سمانه نورانی آزاد

Performance of monopolies in the Iranian economy is not only a result of the behavior of certain economic actors, based on principle 44 of the Constitution as the legal basis after the 1979 Revolution. Due to the responsibilities outlined in this principle, state monopolies became a dominant force in Iran's economy, while the private sector continued its activities as a supplement to the state economy. The success of this dependent sector relied on the extent of coordination with the government. The enactment and implementation of the Law on Amending the General Policies of principle 44 in the Constitution was a reaction to the undesirable performance of state monopolies. This law, passed by the Iranian parliament in 2008, aimed to reduce government monopoly and increase private sector participation and competition in the Iranian economy.It is expected that the implementation of this law would transform Iran's economy from a monopolistic state to a competitive one, providing consumers with greater access to higher-quality goods and services while reducing the costs associated with monopolies. To assess the achievement of the objectives of this law, it is necessary to study the structure and performance of Iran's economic markets by using scientific methods to evaluate the degree of monopolistic power and the extent of changes in monopolistic welfare costs.This article attempts to measure the degree of monopoly in Iran's major industries during the period from 2002 to 2019. To achieve this goal, the data from ten two-digit industries of Iran's industrial sector are used, and the stochastic frontier function approach is applied to measure the corresponding mark-up.

In this research, the random frontier approach is used to evaluate the intensity of competition (monopoly) in Iran's major industries within the cost function framework. The cost function is denoted as C = (W, Y, T), where T represents the technology level, Y is the output level, W is the vector of factor prices, and C is the minimum cost associated with each output level. By estimating the cost function, the marginal cost can be estimated for each production level. Also, by inputting the price data, the size of the markup can be determined. Based on the size of the markup, one can judge the level of market monopolization. If the market is perfectly competitive, price and marginal cost will be equal, and the markup or monopolistic power will be zero. On the other hand, if the market is non-competitive, it is expected to have P > MC (where P is the price and MC is the marginal cost). If  P-MC > 0, it indicates the presence of monopolistic power. Since the markup is expressed as θ = (p-MC)/MC, by estimating θ, the Lerner index can be calculated. Furthermore, by calculating the elasticity of cost with respect to production, the return to scale can also be determined for large industries.

In this study, the market power (monopoly power) in large-scale industries of Iran was measured based on two indices including the markup index and the Lerner index. The research findings indicate the existence of market power in these industries. For the average of these industries, the markup was estimated to be 5.22, and the Lerner index was estimated to be 0.839. Both indices not only confirmed the existence of market power in large industries but also emphasized the high level of market power. During the period under study, the highest value of the Lerner index was observed in 2009. Additionally, the study revealed that, on average, the large industries in Iran operate in the decreasing-cost region, which is supported by the increasing returns to scale (RTS =1.47). In other words, the average economies of scale were found to be Es = 0.47, indicating that not all the scale advantages have been fully utilized in these industries. There is a significant concentration in the industries of Iran, as only two industries out of seventy account for 43.3% of the total industry sales; each of these two industries has a share of more than ten percent. Furthermore, eleven industries have a share of more than 5% of the total industry sales, and these eleven industries together hold 82.3% of the total industry sales. All of these figures indicate the high level of concentration in the industrial sector of Iran.Conclusions and policy implications: The research results indicate that the large industries in Iran are highly concentrated. The indices not only confirm the presence of market power (monopoly power) in these industries but also emphasize the significant level of this power. Among the seventy-four-digit ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification) industries, ten two-digit industries were examined in this study. In the year 2019, the market power in sixty-two industries was higher than 0.9, and these industries accounted for 82% of the total industry sales. In other words, a substantial portion of the industrial sector is effectively controlled in a monopolistic manner.

Today, the expansion of international trade and economic globalization has made human capital very important in the process of economic growth and development, so it is necessary to examine issues related to human capital, especially from its economic aspects. Therefore, in this study, the impact of international trade on human capital has been investigated. Proponents of globalization believe that trade affects human development directly through income and indirectly through cultural mixing and increasing the variety of available goods. In this study, OECD countries have been examined because they have a high level of trade relations and especially play a fundamental role in creating global trade opportunities. Accordingly, an econometric model has been specified, that examines the impact of trade on human capital by using the data of OECD countries and dynamic panel method and the generalized moments method from 1990 to 2021. The results indicate that the development of export and import through international trade has positive and significant impact on human capital in these countries, and creating spillovers and transferring technology through foreign trade, play an important role in the development of human capital. the lagged value of human development index also has a positive and significant effect on human development index.

In recent years, the surge in greenhouse gas emissions, environmental degradation, and climate change has emerged as a pivotal concern for environmental planners and policymakers. Given the predominant role of fossil fuels in carbon dioxide emissions, this study focuses on mitigating emissions, particularly in nations with robust fossil fuel economies. The primary objective of this research is to examine the impact of financial development and governance quality on carbon dioxide emissions within oil-exporting countries, utilizing the panel smooth transition regression model spanning the period 2000-2021. The findings substantiate the presence of a nonlinear relationship between financial development and carbon dioxide emissions. Initially, financial development exerts a positive and significant impact on emissions; however, beyond a certain threshold, this effect reverses, becoming negative. Regarding governance effectiveness, many oil-exporting nations wield substantial market influence due to their significant oil revenues. Notably, oil exporting-firms in these countries are predominantly state-owned or quasi-state firms. Their insulation from competitive threats, coupled with a lack of adherence to regulatory frameworks, has resulted in elevated carbon dioxide emissions under both governance regimes.

the aim of the present research is to investigate the impact of spatial spillovers in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development Index on the employment of the industrial sector in Iran's provinces. The study utilized the data from the manufacturing industries of 31 provinces in the country from 2002-2020 to examine the impact of people's access to telecommunications and communication services and the share of industries with hardware and software capital stock of computers on employment; therefore the model was estimated by using panel data in the frame of a spatial Durbin model. The results indicate that industrial sector employment was significantly and positively impacted by spatial spillovers resulting from variables like value-added and energy intensity. Also, the results of the impact of ICT on industrial employment show that the index of people's access to telecommunication and communication services in manufacturing industries has a decreasing effect on the industrial sector employment of the country; It means a one percent increase in this index has reduced the industrial employment of each province by 0.072 percent and neighboring provinces by 0.167 percent, which will result in a 0.239 percent decrease in the employment of the entire industry sector. While the results of the index of the share of industries with software and hardware capital stock of computers show the effect of job creation; So that a one percent increase in ICT capital stock has increased employment in each province by 0.02 percent and spatial spillovers of neighboring provinces by 0.202 percent and has led overall to a 0.222 percent increase in the employment of the entire industry sector of Iran.

Encouraging firms to engage in exports is a crucial concern for developing countries, as the growth and dynamism of exports are essential for sustainable economic development. Researchers and policymakers have consistently sought effective ways to enhance firms' exports and examine the determining factors. One common method to boost and diversify exports, particularly in developing countries, involves a continuous shift towards downstream industries along production chains, utilizing the imported of intermediate goods. Over the past few years, the relationship between the importation of intermediate goods and exports has received attention. In this article, the impact of importing intermediate goods, along with other influential factors, on Iran's industrial exports is examined. The proposed model in the article considers exports as a function of both price and non-price variables, and estimation has been conducted using fourth edition ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification) four-digit data for Iranian industrial firms during the time period from 2012 to 2019. By employing econometric techniqes and dynamic panel data methods, and considering that the data are defined cross-sectionally and time series, the generalized method of moments (GMM) and the Arellano-Bond type have been utilized for estimation. Empirical findings indicate that the importation of intermediate goods has a positive and significant impact on Iran's industrial exports. Specifically, 1% increase in the importation of intermediate goods results in 0.20% increase in Iran's industrial exports. Meanwhile, the impact of other variables on Iran's industrial exports is significant and aligns with theoretical foundations.

In today's societies, the health sector is growing rapidly, and hospitals, as institutions that provide health and survival of the society and provide health services, have experienced many changes over time.  People have understood that health is a valuable service for their lives, especially when the spread of new diseases threatens the life and health of society. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to investigate the relationship between innovation and service quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The present research has focused on the impact of service innovation and its quality on patients' satisfaction and loyalty during the Covid-19 pandemic in Yazd Shahid Sadoughi Hospital. The statistical population of the present study was the patients admitted to Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran. Because the size of the population was uncertain, Cochran's formula was used to calculate the number of samples, which resulted in 384 people. SPSS and Smart PLS3 software were also used for data analysis.

Among the patients with corona virus, service innovation had a positive and significant effect on the patient satisfaction and 0.11 (p<0.05) on loyalty, respectively. Likewise, service quality has affected the satisfaction and loyalty of the patients by 0.77 and 0.45 with (P<0.05); the effect of the patient satisfaction on loyalty was positive and significant at the rate of 0.41 (P<0.05).

The results have shown that the relationship between service innovation and its quality had a positive and significant effect on patients' satisfaction and loyalty during the Covid-19 pandemic. The reason is that if the quality of the services provided is in accordance with the expectations of the patients, it will cause the satisfaction of the patients and will lead to their loyalty.

The main purpose of this article was to measure the effectiveness of industrial trade with an emphasis on the technology gap and the intensity of learning in Iran and high-middle-income countries. To meet these ends, the industrial trade using Grubel-Lioyed criteria for 97 countries over 2002-2021 at four-digit HS codes was calculated. Moreover, this study sought to investigate the specific effects of industry and country on industrial trade in the framework of Tobit Heckman's two-stage model, the databases, and statistical information extracted from the World Bank and the International Trade and Development Organization. The results of the study, while confirming the predominance of inter-industry trade compared to intra-industry trade of Iran with partners, indicate the effect of most variables with the expected sign on industrial trade. Among the indicators of technological achievements, only the human skill gap index has a negative effect on industrial trade while the rest of the technical indicators such as technology diffusion and creation showed a positive and significant effect. The results of the learning intensity also provide evidence of Iran's growing experience in producing domestic products similar to foreign ones at a lower cost and acquiring the knowledge of installing and assembling imported capital goods. In addition, the lack’s effects of foreign investment on intra-industry trade between Iran and its partners can be attributed to barriers to entry, such as the tightening of economic sanctions against Iran

Agricultural transformation and processing industries have strategic importance in providing the consumption needs and the food chain of society. This is one of the most important industrial groups effective in the economic growth of developing countries. The experience of the world’s countries shows that the learning process with the knowledge development and training of a creative workforce affects the sectors of the economy’s cost structure. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate cost savings in agricultural processing industries with two different learning-by-doing and production-learning approaches. To meet this end, the data of 18 food processing industries for 2002-2020 and The Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag and Error Correction methods were used. The results indicate that economies of scale have been realized in the short and long terms. So all sub-sectors operate at the optimal scale level. In addition, production learning with a rate of 0.83 and a high adjustment speed towards long-term equilibrium had a significant role in reducing the average cost. On the other hand, the results of workforce cost savings indicated that whiles the scale economies were constant workforce cost savings in long term is more than in the short term period. Also, in each period 44.6% of the learning-by-doing gap between the short and long-balance decreases. Overall doubling accumulation production led to a 32% decrease in average cost and reduced about 20% in the cost per unit labor force compared to its previous level. Therefore, it is recommended to identify effective resources in the realization of learning, the growth of technology-oriented start-ups, and the improvement of the skills and abilities of the different layers of employees in this sector through training, holding workshops, and non-academic courses.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the evidence of managerial entrenchment or convergence of interest’s hypothesis in evaluating the relationship between the shareholder competition’s intensity on the return and value of Iranian stock exchange companies. This research is applied, a post-event method and descriptive type; it is included in the category of threshold nonlinear regression models. In this article, the data of 127 production companies active in the stock exchange market over the period of 2012-2021 were used.The results confirm the existence of a threshold non-linear relationship between the intensity of shareholder competition and the performance of the company; In other words, if the share of state owners increases, the hypothesis of convergence of interests prevails in the managerial entrenchment. This means that the major shareholders try to reduce agency conflict through control and supervision and align their interests with the managers and minority stockholders to increase the company’s value and return. Conclusion At high levels of concentration, shareholders by dominating the market are able to benefit from tariff exchange rates, cheap feed, and government support; therefore, these stockholders being in the safe margin, do not feel threatened by competitors and can use their resources in profitable activities with high return and value

Due to the increasing importance of medicinal plants, In order to determine Iran's comparative advantage in the export of medicinal plants.

Indices Revealed Comparative Advantages and Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantages and of apparent comparative advantage, symmetric apparent comparative advantage and chi-square were applied, In order to determine global export market structure of medicinal plants, two indices of concentration ratio and Herfindahl-Hirschman were used. The required information was extracted from the FAO and Trade Map site in the period 2018-2011.

The results indicated that Iran had a comparative advantage export in the medical planet’s export with 0909, 1301 and 130212 cods and was able to compete in global markets. Moreover, the results of  market structure showed that in the global export market of medicinal plants fennel, anise, badian, cumin and juniper berries (code 0909) have oligopoly structure, extracts of liquorice (code 130212) type of oliyogopoly market  and gum group (code 1301) follow the structure of the monopolistic market. Also, 60-50% of the export of medicinal plants with code 0909 assigned to India and Syria, 70-50% of the export of medicinal plants with code 130212 to the United States, Iran, China, France, Germany, UAE and Turkmenistan and 40-55% of exports with the code 1301 were in the hands of India, France, Nigeria, Sudan, USA, Indonesia and Thailand. The average share of Iran in the export of medicinal plants with code 0909 (2.87), code 130212 (17.37) and code 1301 (1.17) percent.

Therefore, given that Iran has potential in order to expand and develop the export of these products, it is necessary to implement measures such as; Reduce the seller concentration markets, process and improve the goods packaging in global markets and supporting of exporter by government suggested.

The main purpose of this article is to determine the threshold level of ownership structure and the relationship between institutional owners' shares and tax avoidance. To meet this end, the data of 110 firms over the periods of 1390-1399 in the Tehran security market were selected. Moreover, this study sought to investigate the hypotheses and relationship between the mentioned variables. So the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model was used. The results indicate that at different levels of institutional shareholders 'share, the linear relationship between variables is not confirmed, and increasing shareholders' share as a transfer variable to 27.54, the participation in tax avoidance increases but after this level, it decreases. Overall, the results of evaluating the relationship between ownership structure and tax avoidance confirmed that in Tehran Stock Exchange, the inverse U relationship between variables is confirmed; this means that before the threshold level, the effect of the ownership structure in tax avoidance has been incremental and subsequently decreasing. Therefore, monitoring of company size and share of institutional shareholders was recommended to determine the appropriate level of ownership structure, prevent the dominance of governmental managers and shareholders and reduce the conflict of interests of managers and shareholders.

Paying attention to the importance of international trade, analyzing and recognizing the country's trade relations and examining its obstacles and incentives play an effective role in the path of economic development, because international trade affects the growth rate of the economy through access to foreign markets. Technology has played a significant role in shaping trade patterns, and there is a significant relationship between trade and technology in empirical literature. It is important to evaluate the effect of distance and technological gap as a variable that can play as an obstacle or an incentive for the country's trade relations. Therefore, the gap in technological progress can be one of the most important determining bilateral trade and economic growth between countries. In the present study, 43 trading partner countries of Iran, which had the most trade with Iran between 2001 and 2020, were selected, and the relationship between the technology gap and the industrial trade was estimated using the gravity model and Panel-ARDL regression. The results showed that the gravity model is in place in Iran's economy in the long term. Also, in the long term, the technology gap between Iran and the commercial side, based on the index of research and development costs, will lead to a decrease in the trade of the industrial sector of Iran and its commercial partners. reducing Iran's technology gap with trading partner countries, it increases industrial trade

the main purpose of this article was testing the relation between competition degree, research and development expenditure intensity and stock return in Tehran security market. This article sought to investigate two distinct relationships: the first one was relation between competition degree and research and development intensity and the second was relationship among research and development and return stock. To meet this ends the data of 153 institution in Tehran security market over the period of 1997-2018 and a panel smooth transition approach were used. The results indicated that, clearly there were the nonlinear relationship among variables in research and development expenditure intensity and stock returns equations. Also, in the research and development intensity equation when competition degree is transition variable, by increasing competition degree until threshold value 0.325 the research and development intensity increased but after this threshold value, its effect decreased. Moreover, in the stock returns equation that the research and development has chosen as transition variable, research and development intensity increased till the threshold value of 0.123 and after this threshold this impact has been decreased. Overall, the results of research and development expenditure intensity and stock returns equations showed that in the companies of Tehran Stock Exchange, the U-inverse relationship between the variables is confirmed; In such a way that before the threshold level, the effect of the independent variable on the dependent has been increasing and then decreasing.

The main purpose of this article is to evaluate the effect of markup and corporate governance on tax avoidance of the listed companies in the Tehran stock exchange. For this purpose, data from 100 active manufacturing firms over the periods of 2011-2019 were used. The results indicate that the managers of the firms which have market power are not worried about reducing profits because of being in a safe hedge and the immunities against their rivals.Also, the managers for having the payment rewards and shareholders’ incentive schemes,  try to maximize the wealth and worth of the firm and increase tax avoidance drastically. Moreover, the results of the corporate governance indicate that institutional investors, due to the high financial benefits of investing and achieving market power, will have a higher motivation to monitor the managers’ activity to reduce agency costs and increase tax avoidance. Overall, managers and shareholders try to increase tax avoidance by reducing benefits conflicts.

Wagner's law indicates a positive long-run equilibrium relationship between per capita income growth and the relative size of the public sector. Accordingly, the main purpose of this article is to verify Wagner's theory and the law on operational budgeting reforms on public spending and educational, health, and military priorities. To meet these ends, the data of 13 Asian selected countries during 2000-2018 periods and the Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) technique were used. The results show that by increase in GDP per capita, the trend and structure of public expenditures, educational and health priorities will be increasing and significant; But in the military program, this effect is negative and significant. This validates the Wagner's law in public spending, and educational and health priorities. In addition, the impact of performance-based budget Reform has led to changes in the budget structure and trend of public spending, but in the educational, health, and military priorities, the pertaining significance is not confirmed. In other words, due to the lack of change in the structure, trend of expenditures and the pattern of budget allocation, the effect of the implementation of this law was temporary and not permanent.

Human resource is one of the most important factors of economic growth. So providing its health is very important. Moreover, improving human resources, in turn, depends on the provision of health care costs; the experience of world countries has shown that increasing the scale of production, the average cost decreases due to learning and economies of scale. These factors make access to health services easier and less costly. There are two questions in this investigation, the first is that the learning process has been in the health sector, and have the unit costs of this sector diminished with learning and increasing scale over time?. Moreover, this article sought to integrate two different literature of learning curve and Cobb-Douglas cost function to quantify the above-cited issues. Therefore, the data of 187 developed and developing countries over the period 2000-2018 were used. The results indicate that in the world countries learning and scale economies have been realized but the economies of scale not yet fully exhausted, and it can be exploited by increasing production. Also, in the developed countries the current output coefficient is insignificant. This means that return to scale is constant and they have benefited from all economies of scale. Besides, the learning coefficient rate is relatively high, and it is inferred that the health care sector in the developed countries has enjoyed both economies of scale and learning. On the other hand, the output coefficient for the developing countries is negative and significant which gives the average return to scale as 1.13, whence the economies of scale totally not to be exhausted and it is possible to exploit scale economies by increasing product size. Also, in these countries the learning rate dominates to the scale economies. Thus, the two static and dynamic components of cost advantage play a key role in reducing costs. Overall, the findings bear out that the rates of learning and scale economies in the developed and developing countries are different.One of the most vital goals of today's societies is to achieve a healthy and efficient workforce, since improving community health may well lead to the development of human capital, productivity enhancement, reduction in production costs, and economic growth. In this way, the scale economies, as well as the cost reductions due to experience and learning effects, play imperative roles in market structure and economic welfare. In the modern economic analyses, the knowledge accumulation and skill are classified in two ways. One is provided through investing in human capital, training programs, and experience in research and development, and the other way is obtained by joint production of goods and services and by doing repetitive work which is referred to as "learning by doing". At the start of this discussion, Wright (1936) reported learning process as an asymmetric relationship between average cost and cumulative output. Theoretically, scale economies points to average cost decreases as the level of output increases over time. Most studies carried out after 1970s have associated the learning process to neutral disembodied technical progress. In this kind of technology changes, the learning effects are independent of the other variables and just moving the cost function. Oppositely, some economists attribute productivity to the input-embodied technical progress, and believe that labor-embodied technical progress yield increases in economy’s capacity to take new technology and to reduce the production costs. Owing to the fact that economies of scale and learning lead to extract a predictable pattern which reduce the costs in each sector, the planers and strategic consultants employ the learning curve in their analyses. So, the learning curve is a tool widely used in production planning and cost prediction in the economic, social, and medical sectors. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the fundamental questions, in economics: whether the learning is an existing issue in the health care sector of world countries? Has the average cost of this sector decreased over time? And whether increase in scale causes decrease in costs. The answers to these questions guide us toward minimizing per capita cost which is a main objective of the health system. To this end, the health care data of 187 developed and developing nations based on the human development index during 2000-2018 were used to quantify learning intensity and scale economies, as well as studying their impacts on the costs.The methodology of this research is on the basis of the panel data econometric. Indeed, we need a rational model which is capable of scrutinizing the static and dynamic dimensions of cost advantage in the developed and developing countries. So, inspired by the learning process literature and using dual cost function of Cobb-Douglass production function we shall extract the learning curve.To this purpose, we explicitly give the relation between the average cost and cumulative output . On the other hand, the Cobb-Douglass cost function were used. Since the technology diffusion is acquired by the advance of knowledge, and the latter is, in turn, influenced by the cumulative experience or the learning process, the advances in knowledge in period t is linked with cumulative output through the formula A=nαc which grows with the exponent αc. Integrating Cobb Doglus, learning curve and using the formula A=nαc and then taking logarithm yields a modified version of the learning curve. By the way, the average cost is adjusted by GDP-deflator index to the constant price for 2010. Also, the output value by patient population and the cumulative output according to the cumulative patient population from beginning to the year t-1 were operated. By estimating the learning curve via the econometric technique of feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), one can compute the parameters of return to scale and learning rate through direct estimation of coefficients.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the market structure and comparative advantage dominated in Iran’s export medicinal plants and its main trading partners by using the non-parametric concentration and comparative advantage. For this purpose, the data of selected medicinal plants at the level of HS code over the period 2018-2011 extracted from the database, and statistical information of FAO and Trade Map have been used. The results indicated that Iran had a comparative advantage of the export of studied medicinal plants, but it had not the necessary stability. Moreover, in this field, the market structure is non-competitive. According to the results of the global export market concentration indices for fennel, anise, coriander, cumin, and cedar (code 0909) were the most concentrated markets in the mentioned years. Therefore, due to Iran having the potential to expand and develop the export of these products, for making active it some implement such as; market Decentralization, processing and improving packaging tailored to consumer tastes in global markets, and government’s economic and political support for exporters, are recommended.

The quality and quantity of human capital are the most important factors in economic growth and its expansion depends on the educational and health infrastructure of countries. The education sector promotes the technical knowledge and skills of the human resources and the health sector provides its health; In addition, the quality of health services in turn is affected by education. Also, Learning by doing and learning in the educational process affect the cost structure of the health sector. Therefore, the main purpose of this article was to evaluate the learning intensity and scale economies in the health sector. To meet these ends, the data of 187 developed and developing countries for 2000-2018 and feasible generalized least square (FGLS) method was used. The results indicate that in the world and developed countries the return to scale was constant and the scale economies were exploited. Moreover, in these countries, the learning process is realized and learning intensity was higher than the global average. While in most developing countries the scale economies not to be exhausted. Hence, it is possible to exploit scale economies by increasing production. In these countries about learning intensity can not be decided definitively. Overall, the findings confirm that learning and scale economies realized in the health sector of world countries and in each time cumulative experience doubles, costs will decline to 28% of its previous level. So, both components played an effective role in reducing the average cost of this sector.

The main purpose of this article is to evaluate the productivity and efficiency in meadow mushroom cultivation industry. To achieve this goal, by using the growth of total factors productivity in meadow mushroom farms in the six selected (Fars, Qazvin, Tehran, Alborz, Khorasan Razavi and Esfahan) provinces this has been calculated using the Malmquist index and data envelopment analysis (DEA) method for the period 2008-2018. By dividing the index into two effects of change in technology and change in technical efficiency, this study evaluates the total productivity of production factors. Moreover, this study attempts to evaluate the progress and recession rates of productivity. The results indicated that Isfahan province has the highest productivity of 15.8% Per year (positive growth) and Alborz province was facing a decrease in productivity of 1.6% per year (negative growth). On the other hand, the ratio of technological changes to productivity was more than the ratio of efficiency to productivity. So, to increase meadow mushroom productivity, it is necessary to improve technical efficiency and scale efficiency. In order to achieve these important goals, the present study provides some executive and research suggestions.

The main purpose of this study was to measure markup and market power in Iran's Manufacturing sector based on Structural approach and   Stochastic Frontier method.  To meet these ends, while using the data of 130 four-digit industries for the period 1996-2015 and MLE method, the translog cost function were estimated. The resuls indicated that there were non-competitive conditions and oligopoly structure in Iran’s industrial market. Moreover, the results of mark-up estimation showed that P> MC in manufacturing industries and the mark up values in 14% and  86%   of industries were low and high, respectively . Overall, the research findings indicated that the dominant aspect in the Iranian industrial market was a monopoly structure and a high percentage of the markets were dominated by a limited number of market participants.

The main purpose of this article is to test the relationship between market power, innovation, and stock return in Tehran security market. To meet this end, the data of 153 institutions in Tehran security market over the period of 1997-2018 were used through a panel smooth transition approach. The results indicate the existence of a nonlinear relationship among variables in innovation and stock returns equations. Also, in the innovation coefficient equation, with an increase in market power as a transition variable to the threshold level, the innovation coefficient was increasing and significant, and passing through this level it was decreasing and significant. In addition, in the stock return equation, this trend maintains increasing innovation before and after the threshold level. In general, the results of innovation intensity and stock returns equations show that in the firms active in Tehran Stock Exchange, there was an asymmetrical and U-inverse relationship between the market power, innovation, and stock return. Moreover, evidence of competition-aversion effects was confirmed in most stock exchange firms.

Although economic growth is affected by the growth of factors of production, governance and government size were also effective in economic growth. In this study, the impact of government size and governance on the economic growth of perspective document countries evaluated over the period 2017-2006. To meet this end, The World Bank database and data of perspective document countries were used. Moreover, the optimum size of the government evaluated based on the proposed Baro method. This article sought to estimate the effect of size government and governance by using panel data and the threshold nonlinear two-stage generalized method of moment. The findings indicated that the average optimal size of the government was 18.38% of the gross domestic product. Also, in countries with less government size, the growth of government expenditures had a positive effect on economic growth, while countries with a government size larger than optimal, government spending had a negative effect on economic growth. In addition, the results confirmed economic growth was affected by the governance of the state.

The main purpose of this article was testing the relation between competition and innovation in Iran’s manufacturing industry. To meet this ends the data of 130 Iran’s 4-digit industries over the period of 1996-2013 were used. Also, this article sought to analyze this relationship by using a panel smooth transition approach. The results indicated that, clearly there was the nonlinear relationship among variables and by increasing concentration until threshold value 0.267 the research and development intensity increased but after this threshold value, its effect decreased. Moreover in the second model by increasing research and development intensity till the threshold value of 0.38 percentage the concentration increased and after that, this impact has been decreased. In addition, only in 6% of Iran's industries competition and innovation was high but, in most industries by increasing competition, innovation were declining. Overall, there was an asymmetric relationship between competition and innovation and in most industries the intensity of research and development expenditures were low. So, in Iran’s industries, the inverse U relation between innovation and competition confirmed.

The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the nonparametric productivity and efficiency of airline transportation companies in Iran. To meet this ends, the data of 12 companies in the passenger-transportation sector over the periods of 2011-2016 and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method were used. The findings of this study indicate that the average technological efficiency of production, scale efficiency changes, and pure technical efficiencies changes during the study period increased by 0.08, 0.06 and 0.02% respectively. While the technical progress with a decrease of 5.4 percent has led to a reduction of 4.3 percent of the productivity, the deviation of the results is due to the fact that part of the reduction in the productivity was offset by other three channels. In addition, the average management efficiency in the transport and transportation sector was 0.986, which is 1.4% lower than the optimal level. Also, the results of the research indicate that downtrend of productivity index in a number of airline companies is due to technological changes and changes in management efficiency, but management efficiency was less important.

The main purpose of this study is to measure the productivity and efficiency of Iran’s airline industry. To meet this ends, the data of 12 companies in the airline industry were used over the period 2011-2018. Also, this article sought to measure total factor productivity, technological progress, scale efficiency, and changes in technical efficiency by using a stochastic frontier and parametric approaches. The results show that the highest total factor productivity and change efficiency occurred in 2014. Moreover, among the effective factors on productivity, the change efficiency and economies of scale have the greatest impact. Although some of the companies exhausted all the scale economies, some still have not done that yet. Therefore, by increasing product scale and air fleet capacity, economies of scale can be exploited further. In addition, the results imply that increasing the market share of each company leads to a reduction of inefficiency in this industry. Thus market share being aligned with technological progress, scale efficiency and change efficiency are the determining factors in enhancing total factor productivity and efficiency in this industry.