Analysis of Factors Affecting the Willingness of Rural Businesses Owners to Develop Economic Activities in Rural Areas

Unemployment serves as one of the basic problems of Iran, particularly in rural areas. Rural businesses play an important role in reducing the unemployment and rural migration and generally sustainable rural development. This study aimed to analyze factors affecting the willingness of the non-farming rural business owners to develop economic activities in rural areas. It was a quantitative research in terms of nature, an applied research in terms of purpose, a non-experimental in terms of the control variables, a survey in terms of data collection, and a causative research in terms of method of data analysis. The statistical population included 120 rural business owners in Malekan County of Iran. A questionnaire was set to collect data, the reliability and stability of which were confirmed by a panel of experts and Cranach's alpha coefficient, respectively. The results of discriminant analysis showed that the variables of resilience of business owners, attachment to the village, social capital, resilience of business lifespan, and owners’ satisfaction of business services had the highest impacts on the willingness of rural business owners to develop their economic activities in rural areas.