Economic Distance and Regional Economic Growth in Iran

The economic distance refers to the ease or difficulty for goods، services، labor، capital، information، and ideas to traverse space. This variable affects the regional economic growth through influencing location of firms، knowledge spillover and market size. This paper examines the effects of economic distance on regional economic growth by using Dynamic Panel Data model for 28 provinces of Iran over the period 2000-2009. The results show that economic distance has negative effect on regional economic growth.