This study aimed at identifying the factors affecting the rural empowerment and rural entrepreneurship development at the level of policy makers, managers and decision makers in rural entrepreneurship policies. It was a qualitative research conducted in Delphi method. The statistical population consisted of 22 experts and professionals in this field who were selected by non-probability sampling with a combination of purposeful judgment method and snowball sampling. Data analysis was conducted in two stages using Delphi method and exploratory factor analysis. The study findings highlighted the importance of the three factors of emotional, behavioral and cognitive empowerments and their explaining components. The results indicated that the dimensions of cognitive empowerment included the individual, group and enterprise factors affecting the emotional empowerment and led to behavioral empowerment which in turn involved the results of entrepreneurial behavior. In addition, the two-way linkage of these dimensions with the institutional environment including five dimensions of support, rural planning, improved rural business environment, rural entrepreneurial goals and rural entrepreneurial values was explained by the study results.

This study aimed at investigating the stimuli and inhibitors of tourism development in Kolm village in Badreh County of Iran. The statistical population included all the experts and authorities of tourism institutions and the present tourists in the county as well as the residents of Kolm village (N=1004). For the experts and authorities group, the census method was used to select the sample (n=31); for the group of present tourists, 35 people were selected in a convenience sampling method; and to select the sample of rural residents group, the random sampling method was used through Cochran formula (n=240). Both the face and content validities of the questionnaire were approved by the experts and its reliability was determined using Cronbach s alpha coefficient (a=0.271). The collected data were analyzed in two methods of descriptive statistics and factor analysis. As shown by the factor analysis results, in terms of importance, there were identified four factors as stimuli (drivers) of the rural tourism development (including environmental, socio cultural, economic-promotional, and welfare-infrastructural stimuli, respectively) and the same four factors as inhibitors of the rural tourism development (including welfare-infrastructural, environmental, socio cultural, and economic-promotional inhibitors, respectively). The mentioned factors explained 62.445 and 54.219 percent of the total variance of the rural tourism development, respectively.

This study aimed at identifying and prioritizing the development strategies regarding handicrafts in the villages of Khuzestan province of Iran. It was mainly conducted with a developmental applied approach in a combined method of Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (FDEMATEL) and SWOT model through descriptive, analytical and survey techniques. The study results indicated the following as the most prioritized strategies in the development of handicrafts in villages of the province, respectively: conducting national and international handicraft exhibitions in the villages targeted as tourism and handicrafts, arranging complete insurance for handicrafts artists with licenses to work, establishing permanent handicrafts markets and bazaars in the ports of the province, introducing handicrafts of Khuzestan province through various educational media to government officials in charge of development expenditure; focusing on the development of e commerce for handicrafts of the province; setting research priorities and coordination needed for timely reception of three percent of development credits, creating educational and promotional films and presentations in the markets for handicraft sales of the province, introducing active handicrafts cooperatives to government agencies of Khuzestan province for spending one percent of the construction budget of handicrafts purchase from these cooperatives, paying special attention to the educational dimension and facilities for the vulnerable economic centers of the province s handicrafts, and providing the experts with the specialist handicraft training by leading professors to prevent the obliteration of some indigenous branches of Khuzestan province.

Today, non farm income is an important part of the livelihood strategies of rural households and plays a great role in reducing the poverty and income inequality. Required data were obtained from 380 rural households in the county using a multistage stratified random sampling method from September 2017 to January 2018. The results of the questionnaires showed that the average income of a rural household in Neyshabur in the period of 2016 2017 was about 211.9 IR million rials. The non farm incomes accounted for 48.8 percent and farm incomes (permanent and temporary crop and livestock) accounted for 51.1 percent of the total rural households income. Gini coefficient decomposition results revealed that while non-farm incomes decreased income inequality, the farm income tended to increase the income inequality among the rural households. The largest share of rural households income inequality was related to livestock income with 34 percent and the lowest related to the subsidies income source with 2 percent. Based on the results, the policy recommendation of this study is to provide a context for the growth of non farm activities, especially non farm wage and self employment activities in rural areas, to reduce the income inequality.

The encouragement and development of entrepreneurship in rural areas and start-up of own businesses depend on several factors and inputs, one of the most important of which is access to credit and capital. Therefore, this survey study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the start-up of own-businesses among the micro-credit recipients of Bank Keshavarzi Iran (AgriBank of Iran) in rural areas of Qom province of Iran. The statistical population included 24980 micro-credit barrowers (credits less than 500 million IR rials) from rural branches of AgriBank of the province in the last five years. Using Cochran formula, the sample size was determined 255 individuals. Multi-stage cluster sampling method in four districts and eight villages were used to select samples. The results of estimated possibility logit model for the own-business start-up indicated significantly positive relations and the impacts of several variables including marital status, self-employed household members, personal brought land, personal brought water and also social status, commitment to the AgriBank, spirit and entrepreneurial attitude and risk taking indicators with 99 percent confidence as well as the other variables including previous job background, type of loan, monitoring the use of loans and private investment with 95 percent confidence, while the variable of waiting period to get the loan had a significantly negative impact with 99 percent confidence. Finally, it was recommended that prior to the allocation of credits, the applicants’ entrepreneurial attitudes; risk taking, social status, and commitment to the bank should be evaluated through the standard scale.

This study aimed at analyzing the success rate of rural women s microcredit funds by applying principles of project management assessment in Lorestan province of Iran. The statistical population included 750 members of the rural women s microcredit funds, out of whom 257 individuals were selected as the sample size using the Krejcie and Morgan table. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The data were analyzed by using the mean, standard deviation, frequency and frequency percentage in the descriptive statistics section and applying correlation test, ANOVA and diagnostic analysis in the inferential analysis section. Grouping results of the discriminant analysis indicated that the audit function was able to group three types of good, average, and weak funds with a 79.4 percent degree of accuracy. The study results also showed that 76.4 percent of the members of the good funds, 88.5 percent of the members of the average funds, and 70.5 percent of the members of the weak funds were properly placed in their funds. In addition, according to the correlation test results, the members with better status in terms of income, period of membership, number of received loans and amount of received loans were more satisfied economically, socially, culturally and psychologically with the performance of Agriculture Jahad Organization of the province in the course of funds activities.

This study aimed at explaining the extent of rural women’s participation in household livelihoods and identifying the effective socio-economic factors. It was conducted in a survey method and the statistical population included the rural women in the Garmah and Jajjarm districts of North Khorasan province of Iran. Using a sampling method, totally 167 individuals were selected and the data and information were collected through interviews and a questionnaire. The study results revealed that despite their significant role in the household livelihoods, the rural women had a limited access to household income and assets (almost 9.3 percent); in addition, the variables including age, educations, extent of individual’s gender bias (gender stereotypes), extent if willingness to progress, extent of mass media usage, economic status of household, the extent to which the villages have development facilities, and distance from villages to the city within the individual, social and family factors were the most important factors significantly affecting the participation of rural women in the rural household livelihoods.