Designing a Conceptual Model for Agricultural Entrepreneurship Opportunities Recognition

Abstract1
Agriculture has a great potential in Iran's economy as well as significant number of
unemployed status of the country. Although agriculture proved to have high potential in
countries' economy, lack of opportunity recognition abilities among individuals has failed
to identify opportunities in agricultural sector which in turn led to increased unemployment
and decreased share of agriculture in employment. Opportunity recognition has long been
accepted as a key aspect of the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurial opportunities –
understood as positive and favorable circumstances leading to entrepreneurial action – play
a central role in the entrepreneurship literature. Opportunity recognition is a dynamic
process. In the last three decades, research studies investigating how individuals recognize
entrepreneurial opportunities have advanced rapidly and have become a key topic in the
modern entrepreneurship literature. The ability of an entrepreneur to recognize opportunity
in agricultural sector is affected and restricted by several factors. Therefore, this review
analytical study attempts to overcome this challenge by presenting a conceptual framework
to enhance agricultural entrepreneurial opportunity recognition among individuals. Review
of related literature showed that direct and indirect factors influence agricultural
entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. These factors are: human capital, social capital,
social skills, entrepreneurial alertness, environmental factors, constant opportunity seeking,
and psychological characteristics. The result of this study has implications for agricultural
policy-makers as well as entrepreneurial education curriculum.