Innovation, as a driving force of economic growth, plays a vital role in improving productivity, enhancing competitiveness, and strengthening production capacities. This research aiming at investigating the impact of innovation on economic growth in Iranian provinces, uses panel data from 31 provinces of Iran over the period 2011 to 2021 and employs the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method. The research findings indicate a positive and significant relationship between the innovation component and economic growth, such that an increase in innovation in Iranian provinces leads to increased economic growth.
In this study, the number of researchers, research centers, and universities are considered as key indicators of innovation, and all these indicators are shown to have a positive and significant effect on the economic growth of the provinces. More precisely, increasing specialized human capital and developing research and university infrastructures have led to improvements in gross domestic product. Furthermore, provinces with greater investment in research and scientific  development, having stronger research infrastructures and more capital invested in innovation, have experienced sustained economic growth.