Objective: The development of entrepreneurial activities in rural areas, as an effective pathway toward sustainable development, requires both a supportive environmental context and the individual and psychological attributes necessary for entrepreneurship. This study aimed to examine the effects of economic diversification on environmental conditions and individual characteristics influencing entrepreneurship among rural residents in Marivan County.
Methods: In terms of its objective, this study was applied, while methodologically it employed a descriptive–analytical design based on a comparative approach. The statistical population consisted of household heads in two groups of villages: economically diversified villages and villages lacking economic diversification. The target villages were identified through consultation with local experts and the application of ten operational indicators. Sampling was conducted through a lottery-based procedure at the village level and simple random sampling among household heads. Based on Cochran’s formula, the sample comprised 360 respondents from economically diversified villages and 145 respondents from economically non-diversified villages. Data were collected using structured questionnaires encompassing 31 individual variables and 43 environmental variables. The validity of the research instrument was confirmed through the Delphi method, while its reliability was established using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.70 for individual factors and 0.74 for environmental factors. Data were analyzed using the independent-samples t-test, correlation analysis, and path analysis.
Results: The findings demonstrated that economic diversification generated statistically significant differences in both environmental conditions and individual characteristics associated with entrepreneurship between the two groups of villages. The mean score of the individual-capacity indicators was 3.24 in economically diversified villages, compared with 2.59 in economically non-diversified villages. The corresponding mean scores for environmental factors were 3.54 and 2.60, respectively. Path analysis indicated that, among the environmental factors, the economic indicator exerted the strongest overall effect on improving the entrepreneurial conditions of the villages, with an overall loading of 0.511. Among the individual characteristics, motivation demonstrated the strongest direct and indirect effects on the other indicators, with an overall loading of 0.407. A positive and statistically significant correlation of 0.436 was also observed between individual and environmental factors.
Conclusions: Economic diversification simultaneously transformed both the environmental structures and individual characteristics of rural residents, thereby creating a significant distinction between the two groups of villages. The economic indicator among the environmental factors and motivation among the individual characteristics exerted the greatest influence on improving rural entrepreneurial conditions. Accordingly, policymakers are advised to operationalize rural economic diversification as a development strategy by strengthening rural residents’ motivation and individual skills while simultaneously expanding economic and institutional infrastructure in less-developed areas.