Development of Rural Entrepreneurship Model by Studying the Mediating Role of Rural Empowerment

Today, experts and development institutions consider rural entrepreneurship as a strategic intervention to promote rural development and accelerate its process, which has an important role in reducing poverty and developing social justice as well as creating many job opportunities for rural people. Accordingly, this study aimed mainly at developing rural entrepreneurship. For this purpose, it sought to answer the question: How can we improve the ecological performance and development of entrepreneurship in rural Iran by studying the mediating role of rural empowerment? The present applied research, using quantitative method with a structural equation modeling strategy, was performed by partial least squares (PLS) method and approach. The required data were collected through 102 valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaires by cluster sampling method in the period 2019-2020. The results showed that two streams of cognitive empowerment including individual, group and enterprise empowerment and emotional or psychological empowerment stream with the impact of dimensions such as removing barriers and improving the rural business environment, supporting rural businesses, rural plans and programs, and the goals and values ​​of rural entrepreneurship can lead to the development of rural entrepreneurship with indicators such as the creation or maintenance of rural businesses or rural social entrepreneurship. Finally, based on the study findings, some practical suggestions, including raising awareness about empowerment components at three levels of individual, group and enterprise to rural businesses, the role of educators and mentors of rural businesses, the multiple roles of the entrepreneurial government and the key and vital role of local communities were presented.