Impact of Cultural Capital on Empowering Members of Rural Production Cooperatives in Amol County, Iran

Rural production cooperatives, as an effective tool for rural development, have an important role in increasing the capabilities of rural farmers. In order to achieve the goals, in addition to human, social, and economic support, cultural development is also needed. In this regard, this study aimed at investigating the impact of cultural capital on the empowerment of rural production cooperative members. The study was conducted in Amol, Iran. A total of 6,150 members of 11 rural production cooperatives were selected as the statistical population of the study, and 300 of whom were selected as the study sample based on Cochran's formula. Data collection was done using a researcher-made questionnaire composed of two parts of cultural capital (embodied, objectified and institutionalized) and empowerment (psychological, social, and economic). The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts' opinions. Also, based on the Average Variance Extracted (0.514> AVE< 0.663) and Composite Reliability (0.808> CR< 0.966), the questionnaire had a convergent validity and appropriate reliability. SPSS16 and Smart PLS2 software were used to analyze the data. Results of the research showed that cultural capital had a significant impact on the psychological, social, and economic empowerment level of the members of the rural production cooperatives. According to the results, it is recommended that, by careful planning, sufficient benefits be gained from the potential of cultural capital in the future development policies of rural production cooperatives, so that an effective, though small, step can be taken toward development of the aforementioned cooperatives.