Government Size Threshold and Economic Growth in Iran

Abstract We apply the two-sector production function developed by Ram (1986) to estimate the threshold regression model for Iran, concerning the effect of government size on economic growth. Three government size indicators are used to find out the different threshold points. The results show a non-linear relationship of the Armey curve in Iran, in which the threshold effects corresponding to total government expenditure share in GDP, government consumption expenditure share in GDP, and government investment expenditure share in GDP of about 34.7%, 23.6% and 8%, respectively.