Showing 306 results for Type of Study: Applicable
Yasin Ghasemi, Abbas Khandan, Narges Akbarpour-Roshan,
Volume 13, Issue 47 (5-2022)
Abstract
The pension coverage of the Iranian Social Security Organization for self-employed workers is offered at three contribution rates of 12, 14 and 18 percent, but looking at the statistics shows that the demand for these types of insurances is low. This research investigates the characteristics of these insured groups by using data mining and applying two machine learning algorithms, decision tree and random forest, and predicts their behavior by providing a classification model. This will help the Social Security Organization to improve customer relationship management. For this purpose, the information of 1286174 insured persons of self-employed in 2020 was used, which includes the characteristics of age, gender, average monthly income, the years of service, and the type of self-employed pension scheme. The obtained results show that women mainly apply for the scheme with 12 percent contribution, while men tend to be covered by schemes with contribution rates of 14 and 18 percent due to the burden of supporting the family. Also, for men, the demand for schemes of 14 and 18 percent increases with the increase of age, income and years of service, but there are no such trends for women. According to the obtained results, years of service and then gender are decisive in choosing the type of pension scheme in such a way that according to the prediction of the model, people with less than 4.5 years of service are known as definite applicants for 12 percent self-employed pension scheme.
Navid Salek, Morteza Khorsandi,
Volume 13, Issue 47 (5-2022)
Abstract
The price of crude oil is one of the factors affecting economic indicators. Therefore, the prediction of oil prices and the accuracy of the applied methods have always been discussed by economists. In this study, the effect of all effective variables on the supply and demand of crude oil based on McAvoy's competitive theory is investigated, and the supply and demand are estimated using the system of simultaneous equations and conventional statistical methods. Then, using algebraic operations and the assumption of equality of oil supply and demand in the long term, the long-term potential of oil supply and demand is extracted with respect to each of the variables in the model. Based on the results, the world's gross domestic product (GDP) has the greatest impact on oil prices with a demand potential of 0.6039, and the world's military and security tensions have the least impact with a demand potential of –0.0110. After estimating the model, the prediction accuracy of three combined mothod is compared with conventional and single-variable methods of neural network and ARIMA. These three combined methods are: (a) neural network and system of simultaneous equations, (b) ARIMA and system of simultaneous equations, (c) neural network and ARIMA and system of simultaneous equations. The results showed that the combined method of ARIMA and simultaneous equation system provides better reslts for 5-year forecasts while the combined method of neural network and ARIMA and simultaneous equation system shows better results for 10-year forecasts.
Zahra Zarouni, Samad Hekmati Farid, Seyed Jamaluddin Mohseni Zanouzi, Ali Fiqh Majidi,
Volume 13, Issue 47 (5-2022)
Abstract
Why are some countries rich and others poor? And do poor countries converge toward rich countries in terms of economic performance? There are questions that have occupied the minds of economists for a long time, and the answers to these questions are the basis of the formation of economic growth patterns. During the development of developing countries, it is discussed whether institutional and structural homogeneity is a prerequisite for income convergence and performance of developing countries. Our research deals with institutional analysis in developing countries. Therefore, in this research, the formation of institutional and income convergence clusters in developing countries during the period of 2002-2020 has been investigated using the log t test of Phillips and Soule (2007, 2009). The results show that the convergence of institutional indicators among developing countries is rejected. However, the results of the cluster method provide strong evidence of the existence of converging clusters among developing countries. Also, in this study, the clustering of the per capita income of the studied countries has been done, which shows similar results to institutional clustering. which indicates that institutional clusters may be effective in forming income clusters.
Amirali Farhang, Majid Afsharirad, Ali Mohammadpour,
Volume 13, Issue 47 (5-2022)
Abstract
The main objective of this article is to investigate the effect of the tax burden and corruption perceptions index, as well as the interactive effect of these two variables on the total factors of productivity, using the panel data of 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) during 2002 - 2020 and Pooled Mean Group (PMG) method. The results of the study showed that increasing the tax burden without the corruption perceptions index reduces the productivity of the production factors in both the short and long term, While the increase of the corruption perceptions index and the joint effects of the corruption perception index and the tax burden have a positive and significant effect on the productivity of all production factors. The positive interaction effect of the tax burden and the corruption perceptions index on the productivity of the total production factors indicates that the increase in the corruption perception index reduces the negative effect of the tax burden on the productivity of the total production factors. An increase of one unit of the tax burden has had a negative and significant impact of 0.027 and 0.019 units on the productivity of all production factors in the short and long term, respectively, While the increase of the corruption perception index and the interactive effects of the corruption perceptions index and the tax burden are 0.022, 0.041 a and in the long term, 0.048 and 0.069 units have had a positive and significant effect on it.
Dr. Shahryar Zaroki, Dr. Mani Motameni, Mis. Niloofar Gorgani Firoozjah,
Volume 13, Issue 48 (9-2022)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of commodity group expenditures on the probability of urban and rural household poverty in Iran. First, using household expenditure-income data in 1399, the poverty line was calculated based on the method of 66% of the average per capita expenditure, which is higher than urban households than rural households. In the following, the research model is limited by a dependent variable and is estimated based on pseudo-panel data in logistic regression by random effects method. The results showed that the expenditures of the communication group have the greatest impact on the probability of household poverty in urban and rural areas and the impact of this group of goods in urban areas is greater than rural areas. In contrast, hotel and restaurant costs in urban areas have a greater positive effect on reducing the likelihood of household poverty than in rural areas. But the cost of durable goods in urban areas, transportation in rural areas, and the cost of recreation and cultural affairs do not have a significant effect on the likelihood of household poverty. There is also no significant difference between the impact of furniture and household appliances, clothing and footwear and health care in urban and rural areas. Between social characteristics of the household, variables of gender and education have a negative effect on the probability of poverty and variables of household dimension and marital status have a direct effect on the probability of poverty of urban households, but these variables have no significant effect on the probability of poverty of rural households.
Dr Abolfazl Shahabadi, Ms Roghaye Pouran, Ms Parisa Goli,
Volume 13, Issue 48 (9-2022)
Abstract
Undoubtedly, one of the ways to realize the knowledge-based economy is to improve the Total Factors Productivity through the expansion of innovative activities and the absorption of the hidden knowledge in imported technologies. What facilitates this process is the appropriate institutional quality and the targeted use of globalization capacity in different dimensions. In this regard, this research, with the approach of panel data and the Method of Generalized Moments (GMM), investigates the mutual effect of globalization and innovation on the productivity of the total factors in two groups of selected science-producing countries with per capita income above 20 thousand dollars and selected countries Science producer with low per capita income paid $20,000 during 2011-2019 period. The results show that the mutual influence of globalization and innovation have had a positive and significant effect on the productivity of the total factors in both groups of selected countries with different estimated coefficients. The same is the case with the effect of the control variables of economic incentives and institutional regime and training and development of human resources, while control variable of economic freedom has a positive and significant effect on the total factor productivity index in selected science producing countries with high per capita income and in selected science producing countries with low per capita income. According to the findings of the research, it can be said that globalization by itself cannot be considered as a factor in improving the productivity of factors. Rather, the targeted use of human capital capacity in the context of appropriate institutional quality can benefit from the positive benefits of globalization and economic freedom in order to improve the productivity of all factors.
Mehdi Shirafkan Lamsoo,
Volume 13, Issue 48 (9-2022)
Abstract
'space economy' It is the general theory of locating all economic activities in which the geographical distribution of inputs (Intermediate or production factors) and geographical distribution of output (intermediate and final consumption markets), Along with spatial changes, prices and costs are considered. In this concept, the general equilibrium approach in terms of transportation costs and distance is suggested for economic analysis.. Due to the fact that in this approach, several factors influence the creation of balance. The aim of the current research is to model the factors affecting the economy of space in Iranian metropolises (Tehran, Karaj, Qom, Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz and Ahvaz) using the Markov switching panel approach. Based on the results of provincial added value; public investment; Higher education as a representative of the knowledge economy in the province and the share of the urban population, which indicates the degree of industrialization of the examined cities had a positive effect on investment in space, and the variables of the share of old age in the total population of the province and inflation had a negative effect on investment in this variable; Also, based on the results of the major research on investment in the field of space in the big cities of Iran except Tehran and Karaj in recent years, which coincides with the boom years in the estimation model; It has been done.
Dr. Mohammad Hassanzadeh, Mrs Mina Barghinejad,
Volume 13, Issue 48 (9-2022)
Abstract
Government investment and public debt are two important tools of financial policy affecting macroeconomic performance, which can be considered as one of the few remaining policy instruments to support growth. In the current study, the panel smooth transition regression model (PSTR) has been used to identify the threshold levels of government investment and public debt in 23 oil exporting countries during 2000 to 2021. Considering investment and public debt in separate models as transmission variables, the estimated results indicate the existence of a two-regime non-linear relationship. The estimation results show that in this group of countries, the positive effects of government investment on economic growth increase with the increase in the level of investment. During the first regime, public debt has a negative effect on economic growth. If public debt surpasses the threshold level, its negative impact on economic growth decreases.
Mr Mohammad Nikzad, Dr Mahdi Yazdani,
Volume 13, Issue 48 (9-2022)
Abstract
The balance of payments shocks affects different economies and can lead to business cycles. Hence, the main purpose of the paper is to evaluate the effects of different balance of payments shocks, including the shocks of oil exports, non-oil exports, imports, net capital account, real exchange rate, real interest rate and consumer price index, on total output and creation of business cycles. Therefore, in this study it will be tried to evaluate the effect of balance of payments shocks, and their importance, on creation of fluctuations in total production in Iranian economy. For this purpose, the structural vector auto-regressive method has been used during the seasonal period of 2001:02-2021:04. The results based on impulse response functions show that the shocks real exchange rate, real interest rate and consumer price index have negative effect on output and lead to recession cycle in the economy. Also, the shocks of non-oil export, oil export, import and net capital account will be caused to boom cycle in the economy. Meanwhile, the exchange rate shock has had the most effect on output. Finally, the real exchange rate, oil export and real interest rate variables have had the most share in explanation of output variance, while the effect of import has been raised in the next.
Dr Saleh Taheri Bazkhaneh,
Volume 13, Issue 49 (12-2022)
Abstract
Monetary policy modeling is one of the important areas in macroeconomics, which has been expanded after the pioneering study of Taylor (1993) in the framework of the central bank's reaction function. By applying new econometric approaches, economists try to answer the controversies in the literature and provide new implications by evaluating the monetary policy and its relationship with macroeconomic stability. In this regard, the current research has used the continuous wavelet transform and its tools to investigate the relationship between monetary policy and the production gap, inflation deviation and the gap in the foreign exchange market in Iran's economy. The results show that in the period of 1989-2022, the central bank only in the short term (less than one year) puts the output gap under its target or affects it arbitrarily. This is important for the deviation of inflation from its long-term trend in the short-term and medium-term (1-4 years). Due to the intertwining of the monetary policy and the currency market, which is due to the lack of independence of the central bank, the tendency to suppress the exchange rate and the contagion of imbalances to the monetary base, the relationship between the monetary policy and the gap in the currency market is unstable.The information and analysis presented in the field of time-frequency, taking into account the developments of Iran's economy, can be useful for those interested in this field.
Mr Hossein Hafezi, Mr Siab Mamipour,
Volume 13, Issue 49 (12-2022)
Abstract
Climate change has emerged as a significant global challenge, with its impact increasing rapidly in recent decades. The consumption of fossil fuels, which leads to the emission of greenhouse gases like CO2, is a major contributor to climate change. Iran, ranked as the sixth most polluted country in the world, emitted a staggering 745 million tons of CO2 in 2020. Notably, the power plants sector in Iran accounts for roughly 30% of its total carbon emissions. As a result, the main objective of this paper is to engage in long-term planning for electricity supply and demand in Iran, aiming to reduce carbon emissions in line with the country's obligations under the Paris Agreement. To achieve this goal, we utilized the MESSAGE model to design an electricity generation system that takes into account the potential of renewable sources from 2021 to 2050. Additionally, the ARDL model was employed to estimate electricity demand under various scenarios, including subsidy reforms. These predictions were then incorporated into the long-term planning process for Iran's electricity supply system. The findings of the ARDL model highlight that the subsidy reform strategy leads to a 10% decrease in electricity demand throughout the planning period, indicating effective control over the demand side. On the other hand, the MESSAGE model's findings reveal that Iran's ability to fulfill its responsibilities under the Paris Agreement heavily relies on the utilization of renewable potentials across different regions in power supply planning. While carbon dioxide emissions in Iran's electrical sector are not expected to be reduced in the near future (2020 to 2030). However, in the long term (2040 to 2050), significant reductions in CO2 emissions can be achieved. According to the findings, if the electricity system in Iran is designed in accordance with a chosen scenario that incorporates green technologies and subsidy reforms, the share of renewable technologies can increase from 6% in 2020 to 15%, 50%, and 78% in 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively. Consequently, carbon emissions in the power generation sector can be reduced by 20% and 54% in 2040 and 2050, respectively, compared to 2020 levels.
Dr Hossein Samsami Mazrae Akhoond, Mr Ahmad Bakhtiyari,
Volume 13, Issue 49 (12-2022)
Abstract
The unmanaged control of liquidity growth has always been the concern of policymakers due to its negative consequences. Recently, policymakers have focused on the needing to control the liquidity growth. One of the liquidity drivers is the government borrowing from the central bank. In this regard, governments have concerned for the issue of not borrowing from the central bank since the 2000s onwards. Although governments are limiting themselves for this borrowing, they force banks and financial institutions to borrow from that source. For this purpose, this study designs a macroeconomic model by including the net debt of the public sector to the central bank as well as to banks and financial institutions via the government's financial balance channel. This model shows the relationships of economic variables in the framework of a stochastic dynamic general equilibrium (DSGE) model, considering nominal and real frictions. The results confirm the reliability of the model for simulating the economy of Iran after determining the input values and calibrating the parameters of the model using the Iran's economy data during 2000-2020. The findings from the research data show that the net increase in government sector debt to banks and non-banking credit institutions has a positive effect on investment, in such a way that new liquidity by the government obtained from institutions and banks It has been produced in the form of new deposits at the disposal of the department. The net impulse of public sector debt to the central bank causes an increase in consumption in the utility function and the total consumption of a combination of public goods and services provided by the government as well as private consumption goods and services. Also, the net impulse of public sector debt to the central bank causes an increase in inflation and a slight growth of production, and the net impulse of public sector debt to banks and credit institutions increases inflation and stimulates production.
Dr Leila Torki, Mr Omid Ghorbanzadeh,
Volume 13, Issue 49 (12-2022)
Abstract
The state of development of technology in today's world is such that the development process and the future of the world in the field of technology cannot be accurately predicted. In the meantime, blockchain technology has been highly regarded as a revolutionary technology. This technology is a protocol that allows information to be exchanged directly between contracting parties in a network without the need for intermediaries. Blockchain has been one of the most important technology trends in recent years, and banking is one of those sectors that many experts believe will accept major changes from blockchain technology. Considering the revolutionary impact that blockchain technology can have on the banking system, it will be very important to examine the impact of this technology on the banking system, which represents how to create, present and acquire value in this sector. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of this technology in the banking system. In order to achieve this goal, the method of data collection is the type of document-library research and sample statistics, and it is quantitative-qualitative in nature, and the method is a survey, and the tools used are questionnaires and field observations. According to this research, it confirms the effectiveness of blockchain technology on the banking system. Finally, considering that blockchain technology will challenge almost all the core sectors of the banking system, it is necessary for banks to adopt a suitable strategy to deal with the threats and use the opportunities resulting from this technology.
Mrs Roghayeh Soltani, Dr Roya Seifipour, Dr Mir Hossein Mousavi, Dr Saman Ziaee,
Volume 13, Issue 49 (12-2022)
Abstract
Applying a favorable tax system has important conditions such as justice and efficiency, therefore, consumption tax and income tax will comply with the principles of benefit and ability to pay. In this regard, value added tax is known as the most important innovation of the 20th century in terms of tax collection on consumption. Since increasing government revenue is one of the important goals of imposing this type of tax, the government has tried to determine the rate of this type of tax effectively and efficiently. Disproportionate increase in value added tax rates can have negative social effects on inflation, economic growth, income distribution, and general well-being in society. It may also have disruptive effects on other variables and sectors of Iran's economy. To manage the rate increase, one approach is to simulate and examine its consequences and effects on macroeconomic variables in the form of a multi-regional calculable general equilibrium model (MRCGE). Three different scenarios were applied and examined to simulate the shock effects of the increase in the value-added tax rate (12% , 15% , and 20 %) on four macro variables of Iran's economy: inflation, gross domestic product, consumption, and investment. The simulations were conducted at the country level using a multi-regional calculable general balance model, known as the ORANI-G Iran model, using the 2016 input-output table and regional accounts of the country. The results indicate that the effect of increasing the tax rate on value-added will increase inflation and investment and decrease GDP and consumption.
Dr. Mohammad Feghhi Kashani, Dr. Naser Khiabani, Mrs. Sevda Lak,
Volume 13, Issue 50 (3-2023)
Abstract
Abstract: In the labor market literature, Shimer's criticism of the standard search and matching models indicates a low elasticity of the labor market as to the technology shock. As a result, the standard search and matching model is not able to explain the fluctuations observed in the main variables of the labor market, such as unemployment and job vacancies. In other words, in the standard model of search and matching with Nash bargaining, the fraction of fundamental surplus is large. Various explanations have been proposed to increase the elasticity of labor market compression to changes in productivity, and they all entail reducing the fundamental surplus fraction. By integrating the current and expected monetary policy induced debt overhang friction in the production and financial intermediatory sectors with a standard search and matching model this study aims at analyzing and pursuing how inclusion of this friction, through reducing the fundamental surplus and raising elasticity of labor market compression, could explain the excessive volatility in unemployment and job vacancy opportunities and thereby rendering a new solution for the Shimer’s puzzle. Further, the basic idea of this research was developed within a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model including the key components of the search and matching model entailing the fundamental surplus fraction. The resulting integrated model can be viewed as a theoretical framework for investigating the implications of including long-term risky nominal debt and the debt overhang for the fundamental surplus fraction in the structure involving financial frictions and the main features of the search and matching model subject to firm-specific productivity shocks and inflation. Considering the Iranian economy features, the model has been simutated for two cases one involves inertia in prices and the other one entails flexible prices. The findings show that a monetary regime that leads to inflation would ensue the debt overhang episodes via reducing the real value of companies' debts. As leverage and default rates upsurge, firms pass up new investments and this leads to reduced labor force recruitment, job vacancy opportunities cut, and increased unemployment. As such, the debt overhang in companies lowers the fundamental surplus fraction and thus aggravates the impact of shocks on the elasticity of the labor market compression.
Leila Ahmadvand, , ,
Volume 13, Issue 50 (3-2023)
Abstract
Social security organization, as the largest active institution in the field of social security and insurance of the country, plays a critical role in the social, livelihood and economic situation, so that any kind of disturbance in the economic situation of that organization creates a crisis in the entire economic system. provides Since the fulfillment of the obligations of the organization to the society is based on the economic ability and the resources it has, it is necessary to make a detailed analysis of the factors affecting the resources of the organization and make policies accordingly. In this research, the effect of monetary and financial policies on the state of social security organization's resources has been investigated in two models. The time period of the research is between 1350 and 1399, and in order to analyze the data, the vector autoregression method with distributed intervals (ARDL) was used. The results of the research show that the real GDP, liquidity, interest rate, exchange rate, support ratio and the ratio of compulsory workers to the total insured have a positive and significant impact on the state of social security organization's resources. Also, the effect of the ratio of tax revenues to GDP on the organization's resources is negative. In this regard, in order to improve the situation of resources, it is suggested that, in addition to economic policies (such as no excessive growth of taxes, regulation of liquidity and interest rates at a level commensurate with the increase in economic growth), population policies and increasing youth The population should also be given enough attention.
Sahebe Mohamadian Mansour,
Volume 13, Issue 50 (3-2023)
Abstract
Despite the notion that economies with abundant natural resource revenues should have a lower default risk and thus a lower share of public debt, this notion is not generally valid. Natural resources in these countries serve as a guarantee to procure more public loans and binds them in debt trap. In this regard, this article examines the short-term and long-term effects of natural resource rent on public debt in developing countries during 2000-2020. For this purpose, first, a model was designed with the presence of basic variables affecting public debt, along with the variable of share of natural resource rent from GDP, and using panel co-integration tests, the existence of a long-term equilibrium relationship between the variables of the model was confirmed. Finally, the pooled mean group (PMG) approach was used to measure long-term and short-term relationships, and the e Dumitrescu-Hurlin test was used to determine causality. The findings of this research show that the effect of the share of natural resource rent from GDP on public debt is negative (and significant) in the short term and positive (and significant) in the long term. The results of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin test also indicate the existence of a two-way causal relationship between the abundance of natural resources and public debt. Based on this, it can be said that the abundance of natural resources in developing countries leads to higher public debts in the long term, and high levels of public debts also cause rapid extraction of natural resources in these countries.
Dr Parviz Rostamzadeh, Elizabeth Soltani Shirazi, Dr Rouhollah Shahnazi, Dr Sakine Owjimehr,
Volume 13, Issue 50 (3-2023)
Abstract
Unconventional monetary policies entered the field of economic discussions after the global financial crisis of 2008 and with the ineffectiveness of conventional monetary policies and have been considered with the aim of combating the reduction of money supply and economic recession. One of the important tools used to implement unconventional monetary policies is credit esing, which obviously does not have a quantitative value, and on the other hand, its prediction and impact on macroeconomic variables is of particular importance. In this research, the effect of the shocks resulting from the implementation of the credit easing policy on Iran's macroeconomic variables is investigated using the QUAL VAR method. In this way, using standard, simulated and quantified methods, the effect of credit easing policy shocks on macroeconomic variables during the years 2001 to 2022 is investigated using various tests. The results show that the impact of the mentioned policy shocks in the first months after the shock has caused a 0.04 percent decrease in the real GDP growth rate, a 0.01 percent increase in the inflation rate, and a 0.03 percent decrease in the employment rate and then in the following months, it will increase real GDP growth rate and employment rate. The mentioned shocks caused a 0.03 percent increase in the monetary base. Therefore, these applied shocks increase growth expectations. In general, the results show the fact that the policy of credit easing has led to an expansion in the assets side of the Central Bank's balance sheet, and by applying the necessary controls, it can be a suitable tool for stabilizing and growing macroeconomic variables in the months after its implementation and dealing with recessionary conditions.
Dr Samira Motaghi, Dr Yegane Mosavi Jahromi, Mr Mohammad Amin Taheri Gorgani,
Volume 14, Issue 51 (5-2023)
Abstract
Purpose: The insurance penetration rate is one of the most important indicators used to evaluate the insurance industry of a country. This ratio is also a measure to compare the performance of the insurance industry between developed and developing countries. The aim of this research is to compare the insurance penetration rate and the factors affecting it in high and low income countries.
Methodology: The current research examines the effect of variables such as inflation rate, education, labor productivity, dependency ratio and income on the insurance penetration rate in the period 2011-2021 and using PMG and ARDL methods to derive short-term and long-term equations in 18 countries with income High and low income and the country of Iran pays.
Findings: The results obtained from the estimation of long-term PMG models in high-income countries indicate a positive effect of dependency ratio, income level and fertility level on the insurance penetration rate, as well as a negative effect of inflation rate and labor productivity on the dependent variable, also in selected countries with high income. All the variables, except for education and dependency ratio, which had a positive and significant effect on the insurance penetration rate, are statistically meaningless. On the other hand, the findings from the estimation of the long-term ARDL model in Kesho Iran show the negative impact of the inflation rate on the insurance penetration rate and the positive impact of the education level, income level and dependency ratio on the insurance penetration rate.
Dr Parvaneh Salatin, Dr Maryam Khodaverdi Samani, Mr Sydrasol Hashemi,
Volume 14, Issue 51 (5-2023)
Abstract
Interest rate is one of the most important effective tools in policymaking. It affects investments, stability, economic growth and the real sector of the economy. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of real interest rates on convergence of banks' efficiency in provinces. The results using spatial econometrics during the period 1400-2011 showed that the real interest rate has a positive and significant effect on the efficiency of banks in the provinces. . The absolute convergence rate was 0.211 and in conditional models was 0.222 and 0.228, which shows that in conditional condition, the convergence rate of provinces was higher. With the introduction of real interest rates, the pace of convergence has also increased. In other words, 11.2% in absolute convergence mode and 22.2% and 28.2% in conditional convergence mode are resolved from the economic gap of provinces to stable state. Also, economic growth has a positive and significant effect and human capital and ICT have a negative and significant effect on the convergence of banks' efficiency in the provinces.
