Assessing the willingness of agricultural graduates to participate in entrepreneurial business in Kermanshah Province, Iran

Agricultural entrepreneurship offers far more opportunities in entrepreneurial development because it serves as a breeding ground for micro-businesses. Nonetheless, the role of the entrepreneur as a driver of economic growth and job creation in society has received considerable attention in both research and policy in developed and developing economies. The main aim of this quantitative study was to analyze the willingness of agricultural graduates to participate in entrepreneurial business in the tropical farming project being implemented in Qasr-e-Shirin in kermanshah province, Iran. Therefore, 263 graduates were estimated and analyzed as the statistical sample. The results indicate that a great majority of the graduates (about 75%) do not have membership in any cooperatives. Nearly 65% of the graduates have not experienced the creation of business independently. Furthermore, about half of the respondents are practicing false and unrelated occupations. Based on a structural model in structural equation modeling, the results showed that the values and norms of the community and those around it had the most direct and significant effect on the willingness of the graduates. The study emphasizes the potential of tropical agricultural initiatives as social networks for boosting entrepreneurship and highlights specific implications for policymakers, (potential) entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship support organizations, and researchers.