kuznets Environment Curve and the Pollution Haven hypothesis. Therefore, Kuznet Environment Curve is estimated on the basis of the combined data, Panel Data method and fixed effects approach through comparing developed-vs.-developing countries within 1990-2008. The estimation results indicate that the increase in trade liberalization and per capita income in developed countries with higher degrees of development will lead to the decline of carbon dioxide and other pollutant gases. Conversely, this would be followed by more emission of such gases in less developed and developing countries in a way that the elasticity of “carbon dioxide emission” variable in relation to the export of pollutant industries, the import of pollutant industries and the economic openness index in developed countries widely varies depending on the type of pollutant gases.

Institute for Management and Planning studies 2251-9092 14 1 2010 1 1 Variables Effective on the Innovation Model in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) of Kerman-Iran 59 74 FA Ali Molla-Hosseini Farid Fathi Trying to improve the performance is the goal of all organizations including customers, personnel and share-holders. Another point is that the competitive advantage yesterday does not guarantee survival tomorrow. Therefore, in today’s ever-changing competitive markets, enterprises need to change their strategies and policies in order to survive. In fact, today, innovation is considered as a competitive advantage for enterprises and organizations. This paper tries to study the variables effective on innovation and the impact of such variables on innovation outputs in Kerman’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s). This paper examines various aspects of innovation and their impacts on the market, enterprises, processes and products. Data analysis is done through T-test and Regression test. The results indicate that all variables studied were effective and related. The relatedness and significance of some variables in innovation outputs were also proved in some areas. Meanwhile, it was shown that most enterprises use innovations to improve the quality of their products and to increase their market share as well.

Institute for Management and Planning studies 2251-9092 14 1 2010 1 1 Comparing Inequality of Income Distribution between Fars Province and the Whole Country 75 99 FA zahra Afshari Zahra Khordeh par This paper tries to calculate and compare the trend of costs inequality between Iran’s Fars Province and the whole country in two categories of rural and urban regions within 1981-2008. Therefore, inequality indicators, i.e. Gini coefficient and income groups share, are estimated by nonparametric method. The results of studying the income distribution trend, i.e. Gini coefficient calculated from the detailed household cost-income statistics, and testing the hypotheses show that statically there is not a significant difference between the amount of economic inequality of Fars Province rural-urban regions and that of the whole country. But these calculations by Gini coefficient resulted from gross individual costs data indicate a significant difference between rural-urban regions of Fars Province and the whole country. This means that (in the latter case) the inequality of rural-urban regions of Fars Province is less than that of the rural-urban regions of the whole country. In contrast, income distribution in both the rural and urban regions of the province was the same

Institute for Management and Planning studies 2251-9092 14 1 2010 1 1 Analyzing and Estimating Labor Demand Function in Kermanshah Province 101 127 FA Yahya Shiri leyla Rahmani Perpetual growth and sustainable economic development necessitates optimal use production resources. Meanwhile, one of the most pivotal and critical resources of any country’s growth and development are human resources. Human resources play a dual role in economic planning as both the factor and goal of development. As the issues related to human resources have both economic and non-economic aspects, they are considered outstanding in every country’s macroeconomic planning in a way that most important concern of macroeconomic planners is unemployment. This paper tries to analyze and estimate labor demand function in Kermanshah province. It also evaluates the impacts of variables influencing labor demand function in the province within 1981-2009 through using cointegration and error correction techniques. The results of the study indicate that labor demand function in the province has positive relationship with the province’s value added in a way that in the long run with one percent of increase in the value added, the labor demand increases by 0.32 percent. Labor demand function has negative relationship with the labor wage in a way that with 1 percent of increase in the wages, labor demand decreases by 0.26 percent. In the long-run and short-run models, the effect of these indicators is significant and corresponding to the expected signs of theoretical principles.

Institute for Management and Planning studies 2251-9092 14 1 2010 1 1 129 176 FA