Is Entrepreneurship Legitimate Where the State Is Not? Insights from Machine Learning Methods

Does the political environment influence people’s perceptions of entrepreneurship? Should there be any correlation between state legitimacy and that of entrepreneurship? These questions are crucial, as the success of any developmental tool, including entrepreneurship, depends on its public approval. To find the answers, the present paper examines Iran as an extreme case of a state facing recurring episodes of legitimacy crisis while simultaneously deeply involved in promoting entrepreneurship and penetrating the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The paper reveals that Iranians’ perceptions of entrepreneurship essentially mirror the polarized political atmosphere in society, divided between those who support the country’s entrepreneurial achievements and those who challenge them. Nonetheless, pragmatic reasons, rather than anti-state emotions, such as the state’s problematic intervention in the ecosystem, fueled these criticisms. More crucially, the paper contributes to the literature on institutional determinants of entrepreneurship legitimacy by demonstrating a direct and meaningful association between state and entrepreneurship legitimacy.