Iran has gained an opportunity for active presence on the global economic scene, with the recent lessening of sanctions following the Iran nuclear deal. To take advantage of market opportunities Iran needs to strengthen the competitive position of its industries. Appropriate supportive economic policies has to be bsaed on a sound understanding of the competitiveness of key industries. In this connection the oil industry is particularly important given its central role in the Iranian economy. In the study, we use a descriptive analytical approach to study the competitiveness of Isfahan refinery using the company’s latest financial statements for 2011-2012 to calculate the values of protection factors received by the company including nominal protection of products and inputs and effective protection rates of the three selected products of petrol, kerosene and gasoline. The results indicate that despite subsidized pricesn for inputs, restrictive economic policies means that the products do not receive any effective protection due to the burden of indirect taxes imposed on the company which cause the company to turn into a loss making enterprise. The continuation of current policies will seriously undermine the competitiveness of the oil industry in the post sanctinos era. JEL Classification: F40, Z14
chavoshi N, Daei-Karimzadeh S. Study of Oil Refining Company Competitiveness through Measure of Products Support Indices - The case Study of Isfahan Refinery. QEER 2017; 13 (53) :165-184 URL: http://iiesj.ir/article-1-600-en.html