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Using Weighted Goal Programming Model for Planning Regional Sustainable Development to Optimal Workforce Allocation: An Application for Provinces of Iran

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Abstract

Due to the urbanization and economic growth, planning of regional sustainable development has become one of the major challenges in the world. The key indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), electricity and energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission (GHG) are considered in sustainable development planning. This paper determines number of required workforce in different sectors of each province in Iran considering targets/goals for sustainable development indicators in the 2030 macroeconomic and regional planning. First, the relative goals are designed for GDP, electricity, energy and GHG emission and then, two weighted goal programming models are applied to allocate the optimal workforce among four sectors: agriculture, industry, services and transportation. The first model minimizes recruitment of new workforce and allows current workforce exchange among the four sectors in each province in order to achieve the goals, while the second model indicates equitable distribution of new workforce recruitment in different sectors within each province. In both models, the workforce changes have been investigated based on achieving the desirable growth rates of GDP, GHG, electricity and energy consumption as planned by the government. Based on the results of this paper, policy makers can manage workforce and the government can make optimized decisions to macroeconomic and regional planning.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professor Filomena Maggino, the editor of Social Indicators Research Journal, and five reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. As results this paper has been improved substantially.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia, Iran

    Hashem Omrani & Mahsa Valipour

  2. Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Ali Emrouznejad

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  1. Hashem Omrani
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  2. Mahsa Valipour
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  3. Ali Emrouznejad
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Correspondence to Hashem Omrani.

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Omrani, H., Valipour, M. & Emrouznejad, A. Using Weighted Goal Programming Model for Planning Regional Sustainable Development to Optimal Workforce Allocation: An Application for Provinces of Iran. Soc Indic Res 141, 1007–1035 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1868-5

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