An Analysis of the Forms and Characteristics of Corporate Welfare in the Resolutions of Iran’s High Council for the Development of Non-Oil Exports (2001–2021)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Faculty of Social Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/jte.2026.397784.1009016

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the manifestations of corporate welfare in the domain of export support, its modes of financing, the objectives pursued, and its trajectory during the eighth to twelfth administrations. The research methodology was grounded in documentary analysis, complemented by thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis. The study population comprised all resolutions of the Supreme Council for Non-Oil Exports over a twenty-year period (2001–2021). The findings demonstrate that the main forms of support included the granting of export rewards, transport subsidies, risk coverage, the provision of loans, diplomatic support, and exhibition subsidies, which were predominantly financed through allocations from the public budget. These measures were extended without explicit objectives, on an unconditional basis, and without imposing any commitments on beneficiaries. Moreover, neither specific goods nor particular markets were prioritized, and no reference was made to a comprehensive export strategy or a coherent industrial policy. Over the twenty years examined, the forms of support remained largely unchanged, and their repetition across different governments was not based on any evaluation of whether previous measures had been effective.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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