Identifying and prioritizing the dimensions and components of entrepreneurial competence of investment applicants in Iran's free zones

SummaryThe purposes of creating and developing free zones are increasing and developing exports, creating jobs, attracting domestic and foreign investment and technology transfer, increasing public revenues, increasing tourism, promoting the country's economic position and taking the advantages from a competitive economy. The main purpose of the current study is to identify and prioritize entrepreneurial competencies for starting business and work in the free zones of Iran. In this research, the descriptive method is applied based on the practical purposes and data is collected using survey. The statistical population is the managers of economic entities and entrepreneurs in free zones. A pairwise comparison questionnaire based on the identified criteria and sub-criteria was designed by the opinion of professors and experts in the field and then it was filled by the senior managers who are working in this realm. This research identified 20 sub-criteria related to three main factors including entrepreneurial competence, managerial competence and task competence derived from theoretical foundations and the literature. The results demonstrate that entrepreneurial competence is the most important factor with the highest weight among other main factors. Also, the entrepreneurial skills, market knowledge, and self-management have been determined as the most important sub-criteria respectively with the highest weight among other identified sub-criteria