IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v109y2022ics0306919222000501.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Innovation in agriculture: An analysis of Swedish agricultural and non-agricultural firms

Author

Listed:
  • Bjerke, Lina
  • Johansson, Sara

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on innovation in agri-food sectors. It presents a quantitative analysis of how innovation and innovation capacities differ between agricultural firms and firms in other sectors. With unique survey data on Swedish firms, we show that one-third of the firms in the agriculture sector are innovation creators. Moreover, incremental innovations in the form of firm-level technology adoption are not more prevalent in agriculture than in other sectors. These results indicate that agriculture does not appear as a special case concerning innovation output, besides their higher incidence of process innovations. The peculiarity of the sector rather seems to be related to firm-level innovation capacities. Our results suggest that agriculture is different in how they source relevant knowledge, which is a finding that could question the design of innovation support policies that emphasize collaborative research. Our findings rather point to a need of strengthening in-house knowledge capacities in agricultural firms. That would improve their capacity to participate in and benefit from collaborations with partners operating at higher levels in the knowledge system.

Suggested Citation

  • Bjerke, Lina & Johansson, Sara, 2022. "Innovation in agriculture: An analysis of Swedish agricultural and non-agricultural firms," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:109:y:2022:i:c:s0306919222000501
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2022.102269
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919222000501
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2022.102269?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Petra Andries & Dirk Czarnitzki, 2014. "Small firm innovation performance and employee involvement," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 21-38, June.
    2. Micheels, Eric T. & Nolan, James F., 2016. "Examining the effects of absorptive capacity and social capital on the adoption of agricultural innovations: A Canadian Prairie case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 127-138.
    3. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley, 2008. "R&D and Exporting: A Comparison of British and Irish Firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 750-773, December.
    4. Robert W. Fairlie & Javier Miranda, 2017. "Taking the Leap: The Determinants of Entrepreneurs Hiring Their First Employee," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 3-34, February.
    5. Attila Varga & Luc Anselin & Zoltan J. Acs, 2000. "research notes and comments: Geographic and sectoral characteristics of academic knowledge externalities," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 79(4), pages 435-443.
    6. Justin Yifu Lin, 1991. "Education and Innovation Adoption in Agriculture: Evidence from Hybrid Rice in China," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(3), pages 713-723.
    7. Martin Andersson & Urban Gråsjö, 2009. "Spatial dependence and the representation of space in empirical models," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(1), pages 159-180, March.
    8. Johannes Sauer & David Zilberman, 2012. "Sequential technology implementation, network externalities, and risk: the case of automatic milking systems," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 43(3), pages 233-252, May.
    9. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    10. Gault, Fred, 2018. "Defining and measuring innovation in all sectors of the economy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 617-622.
    11. Klaas, Brian S. & Klimchak, Malayka & Semadeni, Matthew & Holmes, Jeanne Johnson, 2010. "The adoption of human capital services by small and medium enterprises: A diffusion of innovation perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 349-360, July.
    12. Rune Dahl Fitjar & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2017. "Nothing is in the Air," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 22-39, March.
    13. Chrystalla Kapetaniou & Soo Hee Lee, 2019. "Geographical proximity and open innovation of SMEs in Cyprus," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 261-276, January.
    14. Pim Den Hertog, 2000. "Knowledge-Intensive Business Services As Co-Producers Of Innovation," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(04), pages 491-528.
    15. Fernando Galindo-Rueda & Valentine Millot, 2015. "Measuring Design and its Role in Innovation," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2015/1, OECD Publishing.
    16. Richard Shearmur & David Doloreux, 2019. "KIBS as both innovators and knowledge intermediaries in the innovation process: Intermediation as a contingent role," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(1), pages 191-209, February.
    17. Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2013. "Firm collaboration and modes of innovation in Norway," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 128-138.
    18. Marion Frenz & Martha Prevezer, 2012. "What Can CIS Data Tell Us about Technological Regimes and Persistence of Innovation?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 285-306, May.
    19. Richard Shearmur & David Doloreux, 2021. "The geography of knowledge revisited: geographies of KIBS use by a new rural industry," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(3), pages 495-507, March.
    20. Hans L��f & B�rje Johansson, 2014. "R&D Strategy, Metropolitan Externalities and Productivity: Evidence from Sweden," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 141-154, February.
    21. Börje Johansson & Johan Klaesson & Michael Olsson, 2002. "Time distances and labor market integration," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 81(3), pages 305-327.
    22. Amir K. Abadi Ghadim & David J. Pannell, 1999. "A conceptual framework of adoption of an agricultural innovation," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 21(2), pages 145-154, October.
    23. Maté-Sánchez-Val, Mariluz & Harris, Richard, 2018. "The paradox of geographical proximity for innovators: A regional study of the Spanish agri-food sector," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 458-467.
    24. Laurens Klerkx & Andy Hall & Cees Leeuwis, 2009. "Strengthening agricultural innovation capacity: are innovation brokers the answer?," International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(5/6), pages 409-438.
    25. David Greenaway & Richard Kneller, 2007. "Firm heterogeneity, exporting and foreign direct investment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(517), pages 134-161, February.
    26. Baumann, Julian & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2016. "The link between R&D, innovation and productivity: Are micro firms different?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1263-1274.
    27. Bradford L. Barham & Jeremy D. Foltz & Douglas Jackson-Smith & Sunung Moon, 2004. "The Dynamics of Agricultural Biotechnology Adoption: Lessons from series rBST Use in Wisconsin, 1994–2001," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(1), pages 61-72.
    28. McGuirk, Helen & Lenihan, Helena & Hart, Mark, 2015. "Measuring the impact of innovative human capital on small firms’ propensity to innovate," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 965-976.
    29. Sendhil Mullainathan & Marianne Bertrand, 2001. "Do People Mean What They Say? Implications for Subjective Survey Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 67-72, May.
    30. Bjerke, Lina, 2016. "Knowledge in agriculture: a micro data assessment of the role of internal and external knowledge in farm productivity in Sweden," Studies in Agricultural Economics, Research Institute for Agricultural Economics, vol. 118(2), pages 1-9, August.
    31. Julian M. Alston & Philip G. Pardey, 2020. "Innovation, Growth, and Structural Change in American Agriculture," NBER Chapters, in: The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, pages 123-165, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Bronwyn Hall & Francesca Lotti & Jacques Mairesse, 2009. "Innovation and productivity in SMEs: empirical evidence for Italy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 13-33, June.
    33. Jesper Lindgaard Christensen & Michael Dahl & Søren Eliasen & Rene Nielsen & Christian Richter Østergaard, 2011. "Patterns and Collaborators of Innovation in the Primary Sector: A Study of the Danish Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Industry," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 203-225.
    34. Anker Lund Vinding, 2006. "Absorptive capacity and innovative performance: A human capital approach," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4-5), pages 507-517.
    35. Panagiotis Ganotakis, 2012. "Founders’ human capital and the performance of UK new technology based firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 495-515, September.
    36. McDowell, William C. & Peake, Whitney O. & Coder, LeAnne & Harris, Michael L., 2018. "Building small firm performance through intellectual capital development: Exploring innovation as the “black box”," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 321-327.
    37. Teresa Maria Gamito & Lívia Madureira, 2019. "Shedding light on rural innovation: Introducing and applying a comprehensive indicator system," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 251-277, June.
    38. Bee Yan Aw & Mark J. Roberts & Tor Winston, 2007. "Export Market Participation, Investments in R&D and Worker Training, and the Evolution of Firm Productivity," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 83-104, January.
    39. Audretsch, David B & Feldman, Maryann P, 1996. "R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 630-640, June.
    40. Dhiab, H. & Labarthe, P. & Laurent, C., 2020. "How the performance rationales of organisations providing farm advice explain persistent difficulties in addressing societal goals in agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    41. Läpple, Doris & Renwick, Alan & Thorne, Fiona, 2015. "Measuring and understanding the drivers of agricultural innovation: Evidence from Ireland," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-8.
    42. Andrew & Sally Gee & James H. Love & Stephen Roper & Jack Willis, 2014. "Small firm-large firm relationships and the implications for small firm innovation: what do we know?," White Papers 0009, Enterprise Research Centre.
    43. Maarten H. Batterink & Emiel F.M. Wubben & Laurens Klerkx & S.W.F. (Onno) Omta, 2010. "Orchestrating innovation networks: The case of innovation brokers in the agri-food sector," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 47-76, January.
    44. Gary Schnitkey & Marvin Batte & Eugene Jones & Jean Botomogno, 1992. "Information Preferences of Ohio Commercial Farmers: Implications for Extension," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 74(2), pages 486-496.
    45. Rosenberg, Nathan, 1974. "Science, Invention and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 84(333), pages 90-108, March.
    46. Brady T. West & Patricia Berglund & Steven G. Heeringa, 2008. "A closer examination of subpopulation analysis of complex-sample survey data," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(4), pages 520-531, December.
    47. Kamien,Morton I. & Schwartz,Nancy L., 1982. "Market Structure and Innovation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521293853, December.
    48. Paul Diederen & Hans Van Meijl & Arjan Wolters & Katarzyna Bijak, 2003. "Innovation adoption in agriculture : innovators, early adopters and laggards," Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 67, pages 29-50.
    49. Xavier Gellynck & Jorge Cárdenas & Zuzanna Pieniak & Wim Verbeke, 2015. "Association between Innovative Entrepreneurial Orientation, Absorptive Capacity, and Farm Business Performance," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 91-106, January.
    50. Wakelin, Katharine, 1998. "Innovation and export behaviour at the firm level," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(7-8), pages 829-841, April.
    51. Lina Bjerke & Sara Johansson, 2015. "Patterns of innovation and collaboration in small and large firms," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(1), pages 221-247, October.
    52. Dimara, Efthalia & Skuras, Dimitris, 2003. "Adoption of agricultural innovations as a two-stage partial observability process," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 187-196, May.
    53. William Knudson & Allen Wysocki & Joseph Champagne & H. Christopher Peterson, 2004. "Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Agri-Food System," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1330-1336.
    54. Tepic, M. & Trienekens, Jacques H. & Hoste, R. & Omta, S.W.F. (Onno), 2012. "The Influence of Networking and Absorptive Capacity on the Innovativeness of Farmers in the Dutch Pork Sector," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(3), pages 1-34, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marks-Bielska, Renata & Bilyj, Justyna, 2023. "Conditions for Introducing Innovation on Farms," Roczniki (Annals), Polish Association of Agricultural Economists and Agribusiness - Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistow Rolnictwa e Agrobiznesu (SERiA), vol. 2023(4).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Läpple, Doris & Renwick, Alan & Thorne, Fiona, 2015. "Measuring and understanding the drivers of agricultural innovation: Evidence from Ireland," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-8.
    2. Richard Harris & John Moffat, 2011. "R&D, Innovation and Exporting," SERC Discussion Papers 0073, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Micheels, Eric T. & Nolan, James F., 2016. "Examining the effects of absorptive capacity and social capital on the adoption of agricultural innovations: A Canadian Prairie case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 127-138.
    4. Christopher F. Baum & Mustafa Caglayan & Oleksandr Talavera, 2016. "R&D Expenditures and Geographical Sales Diversification," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(2), pages 197-221, March.
    5. Silviano Esteve-Pérez & Diego Rodríguez, 2013. "The dynamics of exports and R&D in SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 219-240, June.
    6. Ana Condeço-Melhorado & Aura Reggiani & Javier Gutiérrez (ed.), 2014. "Accessibility and Spatial Interaction," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15267.
    7. Urban Gråsjö, 2012. "Imports, R&D and Local Patent Production," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), The Regional Economics of Knowledge and Talent, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Zhou, Jiehong & Liu, Qing & Liang, Qiao, 2018. "Cooperative membership, social capital, and chemical input use: Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 394-401.
    9. Rodil, Óscar & Vence, Xavier & Sánchez, María del Carmen, 2016. "The relationship between innovation and export behaviour: The case of Galician firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 248-265.
    10. Peter Walder & Franz Sinabell & Fabian Unterlass & Andreas Niedermayr & Denisa Fulgeanu & Martin Kapfer & Michael Melcher & Jochen Kantelhardt, 2019. "Exploring the Relationship between Farmers’ Innovativeness and Their Values and Aims," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-15, October.
    11. Urban Gråsjö & Charlie Karlsson, 2014. "Accessibility: an underused analytical and empirical tool in spatial economics," Chapters, in: Ana Condeço-Melhorado & Aura Reggiani & Javier Gutiérrez (ed.), Accessibility and Spatial Interaction, chapter 11, pages 211-236, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Bettina Becker, 2013. "The Determinants of R&D Investment: A Survey of the Empirical Research," Discussion Paper Series 2013_09, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Sep 2013.
    13. Urban Gråsjö, 2008. "University-educated Labor, R&D and Regional Export Performance," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 31(3), pages 211-256, July.
    14. Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), 2012. "The Regional Economics of Knowledge and Talent," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13425.
    15. Petrik Runst & Jörg Thomä, 2022. "Does personality matter? Small business owners and modes of innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 2235-2260, April.
    16. Alarcón, Silverio & Sánchez, Mercedes, 2016. "Is there a virtuous circle relationship between innovation activities and exports? A comparison of food and agricultural firms," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 70-79.
    17. Ferretti, Marco & Guerini, Massimiliano & Panetti, Eva & Parmentola, Adele, 2022. "The partner next door? The effect of micro-geographical proximity on intra-cluster inter-organizational relationships," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    18. Backman, Mikaela & Palmberg, Johanna, 2015. "Contextualizing small family firms: How does the urban–rural context affect firm employment growth?," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 247-258.
    19. Tavassoli, Sam, 2013. "The Role of Product Innovation Output on Export Behavior of Firms," Papers in Innovation Studies 2013/38, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    20. Jeroen Content & Nicola Cortinovis & Koen Frenken & Jacob Jordaan, 2022. "The roles of KIBS and R&D in the industrial diversification of regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 68(1), pages 29-64, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agriculture; Innovation; Innovation capacity; Innovating firms; Innovation policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:109:y:2022:i:c:s0306919222000501. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.