Iranian pistachio export competitiveness in world markets

In the present study, competitiveness of Iranian pistachio exports and competitor countries in the world market are studied. pistachio export advantage using indices of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) approach and vector error correction model(VECM) based on agricultural and non-petroleum export commodity basket were investigated separately. The results showed that Iran has a comparative advantage in pistachio export in the 1975-2012 period and considering both commodity basket, Iran have first ranking in pistachio exports.After Iran, Respectively the Turkey, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, United States, Belgium and Netherlands have been comparative advantage in pistachio export in the 1975-2012 period. The rating is based on exports of agricultural commodity basket.On the other hand, in recently years, Pistachio export market of Hong Kong, United States, Turkey, Belgium, Germany have become a serious competitor for Iranian pistachios export and Iran's relative advantage in Pistachio export affected from export advantage of these countries. According to these findings, Iran's Pistachio export policy needs to be reconsidered