Agricultural Economics and Development

Agricultural Economics and Development

Investigating the Effect of Iran’s Membership in Trade Agreements on Iranian Pistachio Exports

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
M. Aminizadeh 1
H. Rafiee 2
S. A. Zare 3
M. Kaboudtabar 3
A. Kazempour Kahriz 3
1 PhD Student in Agricultural Economics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad Iran
2 Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 MSc Student in Agricultural Economics, University of Tehran, Tehran. Iran
10.30490/aead.2020.279971.1048
Abstract
Trade agreements are generally effective in reducing barriers to trade by reducing the trade costs and increasing the safety of contracts. Iran is a member of the two world trade agreements known as Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP) and Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). Despite the general belief that the presence in trade agreements generally has a positive effect on the trading flow of the countries, there is no guarantee about this effect in all countries and goods. Therefore, considering the importance of pistachio exports of Iran, this study aimed to find out whether Iran’s presence in trade agreements increased exports of Iranian pistachio. For this purpose, the gravity model and pistachios export data during 2001-2016 were used. Based on the results, Iran’s membership in the trade agreements had a positive and statistically significant impact (0.380) on Iranian pistachio exports. Therefore, it was suggested that pistachio exports companies would benefit from the opportunities provided by participating in these and additional trade agreements to adopt appropriate marketing policies and strategies to increase Iran’s pistachio exports to its trading partners.
Keywords
Trade Agreement
Gravity Model
Pistachio
Iran
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