The Impactof Forestry Comparative Advantage on Economic Development inProvinces of Iran

One of the most important resources in providing healthy environment is natural resources such as forests and pastures. In this study، based on the latest data on regional accounts published in 2012 by the Statistical Center of Iran، the paperuses the so-called value added comparative advantage of forestry in provinces of Iran to calculate the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA). The paper also deals with theimpactof comparative advantage of forestry on economic development during the fourth development plan. The resultsshow that the Mazandaran، Golestan، Sistan&Baluchestan، Chaharmahal&Bakhtiari and Ghilan enjoy higher comparative advantage respectively during the Iran’s fourth development plan. Also، based on Panel data regression our findingsdid not support a positive relationship between value added comparative advantage of forestry and economic development in provinces of Iran. This indicates that other economic sectors may have played more crucial role than forestry in economic development of the provinces.