Economy

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The aim of the current research is to identify spatial processes affecting the development of rural entrepreneurship in order to identify existing and emerging theoretical perspectives. The research method in the current study is applied in terms of purpose and in terms of methodology, it is a combination of systematic review and qualitative content analysis. The statistical population of the research is articles extracted from magazines related to the field of rural entrepreneurship and geography in valid databases. The research population is 113 articles over a period of 22 years from 2000-2023. In the next step, irrelevant articles were removed by screening and finally, 38 Latin scientific articles were analyzed as the research community from the total of studies. For analysis, open, axial and selective coding was used in the software environment (Atlas Ti). Also, the opinions of 5 experts have been used for validation. The research findings included 212 primary codes that were conceptualized in 26 categories and four dimensions and one component (social-spatial). Examining the time distribution of the articles showed that the first articles were published in 2007 and remained stagnant until 2014, and after that, there was an increasing trend until now. Such thematic distribution of articles have been published in social, spatial and economic fields, respectively. The research results showed that rural entrepreneurship is strongly influenced by spatial factors. These studies have been affected by the conceptual evolution of space literature and at the same time as the conceptual evolution of this discourse, its proposed components have also changed and changed from a traditional perspective to a socio-spatial concept. Therefore, space acts as a platform for social interactions and plays an important role in the formation of social and spatial networks that affect the development of rural entrepreneurship

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However, given the numerous weaknesses in the economic, social, environmental-physical, and institutional spheres of rural areas—reflected in the existence of villages and villagers lacking the necessary characteristics for entrepreneurship—it is essential to implement development programs. Among the most important of these, considering the significance of the economic dimension for the sustainability of rural life and livelihoods, is the diversification of the rural economy. This can transform the rural environment into one worthy of activity and the advancement of its inhabitants. This study seeks to examine the effects of this economic diversification on the status of environmental elements and individual characteristics affecting entrepreneurship among villagers in the villages of Marivan County.
This applied research was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method. The statistical population of the study, based on its comparative approach, consisted of two groups: villages benefiting from economic diversification and villages lacking such diversification in Marivan County. After identifying the target villages, the sample size was determined using Cochran's method, and questionnaires were distributed through stratified sampling among the villages and simple random sampling among the villagers. Data analysis was performed using inferential statistical tests (Independent T-test and Path Analysis). The findings revealed that the implemented economic diversification has led to a significant difference in the favorability of the status of environmental elements and individual characteristics affecting entrepreneurship between the two studied rural groups. Furthermore, among the environmental factors, the economic index, and among the individual characteristics, the level of motivation, had the greatest impact on improving the entrepreneurial status of the villages due to their responsiveness to the implemented economic diversification.