Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Northern Regions of Iran: Key Pillars and Drivers

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
1 aDepartment of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.bRice Research Institute of Iran, Mazandaran Branch, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Amol, Iran
2 Department of Technological Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
3 Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
4 Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
5 Department of Agricultural development, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Shahrekord, Shahrekord, Iran.
Abstract
As new venture establishment has become a vital source of economic evolution and indispensable expediter for local development in current years, the ecosystem approach is considered as one of the practical solutions for reducing the gap between the economies of developed and developing regions. The concept of rural entrepreneurship ecosystems has attracted significant attention among practitioners, policymakers, and researchers during the past decade. However, the research concerning rural entrepreneurship ecosystem has been largely focused on empirics from developed regions. In order to explain the drivers of rural entrepreneurship ecosystem in a developing region, in this study, the data was collected from 103 rural entrepreneurship practitioners through a survey in northern area of Iran. The data was then analyzed using the exploratory factor analysis method. The research team considered the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem supporters in three pillars: policy-making, institution, and society. According to the results of exploratory factor analysis, each triple supporter pillar of the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem was divided into two components. The components extracted from the policy pillar included "rules and regulations" and "infrastructure." The components extracted from the institutional pillar included "networking and informing" as well as "services and support." In addition, "tendencies and characteristics of the people" and "financial participation" were assumed as the society components. These results were discussed and provided agenda for future practical and professional works.

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