Competitive Advantages of Indigenous Rural Entrepreneurship in Iran(Case Study: South of Lorestan Province)

Rural indigenous entrepreneurship is one of the recent research areas to show that is incompatible with some of the main assumptions of classic (Western) entrepreneurship. In Iran- including in the southern province of Lorestan- which has a rich cultural heritage and indigenous people, so far the issue of native rural entrepreneurship and its advantages have not been addressed.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the benefits of native rural entrepreneurship.

The present study is applied in terms of the purpose. Based on the nature and method, it is a descriptive study. The methods of collecting the data were through using library sources and questionnaires. The Johanson test was used to examine the most important areas, advantages, and competitive opportunities for native rural entrepreneurship.

The results of field studies showed that according to the concept of indigenous entrepreneurship, 20 indigenous rural entrepreneurs were identified in Lorestan province, which were different from classical entrepreneurship. This type of entrepreneurship was created in connection with native culture, rural and local resources, and the native knowledge of the region. Investigating the benefits of native rural entrepreneurship led to the identification of 5 general categories: 1) the benefits of launching and implementing native rural entrepreneurship, 2) economic benefits, 3) cultural benefits, 4) social benefits, and 5) environmental benefits.