The Effect of Digital Technological Innovations on Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth of Female Heads of Households in Ilam City

Abstract

Background & Purpose: The current research aims to provide a model for improving entrepreneurial business based on digital technological innovations for economic growth and empowerment of female heads of households in Ilam city Methodology: This research is applied in terms of purpose and survey in terms of data collection. The statistical population included 309 female heads of entrepreneur households in Ilam city. The external and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by specialists, and two criteria, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and composite reliability coefficient, were used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficients of all variables in this study were higher than the minimum value of 0.7. The collected data were analyzed in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS24 software. In the inferential statistics section, among the correlation methods, structural equation modeling (SEM) method with partial least squares approach was used for hypothesis testing and model fit using SmartPLS 2.0 software for this research. Findings: The results of testing the research hypotheses using significant coefficients showed that all the research hypotheses are confirmed. The first hypothesis examines the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth and this impact has been confirmed. The second hypothesis also examines the effect of using digital technology innovations on entrepreneurship and this issue has also been confirmed. In the third hypothesis, it was stated that the use of digital technological innovations with the mediating role of entrepreneurship has an effect on economic growth. Conclusion: The findings of the research showed that product and service innovations that result from the use of digital technology, regardless of whether they provide new features of the product or service, tend to be fundamental; Therefore, it provides a new path for women heads of household to increase their product and service innovation by using digital technological innovations for new customers.