Decomposition of Gross Export Value Added in Iran's Economic Activities: An Inter-Country Approach

In recent years, with the increased availability of data and statistics, particularly multi-country input-output tables and firm-level microdata, along with advances in the data processing capacity of personal computers for managing these vast datasets, as well as information and communication infrastructure, the efficient shared use of databases for foreign trade analysis has become possible. The goal of this paper is to implement the gross export decomposition method by Borin and Mancini (2023), using a source-based approach and the perspective of the exporting country, as a foundational analysis for decomposing value-added in the gross exports of Iran’s economic activities. The contribution of this paper to the economic literature on Iran can be summarized in the following three aspects: First, it utilizes data from the 2016 inter-country input-output database, including data on Iran, for empirical documentation. Second, it focuses on the most recent theoretical framework presented by Borin and Mancini (2023), with a source-based approach and country perspective, to decompose the value-added in the exports of Iran’s economic activities. Third, it offers a structural interpretation of the value-added decomposition of Iran's exports for the year 2016, which can be useful for researchers and policymakers in understanding the global value chains of Iran’s economic activities. The results show that Iran plays a small and fragile role in the global economy.