درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

P urpose- Unproductive activities refer to economic activities which do not have a positive effect on GDP, but have high profit and returns, which can eliminate productive activities. This is a phenomenon that has occurred in Iran in the last three decades. The aim of the present study is to analyze the factors causing and spreading unproductive activities using Fumanat area as the context. Design/methodology/approach- The study area is Fumanat, one of the historical regions of Gilan. The type of research is qualitative. In order to collect the required data and information, we conducted the various steps: First, using secondary data, the study illustrated changes in the share of employment in the economic sectors of the region, changes in the area of agricultural land use, as well as changes in the level of built land use. Second, conducting interviews with different business owners of each household, the common activities of households were studied to determine the evolution of productive activities in the sample villages. The common activities of households and among them unproductive activities were identified by inductive method. In order to understand the factors affecting the creation and expansion of unproductive activities, the qualitative approach of grounded theory was used. Findings- The study indicates that in the mountain zone, 39.1 percent of jobs, in the foothill zone, 32.3 percent of jobs, in the plain zone, 41.9 percent of jobs and in the coastal zone, 30.2 percent of jobs, can be categorized as unproductive activities. The existence of uncertainty, lack of support for productive activities, the property rights issue, inadequate privatization and dysfunctional institution system affect the expansion of unproductive activities in the region. Originality/value- Various studies have examined productive and unproductive sides in economic endeavors, most of which considered them with a macro point of view. The present study tries to investigate the contextually of the factors underlying these changes in a rural space and community.

Purpose- Since the development of entrepreneurial activities in rural areas reduces many initial costs, and because the agricultural production is centered in rural areas, agricultural graduates can make closer and easier relationships with beneficiaries. Therefore, the current research was conducted aimed at analyzing the rural entrepreneurial intentions of agricultural students of Hamadan University based on the extended theory of planned behavior. Design/methodology/implications- The population of the study were all senior agricultural students of Bu Ali Sina University, Hamadan (N = 420). The simple random sampling method and Krejcie and Morgan table were used respectively to sample the research population and to determine the sample size (n = 200). A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. To verify the reliability of the research tool, a pilot study and the calculation of the ordinal theta coefficient were also conducted. Findings- The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the indicators used to measure the latent attributes studied in this research are consistent with the factor structure and the theoretical basis of the research. The results showed that three main components of TPB (attitude, perceived behavioral control and social norms) had a positive and significant effect on rural entrepreneurial intentions of students, which predicts 51% of the variance of rural entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, adding six entrepreneurial skills to the model, the predictive power of TPB increased by 19%. Research limitations/implications- One of the most important limitations was the accurate assessment of the entrepreneurial skills. Practical implications- Considering the interaction of motivational and skill components, it can be inferred that students’ confidence in their entrepreneurial abilities and skills in order to launch and manage a new business gives them the power to have creative intentions and decisions to start a new activity. Originality/value- This study contributed to integrate skills and behavioral components for improving the rural entrepreneurial intentions of agricultural students. The results contribute to enriching the literature on rural entrepreneurial intention. This study documents the entrepreneurial intention and skills as important precursors to students’ decision to create new agricultural business.