{"id":18955,"date":"2020-05-01T15:44:37","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T15:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/?p=18955"},"modified":"2026-10-29T16:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T16:21:41","slug":"iran-leather-industry-competitive-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/iran-leather-industry-competitive-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s leather industry: comparative and competitive advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Does export growth mean that a leather industry has a lasting competitive advantage?<\/strong> The archive research introduced in this article argues that the answer depends on the stage of the value chain, the markets selected and the sources of competitiveness. It distinguishes advantages in raw hides and leather from the more difficult task of establishing a lasting position in higher-value leather goods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Archive note: the Persian introduction was published on 1 May 2020. Its references to recent years and market decline belong to the underlying historical study. The web introduction does not state the full data period; consult the original Persian PDF for the research details. This page translates the introduction and findings presented on the website, not the entire PDF, and is not a current export-market assessment.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why comparative advantage matters<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The original article opens with a reference to Paul Samuelson\u2019s description of comparative advantage as a meaningful economic principle. International trade is a major branch of economics and an important area of policymaking; the concept of advantage helps explain which activities a country can sustain in trade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As trading conditions evolved, the discussion of advantage developed from absolute advantage to comparative advantage, dynamic comparative advantage and competitive advantage. These approaches examine trade from different perspectives and help frame questions about what to produce, export and import.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-05-01-at-3.37.52-PM.jpeg\" alt=\"Image accompanying the original Persian article on international trade and Iran\u2019s leather industry\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image accompanying the original Persian article on international trade and Iran\u2019s leather industry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two questions behind the analysis<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first question is which products a country should produce and export, and which it should import. The second concerns the sources of that advantage. The article introduces indicators intended to examine both the observed trade position and the factors underlying it.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The four indicators used in the study<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>DRC \u2014 Domestic Resource Cost: used in the article to assess the potential advantage associated with domestic resources.<\/li><li>RCA \u2014 Revealed Comparative Advantage: used to examine the advantage reflected in observed trade.<\/li><li>TM \u2014 Trade Mapping: used to place export performance in the context of market developments.<\/li><li>CMS \u2014 Constant Market Share: used to examine changes in market share and the contribution of market selection and competitive effects.<\/li><\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The source presents DRC and RCA as traditional indicators and TM and CMS as complementary approaches that can also help examine where advantage comes from. Their results should be interpreted together rather than treating one export-growth figure as a complete assessment.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which parts of the leather value chain were assessed?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using the information available to the researchers, the study calculated indicators for raw hides and skins, leather, and principal leather products, including footwear and leather clothing. It assessed the presence of advantage and examined its sources across these stages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The paper is described as having an introduction, a brief account of the development of advantage theory, an empirical section calculating DRC, RCA, TM and CMS, and a concluding assessment. The downloadable PDF contains the underlying paper.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-05-01-at-3.37.52-PM-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Second image from the original article assessing advantage in the leather value chain\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Second image from the original article assessing advantage in the leather value chain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Findings reported for raw hides and skins<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the source\u2019s summary of the study, Iran had an advantage in exporting raw hides and skins for tanning. However, it describes a policy preference for replacing these exports with higher-value products. The trade-based indicators were therefore interpreted as showing a gradual withdrawal from the raw-hide market during the period studied.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Findings reported for leather<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DRC results were interpreted as indicating potential advantage in leather. The RCA results suggested that this potential had become visible in export performance during the years examined and that Iran had achieved revealed comparative advantage in leather exports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The TM assessment placed the country among market winners for leather, while describing the international leather market as declining in the period covered. The article consequently emphasised identifying appropriate export destinations and strengthening the factors that determine competitive advantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CMS analysis suggested that the country\u2019s leather-market advantage was not stable. The summary attributed this to the market conditions described in the research, unsuitable market selection and a negative competitive effect. These are historical findings reported by the source, not a claim about today\u2019s markets.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Findings reported for leather goods<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the study reported growth in exports of leather goods, RCA remained below one in its assessment, so the source did not identify revealed comparative advantage in that segment. The TM discussion described difficult competition in the markets covered, and CMS was negative for most of the export markets examined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The distinction is central to the article: growth in exports does not by itself demonstrate a stable advantage, especially in products with greater added value. Raw-material availability, processing capability and finished-product competitiveness need to be examined separately.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The study\u2019s conclusion<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The overall conclusion was that export growth in Iran\u2019s leather industry had not yet closed the gap to lasting competitive advantage, particularly in higher-value products. The article identified technology, research and marketing as areas requiring attention to narrow that gap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a business reader, the useful analytical question is not simply whether exports are increasing, but which products and destinations support that growth and whether the position can be sustained. A present-day decision would require updated product-level and destination-level information.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Questions and answers<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Did the study treat raw hides, leather and leather goods as one market?<\/strong><br>No. It assessed these stages separately and reported different results for each.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Does an RCA below one indicate an advantage in this article?<\/strong><br>No. The source interpreted RCA below one for leather goods as a lack of revealed comparative advantage during the period examined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Are the findings a current ranking of export destinations?<\/strong><br>No. This is a translation of an archive article. The original PDF should be consulted for the study\u2019s data, methods and period.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Original paper and related reading<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/d8c4a59c-248e-486c-9c21-3a71a4b1425a-1.pdf\">Read the original research PDF (Persian)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a related discussion of business capabilities, see <a href=\"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/leather-product-innovation-market-orientation\/\">market orientation and innovation in new leather products<\/a>. For questions about Dalir materials, use our <a href=\"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/contact-us\/\">contact page<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An archive study of comparative and competitive advantage across Iran\u2019s leather value chain, from raw hides to leather goods, using DRC, RCA, TM and CMS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1439],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-educational-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18957,"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955\/revisions\/18957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dalirleather.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}