In collaboration with Payame Noor University and Iranian Association for Energy Economics (IRAEE)

Document Type : Quarterly Journal

Authors

Abstract

Export diversification in developing countries is an important tool to stabilize the foreign exchange revenue from exports of goods and services. This paper examines changes in diversification of exports for the period 2004-2012 when international sanctions increased against Iran. For this purpose, export diversification and its trend has been examined with Herfindahl, Hirschman and Thile indices. The results show that export diversification has shown a declining trend before new sanctions (in 2010) and an increasing trend after new sanctions. Diversification of  8-digit commodity code (HS) indicates that despite the improvement of   export diversification, the country's total non-oil exports remain concentrated in certain groups, and this has a negative impact on diversification. Furthermore, the results showed that the geographic diversification with new sanctions declined sharply.

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