Assessing the forward‐looking policies of entrepreneurship development in Iran

Purpose – Entrepreneurship development is known as a key enabler of economic development, hence it has been contemplated in the strategic plans of various countries. Iran is no exception in that regard, since developing entrepreneurship has been emphasized in the country's third and fourth development plans, in order to tackle the increasing rate of population growth and unemployment. Now, as the fourth development plan has come to its end, it is necessary to evaluate the policies and programs related to entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to assess the entrepreneurial development plans of this important Middle East country to provide a benchmark of influential policies on entrepreneurship development at both macro and micro level and to evaluate them accordingly. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative methods, namely survey and questionnaire distribution among experts dealing with entrepreneurship subjects have been used as the main method for data collection. Findings – The results reveal that influential entrepreneurship policies at both macro and micro levels are not generally forward‐looking and supportive of entrepreneurship development. Therefore, some suggestions have been provided to develop these policies. Originality/value – The paper presents findings of research which come from a rapidly‐growing, developing country, which can provide better insights from a less‐explored context and further add to the body of knowledge.