nematollah akbari

Social security tax is a tax that is collected from employers and employees to finance the social security program. The purpose of this article is to determine the optimal social security tax in Iran's economy regarding to the level of myopia of people. Determining the optimal tax rate helps policy makers to better implement social security programs. To achieve this goal, are used to the overlap generation model (OLG) and PYG insurance payment method. The results of the model show that the optimal social security tax rate depends on factors such as people's mental discount rate (𝜌), degree of myopia (m) and the share of capital from production (α). Using the available data in Iran's economy, the optimal social security tax rate was calculated at different discount rates, and then the calculation results were compared with the existing rates. The results showed that the optimal tax rate is 0.34 at 𝜌=0.5, and this rate is near to the existing rate in Iran's economy. The instantaneous response functions for two shocks of the optimal tax rate of social security (representing the resources of the social security system) and social security benefits (representing the expenses of the social security system) showed that the impact of these two shocks on the variables of production, savings, capital stock, old age consumption, Youth consumption, interest rate and government debt are completely different from each other.Also, the positive shock of the social security tax rate has a positive effect on social security expenses and resources.

One of the conventional methods to check the economic boom and recession is to use the cross-sector capital matrix. This matrix is one of the important components of the national dynamic input-output table. However, due to the unavailability of the capital matrix at the national level, it is practically not possible to carry out this type of analysis. Therefore, the current research has extracted the inter-sector capital matrix with the help of available data and by presenting some simplifying assumptions due to the absence of statistical data. The purpose of the current research is to investigate the economic boom and recession with the help of inter-sector capital matrix. Therefore, the dynamic input-output tables for the years 2011 and 2016 have been extracted from the static input-output tables of the same years. The results show that we have seen economic prosperity in both years.

In today's world, improvement and promotion of logistics performance plays a key role in creating sustainable development, so that becoming an international and regional logistics hub has been one of the most important commercial strategies of countries in recent years. Iran has had poor performance in becoming the logistics hub of the region in spite of its great potential. The present study has analyzed the feasibility of establishing a logistics hub in Isfahan province. In this regard, the feasibility of establishing a logistics hub in Isfahan province was analyzed based on the seven key factors required for the construction and development of logistics hubs, which are based on the empirical literature available in the field of successful logistics hubs in the world (especially the analysis of the development of logistics clusters in Singapore and Dubai and their unique processes to become logistics hubs using Porter's methodology (2008) in the field of cluster analysis). The findings revealed that Isfahan province in comparison with other provinces of the country has the necessary conditions for creating hub logistics, and it can be done by expanding and developing rail, air and multimodal transportation infrastructure; improving the business environment and removing obstacles to attracting and developing foreign direct investment increased the potential of this province for this purpose.

Extensive and efficient infrastructure is critical for ensuring the effective functioning of the economy. Investing in public infrastructure represents an essential investment in economic development and standard of living of city residents. Therefore, it is necessary to find new methods of financing in providing services and developing urban infrastructure in metropolises and increasing the welfare of urban society. However, the current approach to revenue mobilization for cities is unlikely to meet the substantial financing needs. Instead, there is a need for a metropolitan public financing strategy that is integrated into national urban development plans and matches national development objectives. In the literature related to city finance, despite the importance of providing suitable urban infrastructures, the discussion about how to fund them, especially in Iran, is rarely done. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to provide a suitable model for providing financial sources for public infrastructure in metropolitan cities with an emphasis on Isfahan metropolis.

In this research, a mathematical model for calculating the urbanization tax has been introduced, in which the cost recovery coefficients are related to the optimal size of the cities. Therefore, an equilibrium model is constructed based on cost-benefit analyses and applied to nine Iranian cities with population more than one million people. The panel data regression analysis was performed on a fourteen-year period (2006-2020) using the Transcendental Logarithmic (Translog) function. The obtained results are placed in the basic mathematical model. It should be noted that Excel2016 and Stata12 software were used to estimate the model and analyze the results.

The results of estimating the regression models related to determining the optimal size of the cities indicate that all the metropolises have exceeded their optimal size. Among the nine metropolitan cities studied, Kermanshah, Karaj and Qom have the largest excess population. Isfahan and Ahvaz have the lowest excess population. The results of calculating the urbanization tax for Isfahan Municipality indicate that the recovery of public infrastructure depreciation costs in the first year can generate more income than the income from property tax for Isfahan metropolis.

Providing infrastructure and public services by municipalities for the urban population, especially in metropolises, is a very difficult task and requires access to capital facilities. However, the way to collect these funds and how to provide the infrastructure budget has been less attention. In order to provide public services and urban infrastructure, municipalities should collect the costs related to a certain infrastructure as much as possible from the individuals, companies, localities and groups that benefit from it.Therefore, in this study, all the urban infrastructures of Isfahan metropolis are divided into three categories based on the benefits they create. The first category is infrastructures whose benefits are assigned to certain individuals and groups. The second category is infrastructures whose benefits are mostly limited to one place or a specific area within the city. The last category also includes those services and infrastructures whose benefits are allocated to the entire city and its residents.The results show that about 38% of infrastructure costs in Isfahan metropolis are related to the third category. Considering the allocation of these infrastructures to all residents, their cost can be collected through the urbanization tax and according to the optimal size of the cities. The results related to the city size model show that the population of all Iranian metropolises has exceeded its optimal size, so it is suggested to continue receiving infrastructure costs until full recovery.The results of this research emphasize that although the urban costs have decreased with the increase in population, the urban benefits have decreased more, and in general, diseconomies of scale have been created. However, people will not necessarily involve these diseconomies of scale that they bring to the city in their decisions related to work and migration. Therefore, it is recommended to receive these costs from them.

The lack of statistical data at the regional level has led to the expansion of non-statistical methods for the regionalization of national input-output tables. The main idea of the current research is the regionalization of national dynamic input-output tables using the extension of the Charm method. This research using this non-statistical method provides an estimate of the sectoral capital matrix in the regional level, and finally, with the help of the numerical index of capital productivity and the Williamson’ capital index and comparing it with the relative advantage index, it measures the capacity of capital formation. Part of it is in Isfahan province. The results show that the industry sector with the largest share of output from the total output of the province has the lowest numerical index of capital productivity and the highest balanced diffusion effects of capital and the highest comparative advantage in 2015.

One of the most efficient methods for examining intra-regional economic capacities is the use of intra-regional and inter-regional capital matrix. In Iran, due to the lack of sufficient statistical data, no attempt has been made to estimate the sectoral capital matrix in the regional level. The purpose of the current research is to regionalize the national dynamic input-output table with the help of expanding the CHARM non-statistical method and estimating the intra-regional and inter-regional capital matrix; to provide an analysis of the capital capacity of different economic sectors in the region with the help of these matrices. In the current research, among all the non-statistical regionalization methods of the national input-output tables, the Charm approach has been selected in accordance with the regional data. The reason for choosing Charm method is the existence of Cross Hauling in Isfahan province. One of the problems of Charm's method is the placement of national and regional technology coefficients. This simplifying assumption causes the intermediate demand within the region to increase and therefore the added value, which is estimated as a residual; it will be very small or even negative. For this purpose, the current research will regionalize the matrix of national technology coefficients with the help of spatial coefficients; to solve the problem. By estimating the regional capital matrix, an analysis of the final productivity of the sector's capital factor and inter-sector capital distribution will be presented, and the results of these sectors will be compared with the indicators of comparative advantage of the sector. Finally, the research questions will be answered:
Which effect will the adjustment of the national technology coefficients have on the added value of the province?
What is the capital matrix of the sector in Isfahan province?
Which sector in Isfahan province has the highest numerical index of capital productivity?
Which economic sectors in Isfahan province have more distribution of capital formation?
What are the economic sectors with the greatest comparative advantage in Isfahan province?

At first, it is necessary to estimate the national capital matrix with the help of available data and simplifying assumptions. By estimating the national dynamic input-output table, we will have an estimate of the regional dynamic input-output table with the help of the extension of Charm method. To solve the problem of equality of national and regional technology coefficients, by multiplying the diagonal matrix of spatial coefficients in the matrix of national technology coefficients, we will obtain the spatial technology matrix of the region, and by multiplying this estimated matrix in the resulting diagonal matrix, we will obtain the regional technology matrix. Therefore, smaller regional coefficients will be estimated.
On the other hand, to estimate the intra-regional capital matrix, the difference ratio of the region's output in two periods is used to the same amount at the national level. In this case, the intra-regional capital matrix is estimated. A time interval of one year is considered. The reason for choosing this time interval is that the country's budget is one year and a huge part of the inter-sectoral investment in the region is done by the central government. To estimate the intra-regional capital matrix, the spatial ratio of the region's capital asset ownership to the entire country is used. Finally, by subtracting the national capital matrix from the intra-regional capital matrix, we will get an estimate of the correct inter-regional capital matrix. Finally, with the estimation of the capital matrix, the assessment of the capital formation capacity of the intra-regional sector of Isfahan province is carried out with the help of single-factor productivity analysis of capital and the Williamson index of capital and the estimation of the relative advantage index.

In the case that the coefficients of national technology are equal to regional technology, the added value is negatively estimated in four sectors, agriculture, mining, water and electricity, gas and construction. This is despite the fact that in the proposed method of the current research, these positive values are estimated. According to the capital matrix, the most productions were related to the industry, construction and agriculture sectors. Also, the most capital purchases were related to industry, services and real estate sectors. The highest level of sector productivity is related to the communication, mining and transportation sectors. One of the reasons for the increase in user productivity((L↑)/K ) of the sector is compared to other economic sectors. According to Wilsamson's index, the industrial sector, as a supply sector, has distributed its produced capital goods in a more balanced way among the demand sectors. Three sectors, industry, transportation and real estate, have the greatest comparative advantage according to both indicators. But none of the sectors has a high relative advantage.

In summary, the results show that the industry sector with the largest share of output from the total output of the province had low productivity in 2015. Meanwhile, according to Williamson's index, this sector has the most balanced emission effects with other economic sectors, and the results of the previous link also confirm this. Also, based on the RCA and SRCA indices, this sector has a comparative advantage. Therefore, paying attention to new investment in this sector and improving production technology can have good effects on the sector itself and ultimately on other economic sectors in the region.

The problem of the current research is the estimation of the matrix of national inter-sector capital coefficients. This matrix is an important parameter of the economic structure and the main axis of dynamic input-output tables and a very efficient way for economic forecasting. The purpose of this article is to estimate the investment required to achieve the goals of the sixth five-year plan of economic development with the help of the matrix of national capital coefficients. For this purpose, an effort is made to solve the problem of not aligning the dynamic input-output table, which has been neglected in other researchers conducted in the country, and the results in two cases of the proposed approach of this article with other methods used in other researchers conducted in the country for 2015 to be compared. The statistical population in this research is the entire economy of Iran and economic sectors are considered, according to the Central Bank’s capital balance information, including agriculture, oil and gas, mining, industry, water and electricity and gas, construction, transportation, communications, Real estate and other services. The results show that the linear normalization of the initial capital matrix reduces the capital coefficients, and the required investment for most sectors will be estimated higher than in the case of no normalization.

Financial imbalances and imbalances between resources and expenditures in Iranian pension funds have made the need for fund reforms inevitable. Today, the share of government aid in public government expenditures to the two Civil Servants and Military pension funds has increased from about 11 percent in 2013 to about 19 percent in 2021, and this trend has been increasing in recent years. However, despite the perception of the crisis by various actors in the pension system, these reforms have not been implemented. In this regard, the present study seeks pathology and finds a solution to solve the crisis of the Iranian pension system during the years 2013-2021. Due to the existence of different actors and stakeholders, one of the non-quantitative methods of game theory models, called the graph model, was used to resolve conflicts. This model is a good tool for modeling and analyzing complex problems, expresses the most likely consequences of various problems in the world, and finally provides guidelines for its improvement. The modeling results of the retirement crisis show that the fourth mode of the model, ie the state of reform, is more likely to occur. Therefore, the current situation is not a stable situation for all players, and they are motivated to leave it. According to the results, limiting government support, changing the pension system, and carrying out structural and parametric reforms will improve the current situation.

In a situation where water supply constraints have increased due to population growth and economic development, as well as a lack of a suitable consumption pattern, ecological concerns in the socio-economic environment regarding the optimal allocation of water among consumers have become an important issue. Varamin plain basin is located in the southeast of Tehran and produced the majority of agricultural production in this area. Since, the agriculture is the main and the largest consumer of groundwater in this region, so the water crisis has been affected by the pattern of groundwater exploitation. In this paper, agricultural behavior of water consumption was analyzed in the framework of three perspectives: a competitive, a constancy of time preferences and a time inconsistency of preferences during the thirty-year period from the 1368-69 to 1397-98. In order to assess this hypothesis, the current state of groundwater consumption was compared to one of three scenarios presented. In the competitive approach of water consumption, neoclassical equilibrium condition of efficient market was employed. However, in the other two scenarios, the discrete dynamic optimization technique was used to extract the behavioral pattern of water consumption. The conclusion indicated that farmers dealing with groundwater as the main source of agricultural water supply had a non-optimal pattern of time inconsistency in their consumption from a psychological point of view. Therefore, changing the status quo and ensuring the effectiveness of the water policy require the modification of the behavioral pattern of water consumption in farming.

The present study has evaluated the impact of logistics hub formation in Isfahan province on this province.
 In this regard, by designing and developing a two regional Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model (Isfahan province and other national economies), the economic effects resulting from the reduction of transportation cost (logistics cost) as a result of applying this logistics policy on this province has been evaluated. In this model, which is widely based on the theory of New Economic Geography (NEG), there are 3 basic assumptions including: 1- Iceberg-type transportation cost; 2- the utility function of Dixit-Stiglitz (1977) type and 3- the production function of the industrial sector with increasing returns technology has been taken into account. The main database used in the estimation of this model is the two-regional Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) obtained by adjusting the two-regional input-output table calculated by the researchers with the new mixed CHARM-RAS method.
The findings revealed that the establishment of a logistics hub in this province leads to industrial agglomeration, increase in employment, total gross production and labor productivity. Therefore, the application of this logistics policy has a positive economic effect on the region - without considering the environmental effects of such agglomeration.

Aim and Introduction :

The pension system is of special place in the employment regulations of the private and public sectors of all countries of the world. In addition, pension funds are known as one of the most sensitive and complex financial institutions in today's world, whose main goal is to preserve the livelihood and dignity of people in old age. Pension funds have been created to provide social rights for citizens, and a long-term horizon is one of the main features of such funds. By receiving insurance premiums from the insured and investing the resources gathered in the early years and the so-called youth period of the fund, pension funds provide pensions for retirees during their maturity. The process of maturity of pension funds occurs naturally and if it is accompanied by the aging of the country's population, it will intensify. According to the International Monetary Fund, pension expenditures in the Social Security Organization and the civil serpents' Pension Fund will increase from 5.3% in 2015 to 11% in 2040 and 19.6% of GDP in 2080 and in the future, a large part of the country's budget should be spent on paying pensions.

This study seeks to simulate and apply corrective policies to improve the financial misalignment in the Iranian pension system using dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model based on the overlapping generations (OLG) model. In this regard, impulse response functions were used to examine the effects of the proposed parametric corrections. The DSGE models are stochastic, microeconomic-founded, provide the possibility of dynamic evaluation of parametric changes as well as random changes of exogenous variables of the system, and give inter-temporal optimization of the behavior of economic agents. In addition, the mechanism of intergenerational transfer in the pension funds, can be well evaluated and studied by these models, so it seems to be a suitable tool for studying the effects of demographic parametric changes on the financial balance of pension funds.

The results show that positive shocks to the variables of years of service, birth rate, and average years of insurance, the financial misalignment of pension funds decreases. According to the results, linking the retirement age with life expectancy and increasing the years of premium payment can reduce financial misalignment and increase financial stability in the Iranian pension system.

The government's decision to implement reforms in Iran's pension system is essential, taking into account social considerations and the step-by-step nature of these reforms. However, according to our findings, the following policies should be presented to improve the financial imbalance of Iran's pension system:1. The results of the positive shock analysis to the years of service variable showed that the later retirement of people reduces economic dissatisfaction, and considering the past and projected increase in life expectancy in Iran, increasing the retirement age is justified and logical. According to global experience, the average retirement age should be increased from 60 to 63 years for men and from 55 to 58 years for women (one year for every two years). Also, in the future, it is suggested that the average retirement age be linked to the growth of life expectancy.2. The analysis results of the positive shock to the birth rate variable showed that the young population reduces the financial imbalance. Therefore, it is necessary to implement policies to encourage birth in the coming years, because the population aging phenomenon will have destructive effects on the stability of the pension system.3. A positive shock to the average variable of years of insurance has positive effects on reducing the financial imbalance of pension funds. In this regard, it is suggested to change the calculation of pensions in all pension funds, including state, military, and social security organizations, based on the average salary of the last three to five years of employment, which it is currently based on the average of the previous two years.

Today, the share of government aid from the public expenditures to support military and civil servants' pension funds has increased from about 11% in 2013 to 19% in 2021 and this trend has been increasing in recent years. This study aims to use DSGE models to simulate and apply corrective measures to enhance the financial misalignment of Iran's pension system. For this purpose, the model has been calibrated once for the PAYG-DB system that is currently used in Iran and then for the system based on financial provision based on the amount of partial savings to compare their welfare and distributional effects. The simulation results show that people reduce their savings by switching to a partial savings system, which increases consumption in all generations and capital accumulation in the whole society. In the second part of the article, impulse response functions were used to investigate the effects of emerging diseases and population aging variables on the financial misalignment of pension funds. The results show that the financial misalignment of pension funds increases following the positive shock in the above variables. Based on the results, parametric reforms such as a mechanism linking the retirement age to life expectancy and transition to a partial savings system can reduce financial misalignment and increase financial sustainability in Iran's pension system.

The analysis of data on housing prices and their growth rates, typical of spatial data, is undoubtedly affected by spatial dependence. This means that housing prices and their growth in one district are affected by housing prices in neighboring districts. However, the other issue regarding housing prices in different districts is the heterogeneity of spatial dependence. This suggests that there are differences in the spatial dependence of housing prices in urban districts over time so that the spatial effects in urban districts when prices rise are different from the effects when prices fall. The theoretical analysis of this phenomenon is based on the theories of behavioral economics. In this study, the heterogeneity of spatial dependence of housing price growth rates was investigated for 22 districts of Tehran. Using a dynamic fixed effects spatial panel model, the effects of determinants on growth rates were estimated for 22 districts of Tehran. The test results indicate the existence of nonlinear relationships in the model. Therefore, the model was estimated by a smooth transition panel regression model with a transfer function in which the spillover rate of housing price growth rates from neighboring counties was determined as a transfer variable. The results show that the coefficient of spatial dependence for housing price growth rates is higher in boom times than in recession for Tehran districts. Thus, it can be concluded that there is heterogeneity in the spatial dependence of housing price growth rates in the urban districts of Tehran over time.JEL Classification: C31, C33, R31.

One of the important tools to increase supply chain productivity and reduce logistics costs is to establish logistics hubs. Since there is no logistics hub in the central region of Iran, this study was conducted to identify a suitable area for a logistics hub in Isfahan province. In this line, criteria influencing the location of the logistics centers in terms of certain limiters (geological and environmental factors) and cost influencer (measurable factors with quantitative values (compensation criteria)) criteria were identified, and then, the process of locating was implemented in two separate phases. In the first phase, geographical boundaries associated with limiters criteria were excluded from the study scope to identify the potential site options for a logistics hub within the province. In the second phase, the mathematical modeling approach was used to model the total cost of the logistics network. Next, the cost of establishing a logistics hub was calculated in possible sites in terms of cost influencer criteria and using geographic data layers. The findings revealed that the optimum location is in the central part of the province, where all the economic activities are concentrated. Still, rail and road infrastructures and industries are the most influencers in the optimum location.

This research provides a copula-based stochastic programming that is able to determine the optimal amounts of primary energy resources and different technologies to supply the required electrical energy. In this model, the uncertainty caused by random variables is presented in different scenarios, and uncertain interactions between random variables are shown using the copula functions with the different probability distributions and previously unknown correlations. Then, based on the developed approach of Copula-based stochastic programming, urban energy system planning for Tehran and Isfahan is formulated. The results obtained from the solution of the model indicate that the current trend is not consistent with the use of technologies with the optimization results, and it shows that in each case, solar technology compared with combined cycle technology, gas Turbine and steam in providing a part of the demand for electricity in terms of Economic and environmental benefits, and should be prioritized in investment policies. In order to compensate for the supply shortage, the remaining electrical energy should also be supplied by the grid, which will reduce the amount of pollution, compared with the situation at the same cost. In addition, the results show that the uncertainty in the components of the system has significant effects on the output of decision variables and system cost. JEL Classification: C02, L11, Q40, R00

This study tries to predict the rental rates in district six of Isfahan for five years in the future by using an agent-based model. According to this simulation, district of Hezar Jerib has the highest and Hemat Abad has the lowest rental rate. Districts of Sa'adat Abad, Abshar, Baghnegar, Feiz, Masjed Mosala, Kuye Emam, Takht-e Foulad and Shahid Keshvari are followed by the district of Hezar Jerib. From the demand point of view, the high rental rate in Hezar Jerib district is due to higher comfort index in that region. From the supply point of view, the high rental rate in Hezar Jerib district is due to low supply of residential units.

As a geographical context, cities are expanded to meet the basic human needs, including the economic, cultural and social needs. In Iran, focusing on the concept of the creative city, with an emphasis on internal possessions, including human and cultural capital, is a low-cost way to strengthen the local economic foundations. In this regard, spatial creativity index was extracted through Landry's descriptive model with ten main indexes for Kashan. In order to determine the coefficients of importance of these indices, ten experts of urban economics and art economics were used. Also, to collect qualitative information, a questionnaire was used. The result shows that among the spatial creativity indices for Kashan areas, correlation index and attitude index have the highest value at 15,11,5 zones. Civic participation is also the highest in areas 14,13,6. In most of the indicator conversion areas, the idea conversion indicator was low, with about 60% of respondents citing lack of government support. In order to determine the degree of eligibility of each area, location creativity indices for Kashan were analyzed using ANP network analysis method and Super Decision software. The results show that zone 11 is ranked first in terms of spatial creativity indicators among the 16 zones of Kashan city.

The present study uses a system of simultaneous equations to analyze the effect of international tourists entering Iran on the country's economy & effect of country's economy on the international tourists entering Iran. The estimation was done using the 3SLS method. the results of this estimate showed that every 1 percent increase in global gross domestic product will decrease the number of tourists entering Iran by 2.87 percent. the effect of tourism on economic growth can also be confirmed. accordingly, economic growth will increase by 1% with a 0.15% increase in the number of international tourists. Also, with a 1% increase in the number of international tourists, employment will increase by 0.05%. JEL Classification: L83, O47, E24, C32

The growing presence of girls in higher education is an issue that has attracted attention and has a lot of opponents and proponents. In this article, effects of this event were studied in three dimensions, cultural, social and educational. Research method was descriptive – survey and the population of study was all students and faculty members at Isfahan University, Isfahan University of Technology and Isfahan University of Art. Sampling was classified according to size. Data were collected through a researcher made questionnaire and were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings showed that students and faculty members believe that increase in girl’s admission have more than average effect upon all three dimensions. In according of faculty members view, averages of social and cultural dimensions are higher and in student’s view, average of educational dimension. Finally, considering the pros and cons of the increased acceptance of girls, it is recommended to provide facilities to raise awareness of girls toward life situations to make better decisions.

Destination managers would like to have a better understaning of the factors affecting destination choice by tourists. In the conventional demand side models, factors such as the income level in tourist origin countries, the price level in the destination and the exchange rate have been introduced as the core effective factors. Here some important theoretical bases such as Lancaster’s theory of demand for multi dimensional products are ignored or not prefered because of the difficulties in practice. The following article would first focus on the theoretical basis of tourists’ destination choice and then will study the destination choice factors for tourists who visits Isfahan as a cultural historical destination. The sample volume was determined according to Morgan’s schedule for infinite societies, and the sufficiency of sample was checked by KMO statistics. The questionnaire’s face was confirmed by research team advisors and the reliability of questionnaire has been tested by Cronbach's Alpha test.Using factor analysis for a data set of 384 cultural heritage tourists, we found that: price level at the destination, authenticity and uniqueness of attractions, safety and security, attitude of local people and authorities toward the tourists, and level of tourism services at the destination are the most important factors in choosing cultural-historical destinations. The results indicate that 57.414 percent of all affecting factors on destination choice have been explained by the introduced factors in this paper. Key Words:

Economic specialization and diversification in an urban area are main factors forming agglomeration economies. Agglomeration economies increase productivity of clustered firms in an area. This research investigates the impact of specification and diversification in economic activities on labor productivity in the provinces of Iran during 2000-13. Therefore, first, urban economic specification and diversification are measured using appropriate indices. Then, the indices are entered in the productivity model as an independent variable. Since used data has locational dimension and the spatial dependence diagnostic tests are significance, the specified model is estimated through spatial econometric techniques.
The results show in both spatial lag and error, specialization and diversification of economic activities, as well as capital stock and government budget have a significant positive with productivity. But human capital has a U-shaped relationship with productivity. In addition, the estimated coefficients of spatial lag and spatial error are positive and statistically significant and indicate spatial dependence of productivity in the provinces of Iran.

Arts can be counted as a base for evolution of culture that causes the growth and flowering of society and its people. The observations indicate that the artistic and cultural activities can have a considerable contribution to the economy. Comparing with other artistic and cultural productions, Cinema with its special characteristics can play an important role in economics of arts. During two recent decades, Iran’s cinema has been experiencing a depression for several reasons, some of which could be economic ones. So if we want to give rise to this industry, one of the important sides of economics of cinema which is its demand side needs to be investigated.
For this purpose, after extracting different demand determining factors by reviewing the literature, a questionnaire was designed in order to evaluate the relationship between these factors and the people’s cinema going behavior in Zajan. The research sample contains of 505 people.
The results indicate that 318 people of 505 people (about 63% of the whole) have gone to cinema at least one time in the last year. Among different economic and socio-demographic factors only some factors had a significant relationship with cinema demand. These factors are personal income, gender and marital status. Also, it becomes obvious that the majority of people in the sample prefer cinema as an entertainment in average and would rather watching domestic videos than going to cinema.

Adoption of inefficient policies in the field of distressed areas and low quality of livability, there is the need for new approaches in preparing and implementing renovation and improvement plans; so, city development strategy can be an appropriate plan to replace current plans. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the livability of distressed areas in Isfahan city as one of the elements of urban development strategy to use the approach in renovation and improvement. Moreover, its innovation is in addressing livability situation of independent distressed areas of the city to provide urban development strategy plan. The research method is descriptive-analytical and regarding the purpose, the study is applied. The data were collected using questionnaires. They were distributed and filled out in August and September of 2015. In this research, SPSS, EXCEL and Arc Gis software were used. The study sample included 385 residents of distress areas who were selected by stratified random sampling. According to the results, the distressed area of Isfahan, with an average of 2.49 and t statistics, -38.07 is not livable and the residents have evaluated the index of urban development strategy and its status undesirable. Moreover, the other three dimensions of economic, social and environmental state are unfavorable and the social dimension has had a more critical situation. Livability state is not the same in all parts of the area. There is also a significant difference between the distressed areas regarding livability. In the meantime, the distressed area of district 9 rather than districts four and eleven and the distressed area of district 3 rather than district eleven had more livability.

During recent years, a dramatic increase in life expectancy accompanied by low fertility and mortality has caused population aging and higher old-age dependency rates. This paper investigates the effects of longevity and population aging on saving by using the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) approach. A distinctive feature of this study is its demonstration of the separate roles of life expectancy and old-age dependency rate. The results of this study which spans 21 countries over 1971–2012 show that, in the long run, the theoretical implications are supported by the data and the demographic variables play an important role in explaining the differences in savings over time and across countries. According to the Life Cycle Model, there is a positive long-run relationship between longevity and saving and a negative long-run relationship between old-age dependency rate and saving. The absolute value of the longevity effect is greater than that of the old-age dependency rate. In the short run, of the two demographic variables, only the old-age dependency rate has the expected sign and is significant.

Among the economical sectors of the country, residential sector is the largest final consumer of energy and unlike the other sectors, its energy intensity is upward. In this regard, targeted subsidies law is a basic measure by the ninth government which began by the president’s command since 2010 despite the opposition of a number of economists and MPs with the way of its implementation that was a price reform (rising) plan to energy carriers with a focus to reduce energy consumption in all consumer sectors, especially residential sector. The residential sector consists of different groups regarding economic, social and cultural features and it seems that identical changes of prices of gas and electricity for all these groups as result of targeted subsidies law implementation have different effects on the level of energy consumption in these groups. Therefore, after nearly three years of implementation of the law and on the verge of implementation of the second phase, the study is to investigate the effects of social (Social-Economical Status) and cultural (environmental culture) features on the level of change in gas and electricity consumption of households in Esfahan city after the implementation of targeted subsidies law.
Regarding the purpose, the study is practical and regarding the nature and methods, it is descriptive-analysis and casual-comparative (post-event). The data for investigating the research hypotheses are collected by field method. The study population of the research is all the households living in all fourteen districts of Esfahan municipality and 145 households were selected from the 492767 households living in Esfahan city in 2011 by the use of Cochran formula (confidence level of 90 percent) and the data were collected by referring to them using simple random sampling. In order to analyze the effects of the variables, namely Social-Economical Status and environmental culture of the households, on the level of change in gas and electricity consumption after the implementation of targeted subsidies law, we used multivariate regression model of binomial logistics. SPSS software was also used to do the calculation and achieving the results.
Discussion of Results & The results of the research showed that: 1- Social-Economical Status of Esfahan households did not have a significant effect on reducing the consumption of gas and electricity after the implementation of targeted subsidies law. 2- The effects of environmental culture of Esfahan households on the possibility of gas and electricity energy saving on both levels (low and average) have been negative.
In order to justify the lack of any significant relationship between Social-Economical Status Esfahan households and reducing gas and electricity consumption, the reasons are presented as follows in two divisions of sociological and economic fields:A) Sociological analysis: For many years, Social-Economical Status has been a powerful and significant variable in the area of social sciences which is used to explain a host of social attitudes and behaviors. But the lack of relationship between this variable and dependent variables of the research, despite the research hypothesis on the relationship between these two variables, is theoretically very important for the society that is studied; Therefore, it is likely that the views of some sociologists such as Veblen, Weber and Bourdieu who believe in social class life and also believe that socio-economic class factor affects the formation of lifestyle, have been fading away and lack explanatory ability. On the other hand, the approach of intellectuals such as Anthony Giddens, Mike Featherstone and Ulrich Beck is able to analyze the case in a better way. According to the views of these sociologists, social classes do not determine the selective consumption patterns of people so that it is not possible to separate the lifestyles according to the social classes and the lifestyles break boundaries of social class differentiations. In fact, lifestyle is neither a social class concept nor a tool for distinction, but it is offered as a new concept against the social class. From such a viewpoint, in modern societies similar consumption behaviors are observed among people from different social classes which show the class integration of lifestyles. In other words, we deal with a lifestyle which does not particularly belong to a group or a class, but it is only significant in the cultural changes of modernity and the growth of consumerism culture.
B) Economic Analysis: According to economic studies on this subject, justifications for the lack of relationship can be outlined as follows: 1- Inelasticity of energy demand (consumption) for residential sector against the price changes - even in long term - and the necessity of energy commodity in the households carts. 2- Limitations to find alternatives for energy consumption such as gas and electricity for the households: the reason is the different technologies for using gas, electricity and other types of energy in household appliances. Even if the alternatives are technically possible, it is not economical for the consumers to change their consumption patterns and their energy appliances for slight fluctuations in energy prices (especially knowing that the fluctuations are very slight on the basis of real prices). 3- Since gas and electricity are necessary commodities for residential sector, this sector at least has to use them for heat, light, cooking, etc. In most cases, reducing the consumption of these two energy carriers leads to nothing but lowering the level of well-being and as a result causing numerous social, cultural and sanitary abnormalities and increasing discontent in the society. Therefore, it is natural that energy consumption in household sector is not a function of its price. 4- Energy consumption in residential sector is a function of its previous patterns which means that the consumers of this sector act according to their consumption habits. 5- Regarding the electricity, it can be said that refrigerators, freezers, coolers and TV sets share the greater part of electricity consumption in households which includes 60% of the total energy consumption by the households. It seems that despite rising electricity price after implementation of the law, the household consumer still uses the same electrical appliances; because most families - especially in inflation condition after implementation of the law - can not afford to buy energy-saving modern appliances. 6- For wealthy households who can afford to buy energy-saving appliances it is not economical to change their consumption patterns and appliances for the slight fluctuations in the price of gas and electricity (especially in inflation condition after implementation of the law). 7- Although at the beginning of targeted subsidies law implementation, the government attempted to increase the nominal prices of gas and electricity of the residential sector, only after two months the real price of electricity and after four months the real price of gas have been declining due to fixing the nominal prices of these two energy carriers after the beginning of the plan and ignoring the consumer price index while pricing these two energy carriers.
In order to explain the negative effect of households environmental culture on energy consumption reduction it can be argued that households with higher cultures before the implementation of targeted subsidies law had more thrifty behaviors comparing to households from lower cultures; therefore, there is less possibility for them to save energy under the law implementation.
It seems that price changing of gas and electricity is not an appropriate leverage to reform energy consumption pattern (gas and electricity) of residential sector; but energy saving in this sector by logical use of energy through creating the consumption culture alongside price changing of energy carriers can have a significant effect on consumption control in this section.

One of the policies in developing countries and even in developed ones is paying subsidies and adopting a profitable supporting method in this regard. However, payment of subsidies, such as subsidies on basic goods, has certain disadvantages. Consequently, developed and developing countries prefer to have a system of targeted subsidy payment. This tendency has had influences on welfare of families.
This article examines the effects of targeted subsidies of basic goods (e.g. bread and grains, meat, dairy products, eggs of birds, oil and fat, fruits and dried fruits, vegetables and cereals, and sweets) on the welfare of families in urban regions of Isfahan, representing the vulnerability order of income deciles due to the variation of foodstuff prices. For this reason, the theory of demand and especially the seemingly unrelated regression of the linear expenditure system are used to examine the demand equations and then standards of “Compensating Variation” and “Equivalent Variation” for evaluation of consumers’ welfare variation in Isfahan.
An estimate of the demand system is calculated based on expense-income of the urban household in Isfahan during the period 2004–2011. The results obtained from the calculation of “Compensating Variation” and “Equivalent Variation” in four urban household commodity groups in Isfahan province in 2011 show a reduction in the household welfare after implementing targeted commodity subsidies. Furthermore, according to the existing descriptive data of the targeted subsidies program, urban families in Isfahan experienced welfare stagnation in 2011. In that year, the first income decile was the most damaged decile because of the increase in the prices.