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© 1998 Oxford University Press and the Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics

research-article

Local innovative capability and innovative adoption in agriculture: Computers on Italian farms

ANTONIO CIOFFI and MARIA TERESA GORGITANO*

Dipartimento di Economia e Politica Agraria Universita di Napoli - Federico II Via Università 96 I-80055 Portici, Italy

Received October 1, 1998;

Summary

The paper examines the role of the local environment in determining farmers' innovative behaviour. The local environment embodies an innovative capability that helps farms to bridge the knowledge gap associated with innovation adoption. This capability is generated by the formal and informal relationships established by the economic units and institutions within the local environment, which allow the creation and circulation of new knowledge and skills. Local innovative capability is defined through composite variables identified by applying principal component analysis to a set of variables measuring characteristics of local society, production systems and agriculture. The model was tested by analysing computer ownership by Italian farms at provincial level. Empirical analysis confirms the importance of the local innovative capability for farmers' innovative behaviour. The propensity to innovate is further enhanced if farm structures are well endowed

Keywords: innovation adoption, farmers' innovative behaviour, local innovative capability, principal component analysis


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