Qualitative Study of Barriers and Challenges of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development in Khuzestan province

 With the transition from pre-modern to modern and post-industrial society, the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem to create jobs and sustainable development has attracted the attention of thinkers and experts. The entrepreneurial ecosystem provides a creative environment for entrepreneurs and innovators. The development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem depends on identifying the barriers and challenges in this field from the perspective of experts. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to identify barriers and challenges to the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Khuzestan province. The research method is qualitative. The participants of the present study are 37 entrepreneurs, managers of knowledge-based companies, and professors of economics, management, and sociology in Khuzestan province, which has been selected by purposive sampling method with saturation rule and maximum diversity. Interview findings showed that categories such as weakness of strategic and entrepreneurial leadership, psychological capital crisis, demographic and contextual factors, social capital erosion, bureaucratic and disabling organizational structure, economic recession and instability, awareness gap, and insufficient education, Economy is a single product of barriers and challenges of entrepreneurial ecosystem development in Khuzestan province. Also, from the text of the interview findings, the state habitus was revealed as the central category.