Pro-Poor Growth in Different Economic Sectors in Iran: A Zenga Index Approach

Abstract Poverty is one of the most important issues in developing countries; thus, poverty and poverty reduction have always been a concern for nations. This unbearable social phenomenon, which must be controlled, is out of control in most of developing countries. This study aimed to develop coordination and interrelation between economic growth, inequality, and poverty in Iran. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine how much economic growth reduces poverty by calculating pro-poor growth index (PEGR) for service, industry, and agriculture sectors in urban and rural areas in Iran from 2005 to 2018. Besides, it assessed the effect of changes in the average income and the distribution of income on poverty. We identified economic sectors with pro-poor growth. The findings of the research indicated that there was pro poor growth just in the rural service sector in Iran. In addition, although the distribution effects decreased poverty in the other sectors, total poverty increased under the period because of the negative growth. Also, the Zanga index results indicate that inequality has decreased in all sectors during the period.Jel Classification: O47, D33, I32, O15, D63