The Impact of Training on Druze Entrepreneurs’ Attitudes Towards and Intended Behaviors Regarding Local Sustainability Governance: A Field Experiment at the Mount Carmel Biosphere Reserve

Itai Beeri, Dan Gottlieb, Ido Izhaki, Tzipi Eshet and Noam Cohen
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Itai Beeri: School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Dan Gottlieb: School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Ido Izhaki: Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Tzipi Eshet: Natural Resources and Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Noam Cohen: School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: This article expands our understanding of biosphere reserve management by exploring the effect of green business-guidance training. Biosphere reserves promote conservation while enabling sustainable use by local communities, in keeping with the notion of local sustainability governance. In practice, however, many local communities regard biosphere reserves as an obstacle to their economic growth and prosperity, resulting in active resistance to them. Given this complexity, we ask whether green business-guidance training changes entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards and intended behaviors regarding local sustainability governance. To test this question empirically, we used action research and designed a before-and-after field experiment in the Mount Carmel Biosphere Reserve in Israel. Our findings suggest that green business-guidance training has a significant positive effect on entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards and intended behaviors regarding local sustainability governance and that biosphere reserve managements can improve local sustainability governance performance via training. We discuss our findings and suggest new paths for research in theory and practice.

Keywords: biosphere reserves; conservation management; environmental entrepreneurship; local sustainability governance; field experiment; organizational behavior; local communities; minorities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4584-:d:367182

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