THE IMPACT AND ROLE OF HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT ON REGIONAL CONVERGENCE INNOVATION IN PROVINCES THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

Regional disparities are one of the main problems in developing countries and Iranian provinces suffer from such disparities. Balanced growth of all provinces of the country has been considered essential for sustainable development. By constructing Human Capital Development Index (HCDI) over the period 1996, 2006 and 2011 and four indicators included access to clean water, employment rate, economic participation and average urban income, the main purpose of this paper is to investigate the situation and tendencies in the field of Human Capital Development in Iran based on comparison, convergence and investigates whether there exits convergence in Human Capital Development indicators. The results of this study reveal that, within the analysed period, generally the order of provinces in terms of Human Capital Development has not changed, but HCDI, access to clean water and average income levels have been increased and the relative convergence with both in unconditional β-convergence and σ-convergence analyses has been occurred. Moreover, the results of this study imply that the convergence of economic indicators is most important issue and economic indicators than other indicators is more consistent. Research limitations/implications – Although there are limitations in measuring HCDI and innovation drivers, this approach seems to be valid in recommending more effective innovation strategies/policies on micro and macro level. Practical implications – This research reveals potentials and barriers within HCDI in different Iran , crucial to innovation, pointing to the initiatives which might improve innovation performance across Iran .The identification of HCDI Problems across is valuable for gathering sounder intelligence of the sources of innovation and fine-tuning of national innovation strategy according to specific features . Originality/value – The proposed approach integrates a new perspective into current innovation measurement paradigm. It includes Problems within HCDI in the assessment of innovation performance, which might foster intangible innovation potential.

Intellectual capital, Technical innovation, Human Capital, Structural Capital