Factors Affecting Decision-Making Process in Renewable Energies Investment in Agricultural Sector, Iran

Considering the importance of investment in renewable energies and the numerous uses of this technology in the agriculture sector, the present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the factors affecting the decision-making process in renewable energies investment in the agricultural sector in Iran. This study is a non-experimental survey research in which structural equations modeling method was used for data analysis (LISREL 8.72). The statistical population consisted of 130 investors of active companies in the area of renewable energies in the agriculture sector throughout Iran. Using Krejcie and Morgan Table as well as simple random sampling method, 97 (n= 97) individuals were chosen as the sample size. The main data collection instrument was questionnaire, whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. To measure the reliability of the research tool, 30 copies of the questionnaire were completed by active investors in the area of renewable energies as well as the experts of Iranian Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization. Then, Cronbach Alpha coefficient was calculated by SPSS 22 for different sections of the completed questionnaire, which showed a good reliability. Based on the results, since the calculated Composite Reliability (CR) index was larger than 0.6 and the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) was larger than 0.5 for each of the five external and internal latent studied variables, the latent variables had convergent and divergent validity. The results indicated that among the studied variables, knowledge of renewable energy technology, a priori beliefs, market policy preferences, institutional pressure, and attitude toward radical technological innovations had the greatest impact on the renewable energies investment decision-making process in the agriculture sector, respectively.