Foreign trade

Rent-seeking in the trade sector is an outcome of restrictions imposed on tariffs and import quotas by a government. In an effort to acquire more privilege in foreign trade, labor allocates a part of its time-effort to rent-seeking activity, while cutting down on production work. Given the importance of rent-seeking activity due to restrictions imposed by the government in the Iranian economy, this paper has attempted to calculate the size of rent-seeking activity in the foreign trade sector of the Iranian economy. Hence, a version of the DSGE model has been specified and the related parameters have been estimated in order to calculate the rent-seeking rate. We have applied quarterly data from 1998:1 to 2015:4 for Iran’s trade sector, to obtain the empirical results through calibrating the specified DSGE model. The results have indicated that rent-seeking of Iran’s trade sectors amounted to 0.45, which looks considerably high. Moreover, labor has shared 24 % of its effort time to rent-seeking activity and 76 % to ordinary work.

The recent global crisis, as a big crash ( Baldwin and Simon , 2009), has reduced foreign demand growth affecting total countries€™ exports. Given the importance of foreign trade to nations and the reality that recent crisis has affected international trade we study the effects of the global financial crisis on trade relations between countries by using Ma and Cheng (2003) approach and by applying gravity model to both selected developed and developing countries during 1998-2010. Emprical results have approved negative effects of financial crisis on international trade in the countries under consideration. The result obtained is evident that such incidence seems to be significant to explain a sharp fall in the world exports.  JEL Classification : G01, F10

Foreign trade expansion plays an important role in economic growth and development. Since Iran’s single-product economy is facing tight sanctions, among trading partners, Turkey benefits from special place, and political independence in international relations because of its large population, rising per capita income, high economic growth rate, geographical and cultural proximity to Iran. Many opportunities and substantial capacities have been established for expanding foreign trade between these two countries. To do this, it is necessary to determine the maximum export capacity of Iran to Turkey and whether this capacity has actually been deployed and realized or not. The next question is what the bases of Iran’s export development to Turkey are, and the goods which should be focused on to develop trading. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the maximum export capacity of Iran to Turkey and to determine the commodities with the highest export capacity. The Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index, the Cosine Index, and the General Model of the gravity model were used to evaluate Iran’s export potential and to determine commodities in which Iran has export advantage. Iran’s export potential to Turkey was investigated in various years and in different commodity groups by comparing the rate of export volume of each commodity to total volume of its import by Turkey. Research findings indicated that the highest Iranian export potential value to Turkey was $9,339 million, and just 7.2% of that ($669 million) has been realized. Also, 11 commodity groups formed more than 66% of Iranian potential exports to Turkey. Among them, ‘mineral products’ with $2,730 million, ‘plastics and natural rubber and artifacts made from them’ with 1,185 million, ‘common metals and artifacts made from them’ with $918 million, and ‘products of the chemical industry and its related industries’ with $879 million were respectively the four commodity groups with the highest export potential. JEL Classification: F14]

Given the growing importance of foreign trade, especially for Iran, as well as the importance of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) , the main purpose of this study is to examine Iran's trade potential with the CIS during the time period 2014-2018. In this regard, by using Allen and Drysdale indices, we have firstly examined Iran's trade similarity with CIS countries. Then, the competitiveness has been evaluated by calculating RCA and Lafay indicators. Finally, based on RCA, Lafay and total trade potential criteria, Iran's trade potential with CIS countries has been measured. According to the study, Iran's trade potential with the CIS region varies between $ 19 billion and $ 30 billion during the time period, and Iran has used only less than 10 percent of its existing trade potential with this region. During the period, Iran has a comparative advantage in more than 400 commoditiy groups, and according to the RCA index, the most important competitive commodity groups are generally primary goods, based on natural resources, agriculture and oil. Also, according to the Lafay Index for 2018, Iran has about 500 commodity groups with a positive index, and there is a significant balance in favor of this group of commodities. Given some significant capacities and advantages over the CIS, Iran should develop its trade with this region, taking into account national interests.

Due to external factors (like sanctions) and internal issues (such as poorly managed privatization and banking), the country's economic performance has been disappointing over the past decade, with economic growth averaging less than 2%, inflation over 20%, and negative 5% fixed capital formation. Consequently, the country now falls into the category of low-income nations in international reports. Additionally, the loss of the golden era of revenues from crude oil sales has increased restrictions on the government's access to programmable financial resources. Therefore, to address these challenges, Iran must reconstruct its trade flows and explore new economic activities, particularly through economic diplomacy with neighboring countries. This effort should also involve defining new areas for economic activities. For this reason, while it is possible to view economic diplomacy through conventional political definitions as a means to enhance a country's standing in the international arena by promoting foreign trade and creating new markets, in our country, economic diplomacy should be regarded primarily as a strategy to navigate the current challenges facing the national economy. Within this context, among other states, Russia is identified as a key partner for enhancing trade. The conclusions of this research identify the most significant trade obstacles between Iran and Russia as follows: A) Inadequate business infrastructure, B) poorly organized foreign trade activities, and C) The complexities of international political economy. Conversely, the principal solutions to enhance trade levels include A) strengthening infrastructure, B) fostering joint investment opportunities rather than solely focusing on exporting goods, C) enhancing the information and marketing sectors, and D) diversifying the range of exported goods.