Lessons of Innovation in the Agrifood Sector: Drivers of Innovativeness Performances

Journal title ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE
Author/s Adele Finco, Deborah Bentivoglio, Giorgia Bucci
Publishing Year 2018 Issue 2018/2
Language English Pages 12 P. 181-192 File size 118 KB
DOI 10.3280/ECAG2018-002004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Nowadays innovation is a central driver of economic growth and productivity. The capacity to innovate is a strategic tool for those firms that want to maintain their competitive position in the global market. This is especially true for the agrifood sector that is the largest manufacturing sector within the EU and is one of the main drivers of the EU economy, contributing to both economic output and employment. Nevertheless, the agrifood sector has traditionally been viewed as a low-tech sector with slow rates of innovation respect to other sectors. When defining innovation in the agro-food domain different dimensions should be dealt with as new feeding systems, new types of packaging, new types of conservation, new additives, new consumer products introduced continuously on the market and food chain management. In this context, Horizon 2020 and new Common Agricultural Policy (cap) 2014-2020 emphasize the role of innovation. In details, the new Rural Development Policy introduced some new instruments as the European Innovation Partnership (eip), the Operational Groups (OGs) and different technological clusters to encourage and transfer the innovation over the coming decade. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it aims to identify the role of a Regional Cluster in spreading innovation in the associated firms. Second, this study seeks to identify determinants of innovation by analysing a sample of agrifood SMEs associated in Cluster Agrifood Marche. To obtain the necessary information for this study, a web questionnaire was developed and send by mail to Cluster Agrifood Marche members. In addition, a liner regression model is used to analize the determinants of innovation. This study highlights that Small Size Agrifood Firms can not individually achieve innovation. Small farms show a strong interest in innovation, but they stress that it is a difficult task due to some constraints. Therefore, Cluster are seen as successful way to develop new innovation strategies and to increase the competitiveness. Moreover, the results suggest that innovation is not a random process. The propensity for innovation depends both on each firm characteristics and on several variables.

Keywords: Innovation, cluster, agrifood sector, survey, regression model

Jel codes: Q18, 031, L22

  1. Avermaete, T., Viaene, J., Morgan, E.J. & Crawford, N. (2003). Determinants of innovation in small food firms. European Journal of Innovation Management, 6(1), 8-17. DOI: 10.1108/14601060310459163
  2. Bentivoglio, D., Giampietri, E., & Finco, A. (2016). The new EU innovation policy for farms and SMES’ competitiveness and sustainability: the case of Cluster Agrifood Marche in Italy. Calitatea, 17(S1), 57-63.
  3. Bhattacharya, M. & Bloch, H. (2004). Determinants of innovation. Small business economics, 22(2), 155-162.
  4. Bougheas, S. (2004). Internal vs external financing of R&D. Small Business Economics, 22(1), 11-17.
  5. Bougrain, F. & Haudeville, B. (2002). Innovation, collaboration and SMEs internal research capacities. Research policy, 31(5), 735-747. DOI: 10.1016/S0048-7333(01)00144-5
  6. Christensen, J.L. (2008). Knowledge sourcing for product innovation in the food and drinksáindustry. In Ruth Rama (Ed.), Handbook of innovation in the food and drink industry (pp. 297-322). Food Product Press.
  7. Ciriaci, D., Moncada-Paternò-Castello, P., & Voigt, P. (2012). Does size or age of innovative firms affect their growth persistence? - Evidence from a panel of innovative Spanish firms (No. 2012-03). Joint Research Centre (Seville site).
  8. Colurcio, M., Wolf, P., Kocher, P.Y., & Russo Spena, T. (2012). Asymmetric relationships in networked food innovation processes. British Food Journal, 114(5), 702-727. DOI: 10.1108/00070701211229981
  9. Dalla Corte, V.F., Dabdab Waquil, P., & Stiegert, K. (2015). Wheat Industry: Which Factors Influence Innovation? Journal of technology management & innovation, 10(3), 11-17. DOI: 10.4067/S0718-27242015000300002
  10. Dewar, R.D., & Dutton, J.E. (1986). The adoption of radical and incremental innovations: An empirical analysis. Management science, 32(11), 1422-1433.
  11. Di Vita, G., D’Amico, M., La Via, G., & Caniglia, E. (2013). Quality Perception of PDO extra-virgin Olive Oil: Which attributes most influence Italian consumer? Agricultural Economics Review, 14(2), 46.
  12. Eriksson, T., Qin, Z., & Wang, W. (2014). Firm-level innovation activity, employee turnover and HRM practices – evidence from Chinese firms. China economic review, 30, 583-597.
  13. European Commission (1996). Action Plan for Innovation in Europe, European Community.
  14. Fischer, M.M. (2001). Innovation, knowledge creation and systems of innovation. The annals of regional science, 35(2), 199-216.
  15. Food and Drink Europe (2017). Annual Report. -- Retrieved from: https://www.fooddrinkeurope.eu/publication/fooddrinkeurope-annual-report-2017/.
  16. Garcia, R., & Calantone, R. (2002). A critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: a literature review. Journal of product innovation management, 19(2), 110-132. DOI: 10.1111/1540-5885.1920110
  17. Gellynck, X., & Vermeire, B. (2009). The contribution of regional networks to innovation and challenges for regional policy. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(3), 719-737.
  18. Grunert, K.G., Harmsen, H., Meulenberg, M., Kuiper, E., Ottowitz, T., Declerck, F., Traill, B. & Göransson, G. (1997). A framework for analysing innovation in the food sector. In Grunert, K.G. (Ed.), Products and process innovation in the food industry (pp. 1-37). Boston, MA: Springer.
  19. Gunday, G., Ulusoy, G., Kilic, K., & Alpkan, L. (2011). Effects of innovation types on firm performance. International Journal of production economics, 133(2), 662-676.
  20. José Rodríguez, M., & Guzmán, C. (2013). Innovation in social economy firms. Management Decision, 51(5), 986-998. DOI: 10.1108/MD-08-2012-0538
  21. La Sala, P., Silvestri, R., & Contò, F. (2017). Differentiation strategies for the wine and nursery sector: empirical evidence from an Italy region. Agricultural and Food Economics, 5(1), 23-40.
  22. Martinez, M.G., & Briz, J. (2000). Innovation in the Spanish food & drink industry. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 3(2), 155-176. DOI: 10.1016/S1096-7508(00)00033-1
  23. Menrad, K. (2004). Innovations in the food industry in Germany. Research Policy, 33(6), 845-878. DOI: 10.1111/1540-5885.1960424
  24. Minarelli, F., Raggi, M., & Viaggi, D. (2014). Distinguishing the innovation behaviour of micro, small and medium food enterprises. Journal on Chain and Network Science, 14(2), 95-102.
  25. Musso, F., & Francioni, B. (2015). Agri-Food Clusters, Wine Tourism and Foreign Markets. The Role of Local Networks for SME’s Internationalization. Procedia Economics and Finance, 27(2015), 334-343. DOI: 10.1016/S2212-5671(15)01004-7
  26. O’Reilly, S., Haines, M., & Arfini, F. (2003). Food SME networks: Process and governance-The case of Parma ham. Journal on Chain and Network Science, 3(1), 21-32.
  27. Olsen, N., Elvekrok, I., & Nilsen, E.R. (2012). Drivers of food SMEs network success: 101 tales from Norway. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 26(2), 120-128.
  28. Pittaway, L., Robertson, M., Munir, K., Denyer, D., & Neely, A. (2004). Networking and innovation: a systematic review of the evidence. International journal of management reviews, 5(3‐4), 137-168.
  29. Rowe, L.A. & Boise, W.B. (1974). Organizational innovation: Current research and evolving concepts. Public Administration Review, 34(3), 284-293. DOI: 10.2307/974923
  30. Schumpeter, J.A. (1934). The Theory of Economic Development (translation of second German edition by Redvers Opie). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

  • Social Network Analysis: A useful tool for studying Innovation diffusion processes Youssef Beni Houd, Mohamed El Amrani, in Economia agro-alimentare 1/2022 pp.1
    DOI: 10.3280/ecag2022oa12059
  • Total Quality Management and Innovation: Linkages and Evidence from the Agro-food Industry Pantelis Sotirelis, Evangelos Grigoroudis, in Journal of the Knowledge Economy /2021 pp.1553
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-020-00683-9
  • Sustainability Goals and Firm Behaviours: A Multi-Criteria Approach on Italian Agro-Food Sector Lucia Briamonte, Raffaella Pergamo, Brunella Arru, Roberto Furesi, Pietro Pulina, Fabio A. Madau, in Sustainability /2021 pp.5589
    DOI: 10.3390/su13105589
  • Exploring the impact of innovation adoption in agriculture: how and where Precision Agriculture Technologies can be suitable for the Italian farm system? G Bucci, D Bentivoglio, A Finco, M Belletti, in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science /2019 pp.012004
    DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/275/1/012004
  • Selected Aspects and Determinants of the Slovak Agro-Food Companies' Innovativeness Danka Moravčíková, Filip Tkáč, Kristína Mušinská, in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 720730/2021
    DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.720730
  • Strategies for the adoption of innovation processes in agricultural productive units of the Department of La Guajira -Colombia: Literary review and systemic approach Reynier Israel Ramírez Molina, Beliña Annery Herrera Tapias, Harold Bernardo Sukier, Juan David Ríos Pérez, Ana Carolina Torregroza Espinosa, Nelson David Lay Raby, in Revista de la Universidad del Zulia /2023 pp.36
    DOI: 10.46925//rdluz.39.03
  • Innovating for sustainability in food and beverage companies: the role of governance and environmental factors in climate change mitigation Lara Quiñoá-Piñeiro, M. Ángeles López-Cabarcos, Juan Piñeiro-Chousa, in British Food Journal /2024
    DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-03-2024-0315
  • Case Studies on Sustainability in the Food Industry Mara Del Baldo, pp.101 (ISBN:978-3-031-07741-8)
  • Innovation, Education, and Immigration: A Comprehensive Review of Recent Studies Luigi Capoani, Valentina Chabert, in MONDI MIGRANTI 1/2024 pp.145
    DOI: 10.3280/MM2024-001009
  • 2024 International Conference on Trends in Quantum Computing and Emerging Business Technologies Somanchi Hari Krishna, Ulfah Fajarini, Arun Kant Painoli, C. Visvesvaran, K. N. Jahnavi, Melanie Lourens, pp.1 (DOI:10.1109/TQCEBT59414.2024.10545247)
  • Innovative Strategies in agricultural production units: Knowledge in development of new services and value chains Reynier Israel Ramírez Molina, Manuela Valentina Pinzón Acosta, Keren Daniela Viloria De la Hoz, Juan David Ríos Pérez, Nelson David Lay Raby, in Revista de la Universidad del Zulia /2023 pp.119
    DOI: 10.46925//rdluz.39.07
  • Economic and Environmental Sustainability Trade-Off Analysis in Sheep Farming Using the Farm Accountancy Data Network Database Paola Sau, Brunella Arru, Federica Cisilino, Roberto Furesi, Pietro Pulina, Fabio A. Madau, in Sustainability /2023 pp.16621
    DOI: 10.3390/su152416621
  • Customer Satisfaction and Sustainability Initiatives in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Alessandro Bonadonna, Chiara Giachino, Francesca Pucciarelli, Bernardo Bertoldi, pp.251 (ISBN:9781799814191)
  • Sustainable Collective Innovation in the Agri-Food Value Chain: The Case of the “Aureo” Wheat Supply Chain Marcello Stanco, Concetta Nazzaro, Marco Lerro, Giuseppe Marotta, in Sustainability /2020 pp.5642
    DOI: 10.3390/su12145642
  • Rural Depopulation in the Context of 4.0 Technologies: Opportunities for Sustainability and Innovation Policies Víctor Gómez-Valenzuela, Adelheid Holl, in Journal of Planning Literature 08854122241276015/2024
    DOI: 10.1177/08854122241276015
  • A theoretical framework on network's dynamics for precision agriculture technologies adoption Deborah Bentivoglio, Giorgia Bucci, Matteo Belletti, Adele Finco, in Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural e245721/2022
    DOI: 10.1590/1806-9479.2021.245721

Adele Finco, Deborah Bentivoglio, Giorgia Bucci, Lessons of Innovation in the Agrifood Sector: Drivers of Innovativeness Performances in "ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE" 2/2018, pp 181-192, DOI: 10.3280/ECAG2018-002004