The Study of Cultural, Social and Political Factors Influencing Publishing Economy in Iran from Publishers’ Points Of View: The Case Study of Active Publishers in 1358-1378

Purpose: to explore cultural, social and political factors influencing publishing economy in Iran from publishers’ points of view so as to identify gaps, problems and strategies in development of publishing economy.
Methodology: Survey approach has been used to study the viewpoints of the publishers. Statistical population of the research is comprised of 264 private-sector publishers from which 98 publishers were selected by a systematic stratified sampling method. A researcher made questionnaire was used to gather the information and the data gathered was analyzed by Friedman test.
Findings: The following have been attained from publishers’ points of view: increase in the number of literate people has the most positive impact and the economic poverty has the most negative impact on book publishing. In the area of book request, information broadcasting about the books through press and improved distribution of the books has the most positive impact and increasing number of workless people has the most negative impact.
Conclusion: the study of cultural, social and political factors related to request and supply of books indicates that the publishers evaluate them positively. Publishers also evaluate helpful the administrative and supportive plans of the government and asses the censorship as the main problem. The first and second hypotheses of the research namely “positive impact of cultural, social and political factors on request and supply of books” and the third hypotheses namely “the positive impact of government’s policy in improving the economy of publishing” are approved with 99 percent of assurance.