درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose - The study of social capital in the context of location/space is a new approach that is dominated by the science of geography, and is seen as a way of distinguishing it from other sciences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of livelihood capitals on social capital in rural areas of Bojnourd County. Design/methodology/approach - This study was a fundamental research, conducted in a descriptive-analytical method. Documentary methods and field works have been employed to collect the data. The population consisted of 22 villages with more than 20 households in Bojnourd County, selected from various population classes and distances from Bojnourd. Using Cochran formula and random sampling method, 298 households were selected from a total of 4849 households in the rural areas of the study area. Partial least squares technique and Smart PLS software were used to test the conceptual model of the research and the impact of livelihood capitals on social capital. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to evaluate the model efficiency at Bojnourd County level. Findings - According to the results, the coefficients of T among the main variables of the study were above 2.58, which means the relationship is significant and direct. Thus, local-spatial factors have a significant and positive effect on social capital. Based on total coefficients, human capital with the coefficient of 0.348 and physical capital with the coefficient of 0.136 respectively had the most and the least effect on social capital. The results of spatial analysis using GWR showed that the impact coefficient of livelihood capitals on social capital was highest in the villages of Atrabad Olia and Gharajeh, and in total about 45% of villages in the study area had an impact coefficient of 0.90 to 0.91. Research limitations/implications - As the study of livelihood capitals and analysis of their relationship with social capital is a fundamental challenge in achieving sustainable rural development that is missing in current studies, it is recommended that future studies pay more attention to social capital and the impact of livelihood capitals on its creation and rural development. Practical implications - Rural areas suffer from the lack of social capital, which is one of the most important types of development capital required to achieve sustainable rural development. Thus, enhancing the social capital and informing the villagers about the value and importance of local-spatial factors and the material and non-material capitals available in rural areas should be on the agenda of rural development researchers and planners.

Purpose- The present study aims at establishing border markets with the purpose of legalizing the deals and economic boom, employment, and promoting life standards in border areas. The main purpose of the present study is to analyze the physical and economic effects of border markets on the development of rural areas. Design/methodology/approach- The present study is an applied study with regard to nature, and descriptive-analytic with regard to methodology. The population of this study includes the villages in the city of Agh-Ghala; 7 villages were selected as the sample, and the data was collected through researcher made questionnaires (383 questionnaires according to Cochran formula). Data analysis was done using Friedman, Chi square, Wilcoxon, and one sample t-tests in SPSS. Findings: Developing border markets leads to improvement in economic and physical indices in rural areas. The most effects were found on the quality of new-built houses, and the fewest effects were found on rural facilities and infrastructures. Border markets had important effects both on economy and culture of rural residents. The only component indicating insignificance was the effect of border markets on the reduction of unemployed people in the society, which is because of lower market boom during recent years and lack of free zones. Research limitations/implications- Spatial dispersion of the villages, limitations in obtaining information, and concerning about questionnaires being completed are some of the issues. Practical implications- Through planning and shift in attitudes in economic issues, sufficient attention will be paid to less considered needs of the residents of border areas; and the rural physical and economic indices will be improved through creating border markets. Originality/value- Border markets and their development can lead to the improvement and promotion of life quality of the residents of border areas and the population willingness to stay.

Purpose- The present study has two major purposes; the first of which is the identification of the key propellants in the essence of the brand of target tourism villages of Saman County in Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province, and the second purpose is prioritizing of the effective key propellants in the essence of the brand of target tourism villages of Saman County in Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari Province. Design/methodology/approach- This study is an applied one, and data are collected using a descriptive-survey method. To collect data, three types of questionnaires have been used for three groups of the local community, visitors, and experts. According to Morgan table, the sample size of the visitors and the local community are 384 samples, and 365 examples, respectively, and the sample size of the experts, with Delphi technique, was 25. To analyze the samples, one-sample T-test and Mann-Whitney U-Test using SPSS software and structural analysis (paired squares) using MICMAC software were used. Findings: The results of this research showed that the most effective key propellants in the essence of the brand of target tourism villages of Saman County in priority order are, 1. gardens, 2. water-based tourism, 3. place attachment, 4. plants and animals species, 5. the opportunity for relaxing, 6. beautiful landscapes, 7. rural accommodations. Research Limitations/Implications: The high cost of the research and the required time to fill out the questionnaires, with regard to the extent of the study area, were among the main challenges facing the present study. Originality/Value: The present study is looking for a model and method for making a sustainable brand that not only give identity to the local community but also it is attractive to tourists and fulfills experts’ views. So, the present model has the mentioned features.

Purpose- To identify and prioritize factors influencing the creation of rural entrepreneurship opportunities in Iran Design/methodology/approach- A deductive approach was adopted. In this applied research, a mixed method was employed, which consisted of a descriptive-analytical method and a survey. The main data gathering tool was questionnaire. The research population comprised of university professors specialized in the field of rural entrepreneurship, rural entrepreneurs, rural managers and rural experts (n=30). In the first step, based on a review of literature, indicators influencing the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities were identified, and then the ANP-DEMATEL was used for evaluation and prioritization of the indicators. Findings- Based on cause-effect chart, the economic and infrastructural factors were assigned to the category of causes and individual, socio-cultural and political factors to the category of effects. On the other hand, the economic and political factors had the highest and lowest interaction with other factors, respectively. The results of the integrated analytical network process (ANP) and DEMATEL method showed that the economic factor had the greatest effect followed by infrastructural, sociocultural and individual components (with slight weight difference). The political component with the value of 0.1253 not only had the lowest importance, but was significantly different from other factors in terms of weight values. Research limitations/implications- Measuring the effects of factors influencing the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities along with their interrelation and mutual impact using a system approach or ISM technique. Practical implications- Given the myriad of problems affecting rural areas, such as unemployment, migration of rural labor to urban areas and diminished sense of belonging, among other things, it is essential to pay greater attention to entrepreneurship and its implementation to achieve sustainable rural development. Besides, by identifying the root causes and factors influencing rural entrepreneurship, it is possible to offer solutions for organizing entrepreneurship. If policy makers, planners, and rural managers adopt these strategies, sustainable rural development could be reinforced. Originality/value- Providing the most important indicators influencing the creation of rural entrepreneurship opportunities, prioritizing and measuring the impact of those factors on each other using ANP-DEMATEL method. In particular, the results of this research can benefit managers and decision makers in the field of rural entrepreneurship. The results can also be beneficial to universities, higher education institutions and students.

Purpose- Considering that a diversified economy can lay the proper groundwork for improving quality of life, the present study investigates and analyzes the efficacy of diversification on rural households’ quality of life. Design/methodology/approach - The study is descriptive-analytical and its population consists of rural settlements in Golmakan Dehestan, Chenaran County. “Economic activities diversification” is the independent variable of the study which is quantified in two agricultural and non-agricultural aspects, using 14 indicators. “Rural households’ quality of life” is the dependent variable which is quantified in three social, economic and physical-environmental aspects, using 48 indicators. Questionnaires were handed to 258 rural families in 15 villages and the average score of each indicator was considered as the score of each of the villages studied. The validity of the questionnaire was established through confirmatory factor analysis (65.72%) and its reliability was established by Cronbach's alpha (0.83). Findings - The results of the step-wise regression show that diversity of non-agricultural activities has a meaningful influence on the variation of the dependent variable (rural households’ quality of life), such that a change of one standard deviation in non-agricultural activities leads to a change of 0.6 of standard deviation in rural households’ quality of life. Therefore, non-agricultural activities are influential in improving the economic conditions of families, and consequently raising quality of life among rural families. Research limitations/implications - Among the limitations of the study, the dispersed area that the villages are located in, the long distance between some villages, and the unwillingness of rural households for filling out the questionnaire can be mentioned. According to the role of non-farm activities on improving quality of life, suggestion of the study is to improve non-farming economy in rural areas. This, naturally, requires more attention to national macro-policies along with localization and necessitates implementation of successful global models regarding diversification of non-farming economy in rural areas. Originality/Value- A review of the studies regarding economic activities diversification in Iran and the world shows that, at the time of this writing, none has dealt with the influence of economic activities diversification on rural families’ quality of life.