Evaluation of District Municipalities’ Policies and Actions in Supporting Local Businesses

Local governments play a crucial role in fostering local economic development by implementing policies and initiatives that support small and medium-sized enterprises. This study evaluates the policies and actions of district municipalities in supporting local businesses and improving the local business environment. The research adopts a quantitative approach using a structured questionnaire distributed among local business owners and municipal stakeholders. The reliability analysis showed a high level of internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha value of ۰.۹۰. Factor analysis identified three key dimensions of municipal support, including infrastructure support, administrative facilitation, and entrepreneurship promotion. The regression results indicated that municipal support policies significantly influence local business development, explaining approximately ۶۲% of the variance (R² = ۰.۶۲). Among the examined factors, entrepreneurship promotion had the strongest impact (β = ۰.۴۱), followed by infrastructure support (β = ۰.۳۴) and administrative facilitation (β = ۰.۲۹). The findings highlight the importance of targeted municipal policies in strengthening local economic activities and enhancing the sustainability of local businesses

کلیدواژه ها:

Local Economic Development ، District Municipalities ، Local Businesses ، Municipal Policies ، Entrepreneurship Support