1. Introduction



Entrepreneurship in rural areas has been proposed as a key strategy to address challenges such as unemployment, poverty, uncontrolled youth migration to cities, reduced production capacities, and regional inequalities. Iran's rural areas struggle with numerous structural problems, including weak infrastructure, limited access to financial capital, poor management of production resources, and communication isolation. Despite theoretical emphases and numerous executive programs in the field of rural entrepreneurship development, there is still no clear understanding or specific prioritization of the factors affecting this process in Iran. This lack of understanding has led to many policies and interventions being designed without considering local and structural priorities, consequently failing to contribute to sustainable development and spatial justice between rural and urban areas. Therefore, this study aims to identify and prioritize the factors affecting rural entrepreneurship development in Iran in order to fill this knowledge gap and pave the way for more effective policymaking tailored to the real needs of rural areas.



2. Methodology



This research is applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in nature, employing a meta-synthesis approach. The statistical population consists of all qualitative studies conducted in rural Iran that have identified components affecting rural entrepreneurship development. The meta-synthesis was implemented based on the seven-step approach of Sandelowski and Barroso (2007): (1) formulating research questions, (2) systematic literature review, (3) searching and selecting appropriate articles, (4) extracting information from articles, (5) analyzing and synthesizing qualitative findings, (6) quality control, and (7) presenting findings. After searching reputable databases, 485 initial articles were found. Following the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria (including examination of title, abstract, content, and research method quality), 31 articles were ultimately selected for final analysis. Coding was used for data analysis, resulting in 28 final codes. To assess the reliability of the extracted codes, Cohen's Kappa coefficient was used with SPSS version 22, yielding a Kappa value of 1 (significance: 0.000), indicating excellent agreement between evaluators. Additionally, the Shannon entropy method was used to determine the weight and prioritization of indicators.



3. Findings



The research findings revealed that factors affecting rural entrepreneurship development in Iran can be categorized into 3 main dimensions, 8 concepts, and 28 indicators (codes):

First Dimension: Institutional – including 2 concepts:

- Government Governance (indicators: government policy-making and planning, business environment and deregulation, tax/company registration/export laws)

- Supportive Institutions (indicators: supportive institutions and local management, institutional capital and systemic support)



Second Dimension: Economic-Infrastructural – including 3 concepts:

- Infrastructure (physical infrastructure, digital infrastructure, technological capability, green infrastructure and environment)

- Market and Capital (private investment, market access and marketing, financing and bank facilities, self-help savings groups)

- Welfare and Livelihood (rural business prosperity, income increase and livelihood improvement, tourism (rural/food/creative), regional advantages (nature, location, climate diversity, local products))

Third Dimension: Human-Social – including 3 concepts:

- Human Capital (education, extension and skills training, skilled and expert workforce, empowerment (cognitive/emotional/skill-based), opportunity recognition and exploitation)

- Individual and Collective Characteristics (entrepreneurial motivation and spirit, individual entrepreneurial characteristics, entrepreneur networking, localization of innovation)

- Culture and Participation (local people's participation and social capital, community culture and social norms, cultural and media support)

Prioritization results using the Shannon entropy method showed that:

- First rank (most important indicator): Technological Capability

- Second rank: Digital Infrastructure, Financing and Bank Facilities, Education/Extension/Skills Training

- Third rank: Government Policy-making and Planning, Community Culture and Social Norms

- Least important indicators: Income Increase and Livelihood Improvement, Localization of Innovation



4. Discussion and Conclusion

The findings of this study indicate that rural entrepreneurship development in Iran is a multidimensional phenomenon influenced by a broad set of institutional, economic-infrastructural, and human-social factors. The alignment of findings with theoretical foundations (especially Gaddefors et al., 2019) confirms that the three main mechanisms of endogenous entrepreneurship – namely entrepreneurial agency, creative mobilization of resources, and participation of local communities – are also present and identifiable in Iran's rural context. Notably, "Technological Capability" and "Digital Infrastructure" were identified as the most important factors, which is consistent with the results of international studies, such as the study by Zhang et al. (2022) on Taobao villages in China. This finding suggests that in the current era, having natural resources or cheap labor alone is not sufficient for rural entrepreneurship development; rather, access to modern technologies and digital infrastructure (high-speed internet, online sales platforms, digital skills) is an essential condition for the competitiveness of rural businesses. On the other hand, the placement of "Income Increase and Livelihood Improvement" and "Localization of Innovation" at the lowest ranks should not be interpreted as meaning they are unimportant; rather, these indicators are more relevant as consequences and outcomes of entrepreneurship development than as driving factors, or they may have received less emphasis in the studies reviewed.