---

Economic convergence can be considered as one of the practical reactions of the countries to globalization process. Thus, selecting a :union: or regional trade group is one of the important goals in economic planning. Studying international business cycles and their transfer from one country to another can have a great impact on regional cooperation. Investigating the relationship between trade and business cycles can also offer a proper analysis of regional integration. In this paper, such convergence is studied after Iran’s presence in Shanghai Group as an observer member and efforts which are made to join it. Econometric method and generalized gravity model for the years 1996-2009 are used to find out if there is any business convergence between Iran and member states of Shanghai Group and if synchronization of business cycles is effective to business convergence. It has been revealed that there is no business convergence between Iran and member states of Shanghai and the business relations are divergent as well. It is also found out that there is a negative and significant relationship between synchronization of business cycles and convergence (divergence) of these countries.

---

This research examines business-cycle fluctuations by using Knowledge-based Economy Index (KEI). Data have been collected using consolidated method in 116 countries over the period 1990 -2012. Impact of business cycles' fluctuations has been studied according to the level of the countries' economic knowledge. In this classification, countries were divided to three categories: high, medium and low knowledge-based economies. The generalized method of moments (GMM) and system of simultaneous equations were used to estimate the models, and differential equations were applied for interpreting the results. The findings are described in three parts: top countries with high KEI scores experience decreasing and damped business cycle fluctuations. Those oscillations are convergent, and knowledge-based supply and demand in these countries are proportional. The countries with medium KEI scores have stable and iterative business cycle fluctuations, their movements are nearly convergent, and supply and demand are almost knowledge-based. The countries with low KEI scores are capable of instable and very high business cycle oscillations, and there is knowledge-based demand in these countries, but there is no appropriate supply with it, which results in divergent movements in business cycles.

---

With regard to the role of fiscal policy in reducing the financial crises, determining the magnitude of the fiscal policy multiplier after the 2007-2008 global crisis became one of the most challenging issues in the field of fiscal policy. In general, the magnitude of the fiscal policy multiplier is estimated larger than one according to the Keynesian viewpoint and smaller than one based on neoclassical viewpoint. The difference in the magnitude of the multiplier comes from the fact that economists believe that the fiscal policy multiplier is influenced by the degree of economic openness, the exchange rate regime, the way monetary policy is applied and the business cycle. Differences about the magnitude of the fiscal policy multiplier among schools of economic thought are evident in both theoretical and empirical dimensions. In this regard, this paper tries to estimate fiscal policy multiplier using structural vector autoregressive model (Blanchard and Peroti, 2002 method and Markov switching approach (Hall, 2009) using the seasonal data for Iran during the period (1990: 1-2017:3). The results of the structural vector autoregressive model showed that the instantaneous multiplier, 10-quarter cumulative multiplier, and the 20-quarter cumulative multiplier of the government expenditure were equal to 0.281, 0.304, and 0.445, respectively. In addition, the corresponding multipliers for taxes were -0. 079, - 0.107 and - 0.171, respectively. Since the fiscal policy multiplier varies based on the economic conditions, the results of the nonlinear Markov switching model showed that the government expenditure multiplier during the recession is 0.828 and it is larger than the same coefficient during the boom period (0.108), on one hand. On the other hand, the tax multiplier during the boom period (-0.194) is larger than its value during the period of recession (-0.092 ).