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There are many factors affecting economic growth. Based on the literature, the effects of these factors such as higher education are mainly examined using endogenous economic growth theories. Various theoretical models are used to estimate the relation among variables affecting economic growth. This paper investigates the effects of higher education human capital on the economic growth in Iran using the endogenous growth models. The specified model includes human capital, physical investment and foreign debt which are identified as the main determinants of economic growth in Iran. Two dummy variables are included in the model in order to represent the effects of Islamic revolution and imposed war. The Johnson five steps approach is employed to estimate the empirical model. The results confirm that higher education human capital has a relatively large and statistically significant effect on the economic growth in Iran. It is found that the growth elasticity of higher education human capital is larger than the growth impact of physical capital investment. So, in order to obtain a high rate of economic growth in the country, investment in higher education human capital must be increased. Moreover, based on the findings, it is recommended that the investment should be made using domestic saving instead of financing abroad.

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Economic liberalization policy has been among the major concern of the governments during the last few decades. However, its impact on economic growth is still a controversial issue. The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of trade liberalization and financial development on economic growth in Iran using annual observations over the period 1973-2007. The current study would use ARDL technique to estimate the empirical model. The findings of this paper indicate that there is a long run positive and significant relationship between trade liberalization and financial development and economic growth in Iran over the period of the study. The error correction coefficient is around 0.32 showing that the adjustment towards the long run equilibrium takes place within almost three years. The Granger causality test indicates that causality runs from trade liberalization and financial development to GDP.

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According to the neoclassical approach, input prices as a measure of resources scarcity induce firms to cost-minimizing and efficient allocation of recourses. But when the prices are distorted, the effective competitive inputs are used inefficiently and have resulted in under- or over-utilization of production factors relative to their endowments or allocative inefficiency. In this paper, the shadow cost approach and system of equations are used to estimate allocative inefficiency using the Iran's manufacturing data over the period 1976-2006. The results show that there is strong allocative inefficiency and increasing cost of production of firms in Iran's Manufacturing Sector.

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The objective of this paper is to investigate the validity of Wagner’s law and the Keynesian view with regards to the relationship between the non-oil gross domestic product and the public sector size for the Iranian economy during the period of 1967-2007. Time series analysis techniques have been used which include unit root tests, cointegration tests and Hsiao causality test. The findings indicate that Wagner’s Law is confirmed in both the short-run and the long-run; whereas the Keynesian view is approved only in the short-run for Iran.

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In spite of a lot of studies in field of housing, housing supply has been less addressed. One of main reasons is complexity of housing supply field. In this study we use Capozza and Helsley urban growth model which assume housing supply as a function of variations in both housing price and construction expenses. The model is estimated with General Method of Moments (GMM) using seasonal data of Iran for 1996:2-2008:1. Results show that effect of housing price variations on housing supply is positive, however the effect of building material expenses and construction opportunity cost (stock exchange index) are both negative on it, but coefficient of stock exchange index is statistically insignificant. In addition, housing price variations and building material expenses with two period lags are effective on housing supply which indicate role of expectations. Also results show that variations in the other markets such as building materials market play important role in housing supply. It is proposed that because of high sensitivity in increasing of housing price, policies of housing supply to be followed by this market.