The effect of education on industrial development : Evidence from Iranian small industries

The literature show evidence that small manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) are understood as main source of technology development and employment creation. At the same time they are vulnerable to a number of restrictions such as access to finances, skilled labor and public support, while are exposed to high competition and suffer from low survival rate. This research aims to shed lights on the role that education play in the process of industrial and economic development of Iranian provinces. This research is conducted in a number of ways. First, a comprehensive literature review is conducted to gain experience from the national and international literature to identify the state-of-art research and important theories, methods and empirical results to shape the structure of this research and identify key data requirements. Second, the status of industrial infrastructure and distribution of firms by important characteristic of education is investigated. Comparison is made at the aggregate national level. Third, based on the literature findings and analysis of the industry structure, assemble a data set at the province level that is representative with good coverage of the industry sector. Also a composite Development Infrastructure Index for provinces with available ranks in mentioned component is calculated. Based on the findings, appropriate policy recommendations to improve the conditions of SMEs infrastructure and performance will purposed