Assessing the government’s role in environmental problems of Iran (An environmental economic approach)

Subject Areas : environmental management

Niloofar Moradhassel ¹ , Amir Hossein Mozayani ²

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Received: 2008-03-09 Accepted : 2008-03-09 Published : 2009-03-09

Keywords: Environment, Air pollution, Iran, government, Pollution emission, capital formation,

Abstract :

Due to the remarkable achievements in economic development over the past few decades,environmental degradation has been inevitable. To meet this problem, the first step is to identify themain sources of pollution which are discussed in this study with an emphasis on the role of thegovernment. State activities like those of the private sector can be one of the main sources ofpollution, especially in developing and less developed countries in which the governments play themain role in economic activities. The issue requires attention because the government not only has a great role in environmental degradation but also has the responsibility of environmental conservation.  The present study aims at analyzing the role of the government in environmental degradation of Iranbecause the government’s huge share in the economic activities has caused serious environmentalproblems besides the undesirable economic consequences. The results of the study indicate the government’s great share in pollution. The researchers havestudied the economic activities in industry, agriculture, trade, transportation, etc. using a descriptiveapproach and also the causal relationship between pollution emission and capital formation in publicand private sectors through econometric techniques. Finally, it has been discussed that at the presenttime, the re-engineering of the economic structure and the government’s role is a pre-requisite for theeffectiveness of environmental policies.