The Relationship between Economic Tightness and Regional Resilience(Case Study: Counties in Kerman Province)

It is believed that systems with higher economic tightness are more resilient in the case of threats. This research aimed to test this hypothesis in the Iranian case of Kerman province which saw the earthquake in its central and historical city of Bam. To do so, the correlation between “economic tightness” and economic performance before and after shock is tested to see how economic interdependency can play role in the economic resilience of the regional system. Findings showed that while before the shock happens there is a positive and direct relation between economic tightness of a system and its economic performance, after-shock changes for regeneration of the system has negative relation with the economic tightness. It shows that although economic concentration is a positive index for urban and regional resilience, when the shock happens, it can be in turn a barrier for economic changes of a system. The explanation for this could be found in the issues of “related variety and economic growth”. Many studies showed that there is a positive relation between economic variety and economic development of a region. The related variety, which emphasizes the complementary and connectedness of activities and occupations, will bring up different opportunities for economic development as it paves the way for knowledge spill overs. After shock, what is needed is to change the current mechanisms. So, if the system is more innovated and open to the new changes, the new organization will take place easier.