Abstract
PurposeThe paper aims to analyze the relevance of networking and social capital in promoting the adoption of sustainable innovation, then reinforcing trajectories of multifunctional agriculture. It puts forwards a systemic perspective by focusing on agricultural knowledge and innovation systems. More precisely, we share the idea of “micro agricultural knowledge and innovation systems”, by addressing ambidexterity as engine for boosting sustainable innovation.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical analysis is focused on sustainable innovation adopted by young farmers in Italy and on the mediation effect of ambidextrous relations in performing innovation adoption. Ambidextrous relations are analyzed within at the micro-AKIS level, through the lens of social capital. Relationships between social capital and innovation adoption are statistically measured.FindingsThe analysis shows how ambidexterity develops a mediation effect, with a strong impact on the farm's innovative capacity. Actually, our results confirm that ambidextrous relations reveal good performance and stimulate innovation and, consequently, farms' competitiveness, alongside the path of multifunctional agriculture. As a consequence, the relevance of networking activity in adoption of sustainable innovation may address possible policy action with the aim to strengthen ambidexterity and farm's innovativeness.Originality/valueThe paper tries to fill a gap in literature, by focusing on micro-AKIS which are explored through the lens of social capital.
Highlights
This paper deals with innovation as an engine for the farm’s competitiveness
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, we hypothesize that farm entrepreneurs are most efficient in their innovation processes in terms of economic, social and environmental impact in cases of ambidexterity, that is when they engage in all three types of social capital ties
Framed within an inter-organizational perspective of knowledge management (Girard, 2015), this paper aimed to explore the relevance of relationships and social capital on the farm’s innovativeness, under a new vision of innovation which takes into account either economic, social and environmental dimensions
Summary
This paper deals with innovation as an engine for the farm’s competitiveness. The paper analyses the relevance of networking and social capital in boosting innovation adoption and, the farm’s competitiveness. The relevance of social capital in economics has been widely recognized, despite there is no convergence about its definition and measurement. Social capital potential is analyzed within the framework of (micro) agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (micro-AKIS), by investigating three forms of social capital (bonding, bridging and linking). The relevance of networking will be analyzed, in order to evaluate their impact on innovation adoption among Italian young farms. The hypothesis under investigation is that among the various forms of social capital, ambidexterity is at the basis of the innovation adoption among Italian young farms
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