Unproductive Activities and Their Affecting Factors in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Kharazmi University, Iran

2 Sistan and Baluchestan University, Iran

Abstract

Purpose- Unproductive activities refer to economic activities which do not have a positive effect on GDP, but have high profit and returns, which can eliminate productive activities. This is a phenomenon that has occurred in Iran in the last three decades. The aim of the present study is to analyze the factors causing and spreading unproductive activities using Fumanat area as the context.
Design/methodology/approach- The study area is Fumanat, one of the historical regions of Gilan. The type of research is qualitative. In order to collect the required data and information, we conducted the various steps: First, using secondary data, the study illustrated changes in the share of employment in the economic sectors of the region, changes in the area of agricultural land use, as well as changes in the level of built land use. Second, conducting interviews with different business owners of each household, the common activities of households were studied to determine the evolution of productive activities in the sample villages. The common activities of households and among them unproductive activities were identified by inductive method. In order to understand the factors affecting the creation and expansion of unproductive activities, the qualitative approach of grounded theory was used.
Findings- The study indicates that in the mountain zone, 39.1 percent of jobs, in the foothill zone, 32.3 percent of jobs, in the plain zone, 41.9 percent of jobs and in the coastal zone, 30.2 percent of jobs, can be categorized as unproductive activities. The existence of uncertainty, lack of support for productive activities, the property rights issue, inadequate privatization and dysfunctional institution system affect the expansion of unproductive activities in the region.
Originality/value- Various studies have examined productive and unproductive sides in economic endeavors, most of which considered them with a macro point of view. The present study tries to investigate the contextually of the factors underlying these changes in a rural space and community.

Keywords

References

  1. Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J.A. (2012). why nations fail: the origin of power, prosperity and poverty. New York: Crown Business.
  2. Afrakhteh, H. (1993). Traditional animal husbandry in Fumanat. Geographical Researches Journal. 28, 69-87. [In Persian]
  3. Afrakhteh, H. (2015). The role of basic needs on villager’s developmental behavior (case: Sardar Jangal District in Fuman County). Journal of Research and Rural Planning, 3(11), 51-61. [In Persian] https://jrrp.um.ac.ir/article_26380.html
  4. Afrakhteh, H. (2018). Rural Economy of Iran (Production System). Semnan, Hableh Rood Publication. [In Persian]
  5. Allan, G. (2003). A critique of using grounded theory as a research method. Electronic journal of business research methods, 2(1), 1-10.
  6. Azizolahi, S. (2018). One third of the country's court cases is land title lawsuits. ISNA. November 17. Retrieved from: https://www.isna.ir/news/97082612801
  7. Bathelt, H., & Glückler, J. (2003). Toward a relational economic geography. Journal of economic geography, 3(2), 117-144. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/3.2.117
  8. Bathelt, H., & Glückler, J. (2005). Resources in economic geography: from substantive concepts towards a relational perspective. Environment and Planning A, 37(9), 1545-1563. https://doi.org/10.1068/a37109
  9. Bathelt (2006). Geographies of production: growth regimes in spatial perspective 3-toward a relational view of economic action and policy. Progress in human geography, 30(2), 223-236. https://doi.org/10.1191/0309132506ph603pr
  10. Bathelt, H., & Glückler, J. (2014). Institutional change in economic geography. Progress in human geography, 38(3), 340-363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132513507823
  11. Baumol, W. J. (1996). Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive. Journal of business venturing, 11(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9026(94)00014-x
  12. Fanti, L., & Buccella, D. (2020). Pareto-Superiority of Corporate Social Responsibility in Unionised Industries. Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, 19(2), 131-150. https:// doi.org/ 10.1177/0976747919865217
  13. Foran, J. (1993). Fragile resistance: Social transformation in Iran from 1500 to the revolution. Boulder: Westview press.
  14. Henrekson, M., & Sanandaji, T. (2011). The interaction of entrepreneurship and institutions. Journal of Institutional Economics. 7(1), 47-75. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137410000342
  15. Holcombe, R. G. (1998). Entrepreneurship and economic growth. The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 1(2), 45-62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12113-998-1008-1
  16. International Property Rights Index. (2019). Edited by Lorenzo Montanari
  17. Issawi (1971). The economic history of Iran, 1800-1914. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  18. Ivashina, V., & Scharfstein, D. (2010). Bank lending during the financial crisis of 2008. Journal of Financial economics, 97(3), 319-338.
  19. Kirzner, I. M. (1997). Entrepreneurial discovery and the competitive market process: An Austrian approach. Journal of economic Literature, 35(1), 60-85.
  20. Lands, D. (1998). The wealth and poverty of Nations: Why some are so rich and some so poor. New York: W.W.Norton.
  21. Levi-Faur, D. (1997). Economic Nationalism: From Friedrich List to Robert Reich. Review of International Studies 23(3), 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0260210597003598
  22. Martin, Ron (2003). Institutional Approaches in Economic Geography. In In E. Sheppard & T. J. Barnes (Eds.), A Companion to Economic Geography Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  23. Maslow, A. H. (1958). A Dynamic Theory of Human Motivation. In C. L. Stacey & M. Demartino (Eds.), Understanding human motivation (p. 26–47). Howard Allen Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1037/11305-004
  24. Mcleod. T. H. (1964). National planning in Iran: A report based on the experiences of the Harvard advisory Group in Iran. Development Aversory Service, Harvard University.
  25. Momeni, F. (2017). Institutional requirements of production-oriented and productive employment. lecture in religion and economy research institution. April 16. [In Persian] retrieved from: http:// www.aryanews.com/ news/20170416172353349/
  26. Momeni, F. (2020). Obsessing with speculation. Etemad newspaper. May 5. [In Persian] Retrieved from: https://etemadonline.com/content/403286
  27. Najarzadeh, A., Mehranfar, J., & Tabarasi, M. (2012). The Role of Productive and Non-Productive Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth. Journal of Planning and Budgeting, 17(3), 115-130. [in Persian]
  28. North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. New York. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511808678
  29. North, D. C. (2005). Understanding the process of economic change. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400829484
  30. Olson, M. (1982). The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  31. Palley, T. I. (2013). Financialization: what it is and why it matters. In Financialization (pp. 17-40). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
  32. Pourfikoei, A. (1978). Transformation of traditional livestock forms in Gilan plain. Journal of Literature and Humanities. 3(55), 621-639. [In Persian]
  33. Rezagholi, A. (2019). If North was Iranian. Tehran: Institutionalist Publications. [In Persian]
  34. Ritzer, G., & Stepnisky, J. N. (2017). Sociological Theory (10th ed.). SAGE Publications.
  35. Shakeri, A. (2012). Macroeconomics, Volume One. Tehran: Rafeh Publishing. [In Persian]
  36. Shakeri, A. (2016). Introduction to Iranian Economy. Tehran: Rafeh Publications. [In Persian]
  37. Shakeri, A. (2016). The threat of unproductive activities for Iranian economy. special issue of the Sixth Development Plan, Khorasan Newspaper, p.10. [In Persian]
  38. Shirley, M. M. (2005). Institutions and Development. In C. Ménard & M. M. Shirley (eds.), Handbook of New Institutional economics (pp. 611-638). Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-25092-1_25
  39. World Bank Group (2019). Doing Business 2019. World Bank, 304. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1326-9 
Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 15 January 2022
  • Revise Date: 05 March 2022
  • Accept Date: 20 June 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics