After the Islamic Revolution, Iran’s Economic-Social Development and Social Inequality Ratio

The relationship between justice (= lack of inequality) and development has always posed a challenge. While some economists believe that growing inequality is an inevitable result of certain types of development, others believe that nearly all of the reproductive factors of underdevelopment stem from ignoring the issue of social justice and unjustified inequality. In this regard, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship between two crucial categories of socio-economic development and social inequality in post-revolutionary Iranian society.
The article’s central issue concerns the relationship between these two categories at the national level between 1989 and 2019. To answer the research question, Kuznets (parametric relationship), Chalabi (negative linear relationship), and Rafipour (positive linear correlation) were used from three theoretical perspectives: Kuznets (parametric relationship), Chalabi (negative linear relationship), and Rafipour (positive linear correlation). The hypotheses derived from the above theoretical perspectives were tested using the quantitative comparative method and a single-country longitudinal research design.
Between the two categories of economic-social development and inequality, there is a significant negative linear relationship with a relatively strong intensity (beta: -0.719 / sig: 0.000) and a proportional relationship in the shape of an inverted U; but according to the coefficients, the inverted U-shaped relationship is preferred.
The research’s theoretical achievements demonstrate a degree of congruence with Kuznets’s point of view. This indicates that although Iran’s development was initially accompanied by a high level of inequality, the opposite has occurred over time, and the level of inequality has decreased. Therefore, it can be stated that Iran’s high development has led to a reduction in social inequality over time.