Comparative assessment of rural entrepreneurial ecosystem factors (on the example of Orel region)

The article presents the results of a study of factors characterizing the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Orel region and their comparison with the indicators of the Ural region. The relevance of the article is connected with the growing role and importance of rural entrepreneurship as a fundamental institution in the modern global agri-food system and the most important driving force for the development of rural socio-economic systems. The purpose of the article is to identify the factors that have the most (un)favorable impact on the rural ecosystem of the Orel region, as well as ways to improve them by comparing them with the Ural region. The article used methods of questionnaires and interviewing rural entrepreneurs and comparative analysis. According to the results of the analysis, it was revealed that the factor “lack of qualified personnel” has the most negative impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of both regions; the factor “lack of information” has the weakest influence. The factor of “state support” has a great influence, but it comes down to the ignorance of entrepreneurs of state support programs. The study’s results are important both for improving the existing model of the Orel region rural entrepreneurial ecosystem and for determining the directions of support (state and non-state) for its entrepreneurs.