Investigating the Effect of Privatization on the Economic Performance of the Iranian Petrochemical Industry (case study: ten selected petrochemical companies)

The petrochemical industry, as one of the main sectors of the downstream oil industries, plays an important role in the country's economy. In Iran, the petrochemical industry has a special position by having the first place in creating added value and non-oil exports. In 2005, with the announcement of the general policies of Article 44 of the Constitution, privatization flourished in the country and most of the companies under the National Petrochemical Industries Company were handed over to the private sector. Considering the prominent role of the petrochemical industry in Iran's economy and considering the fact that 20% of the total privatizations carried out in Iran are related to the petrochemical industry, in this research, the impact of privatization on the economic performance of the Iranian petrochemical industry has been investigated. For this purpose, using the data of ten selected petrochemical companies in the period of 2008-2022 and using the panel data method, the effect of privatization on the production, total productivity and investment of the petrochemical industries of Iran has been evaluated. The results indicate that the effect of privatization on all three variables of production, total productivity and investment of the company is positive and significant.