an analysis of comparative advantage of isfahan provincial industries and the factors affecting it

this paper aims at determining isfahan provincial industries orientation as well as relating the comparative advantage indexes and their changes with the province’s industrial characteristics. therefore, applying “factor analysis”, “principal components analysis” and “numerical taxonomy analysis” methods, the paper calculates the determining indexes of the province’s industrial development and offers a ranking on this basis. the provincial industries have been ranked and the advantageous industries identified by the use of the appropriate indexes.