Regional Innovation Ecosystems, Farm Digital Readiness, and Accounting Performance: Evidence from EU NUTS2 Regions

Digital transformation is frequently argued to improve how agricultural businesses compete, coordinate, and capture value in markets, yet evidence remains limited of how regional innovation ecosystems shape farms’ digital readiness and how this readiness translates into accounting-relevant outcomes. This study addresses that gap by linking regional innovation capacity, observed farm digital readiness, and accounting performance within a single regional analytical framework. Using cross-sectional data for 180 EU NUTS2 regions (2023), we estimate a moderated mediation model with formative constructs based on harmonized secondary indicators. This study is original in shifting the analysis from the farm or firm level to the regional scale and in operationalizing digital readiness through observable uptake of precision technologies, robotics, livestock-management machinery, internet access, and management information systems. Regional innovation capacity is positively associated with farmers’ digital readiness, and digital readiness is positively associated with accounting performance in the baseline specification. The indirect pathway from innovation capacity to accounting performance via digital readiness is significant, consistent with digital readiness acting as a transmission channel through which ecosystems relate to measurable economic outcomes. Managerial composition conditions these relationships: the share of managers under 40 weakens both the ecosystem-to-digital link and the digital-to-performance link, while female managerial share shows only marginal moderation of the first stage and no significant moderation of the second. The findings provide a basis for future multilevel research and place-based policies and advisory actions aimed at strengthening digital uptake where regional innovation capacity is weaker.