Identification of Key Sectors for Iran, South Korea and Turkey Economies: A Network Theory Approach

Considering the scarcity of resources especially in developing countries, it is critical to identify the key sectors of these economies. Recognition of key sectors is one important subject for policy makers and economic planners. In determining key sectors both in theory and in practice several different methods are proposed in the literature. One of the most novel and recent approaches is based on network theory, under which different weights, known as influence indices, are assigned to both intermediate and final demand of sectors. In order to pinpoint those sectors with strong linkages in a contributing to the economy, network theory proposes a definition of centrality measures including total effects, meditative effects and immediate effects which considered as multilevel indicators. as. The purpose of this study is to determine the key sectors of Iran, South Korea and Turkey and compare the results using Iran’s 1999 input-output table, South Korea’s 2005 input-output table and Turkey's 2002 input-output table. The results show that considering the role of final demand for some economic activities are really important in identifying key sectors of Iran, Turkey and Korea although it is less important in some sectors of Turkey and South Korea.