IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v33y2024i8p9075-9097.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transforming the agri‐food sector through eco‐innovation: A path to sustainability and technological progress

Author

Listed:
  • Nuria Chaparro‐Banegas
  • Mercedes Sánchez‐Garcia
  • Consuelo Calafat‐Marzal
  • Norat Roig‐Tierno

Abstract

The rapid transformation in the way people live has become a concern for countries around the world. Innovation can offer a strategy to address sustainable development challenges in all areas of society. Traditionally, the agri‐food sector has had low levels of innovation and research and development (R&D). Despite its negative environmental effects, its value for society is unquestionable. Therefore, the agri‐food sector must not lag behind other sectors in embracing the technological progress that contributes to sustainable development. The scientific literature contains studies of eco‐innovation drivers and barriers. Nevertheless, research on low‐technology sectors such as the agri‐food sector is scarce. To address this research gap, this paper identifies the internal and external factors that are necessary for in‐firm eco‐innovation and whose absence can constrain or block eco‐innovation development. Data were gathered from Spanish agriculture and industrial agri‐food firms in 2022 based on primary statistical information collected in a 2022 survey to obtain data on their activity in the period 2017–2021. Necessary condition analysis (NCA) reveals three main findings: (i) internal factors are more relevant than external factors, (ii) the type of firm and the degree of eco‐innovation development affect the importance of internal and external factors, and (iii) agricultural and industrial agri‐food firms prioritize different stages of eco‐innovation development because of the higher complexity and technological progress of industrial firms. These results highlight eco‐innovation as a key strategy to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the sector. By prioritizing internal factors and fostering eco‐innovation through environmental training, green relationships, and support networks, companies can progress toward more sustainable and technologically advanced practices, thus contributing to the overall sustainable development of the sector. This underscores the importance of policies that promote training, investment in R&D, environmental and fiscal regulation, and collaboration to drive eco‐innovation and sustainability in the agri‐food sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuria Chaparro‐Banegas & Mercedes Sánchez‐Garcia & Consuelo Calafat‐Marzal & Norat Roig‐Tierno, 2024. "Transforming the agri‐food sector through eco‐innovation: A path to sustainability and technological progress," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 9075-9097, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:33:y:2024:i:8:p:9075-9097
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3968
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3968
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3968?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adrián Rabadán & Ángela Triguero & Ángela Gonzalez-Moreno, 2020. "Cooperation as the Secret Ingredient in the Recipe to Foster Internal Technological Eco-Innovation in the Agri-Food Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Ioanna Kastelli & Aggelos Tsakanikas & Yannis Caloghirou, 2018. "Technology transfer as a mechanism for dynamic transformation in the food sector," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 882-900, August.
    3. Dul, Jan, 2016. "Identifying single necessary conditions with NCA and fsQCA," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 1516-1523.
    4. Robert Finger, 2023. "Digital innovations for sustainable and resilient agricultural systems," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(4), pages 1277-1309.
    5. Rupert J. Baumgartner & Daniela Ebner, 2010. "Corporate sustainability strategies: sustainability profiles and maturity levels," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 76-89.
    6. Valentina Cillo & Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli & Lorenzo Ardito & Manlio Del Giudice, 2019. "Understanding sustainable innovation: A systematic literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1012-1025, September.
    7. Donis, Silvia & Gómez, Jaime & Salazar, Idana, 2023. "Economic complexity, property rights and the judicial system as drivers of eco-innovations: An analysis of OECD countries," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Jan Dul & Sven Hauff & Ricarda B. Bouncken, 2023. "Necessary condition analysis (NCA): review of research topics and guidelines for good practice," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 683-714, February.
    9. Dhekra Ben Amara & Hong Chen, 2022. "Driving factors for eco-innovation orientation: meeting sustainable growth in Tunisian agribusiness," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 713-732, June.
    10. Jana Hojnik & Viktor Prokop & Jan Stejskal, 2022. "R&D as bridge to sustainable development? Case of Czech Republic and Slovenia," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 146-160, January.
    11. Piotr Gołasa & Marcin Wysokiński & Wioletta Bieńkowska-Gołasa & Piotr Gradziuk & Magdalena Golonko & Barbara Gradziuk & Agnieszka Siedlecka & Arkadiusz Gromada, 2021. "Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Agriculture, with Particular Emphasis on Emissions from Energy Used," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Hoon Park & Clifford Russell & Junsoo Lee, 2007. "National culture and environmental sustainability: A cross-national analysis," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 31(1), pages 104-121, March.
    13. Boix-Fayos, Carolina & de Vente, Joris, 2023. "Challenges and potential pathways towards sustainable agriculture within the European Green Deal," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    14. Jan Dul & Sven Hauff & Ricarda B. Bouncken, 2023. "Correction: Necessary condition analysis (NCA): review of research topics and guidelines for good practice," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1535-1537, May.
    15. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Cayetano Medina-Molina & Noemí Pérez-Macías & Sierra Rey-Tienda, 2024. "Strategies for urban cycling: an analysis through generalized analytic induction," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 21(4), pages 963-997, December.
    2. Dul, Jan, 2024. "A different causal perspective with Necessary Condition Analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Anfeng Xu & Abu Bakkar Siddik & Farid Ahammad Sobhani & Md. Mominur Rahman, 2024. "Driving economic success: Fintech, tourism, FDI, and digitalization in the top 10 tourist destinations," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Marko Sarstedt & Yide Liu, 2024. "Advanced marketing analytics using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-5, March.
    5. Ana Labella-Fernández & M. Mar Serrano-Arcos & Belén Payán-Sánchez, 2021. "Firm Growth as a Driver of Sustainable Product Innovation: Mediation and Moderation Analysis. Evidence from Manufacturing Firms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Cassia, Fabio & Magno, Francesca, 2024. "The value of self-determination theory in marketing studies: Insights from the application of PLS-SEM and NCA to anti-food waste apps," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    7. Rauter, Romana & Globocnik, Dietfried & Baumgartner, Rupert J., 2023. "The role of organizational controls to advance sustainability innovation performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Soumaya Meddeb & Étienne St-Jean & Andreas Rauch, 2024. "The interaction of narcissism, agreeableness and conscientiousness in entrepreneurial mentoring: Implications for learning outcomes," Post-Print hal-04701307, HAL.
    9. Hauff, Sven & Richter, Nicole Franziska & Sarstedt, Marko & Ringle, Christian M., 2024. "Importance and performance in PLS-SEM and NCA: Introducing the combined importance-performance map analysis (cIPMA)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Chen, Zan & Jin, Jun & Li, Meng, 2022. "Does media coverage influence firm green innovation? The moderating role of regional environment," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Magno, Francesca & Cassia, Fabio, 2024. "Predicting restaurants’ surplus food platform continuance: Insights from the combined use of PLS-SEM and NCA and predictive model comparisons," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    12. Kuen‐Hung Tsai & Chi‐Tsun Huang & Zi‐Hyo Chen, 2020. "Understanding variation in the relationship between environmental management practices and firm performance across studies: A meta‐analytic review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 547-565, February.
    13. Imane Bounadi & Khalil Allali & Aziz Fadlaoui & Mohammed Dehhaoui, 2022. "Can Environmental Regulation Drive the Environmental Technology Diffusion and Enhance Firms’ Environmental Performance in Developing Countries? Case of Olive Oil Industry in Morocco," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    14. Zeeshan Ullah & Ahmad Arslan, 2022. "R&D contribution to sustainable product attributes development: The complementarity of human capital," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 902-915, October.
    15. Melek Yurdakul & Halim Kazan, 2024. "A Study on Determining the Eco-Innovation Dynamics in Turkey’s Manufacturing Companies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4912-4938, March.
    16. Ines Diez‐Martinez & Angel Peiro‐Signes & Marival Segarra‐Oña, 2023. "The links between active cooperation and eco‐innovation orientation of firms: A multi‐analysis study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 430-443, January.
    17. Dong Chen & Shi Chen, 2024. "Patent Protection Policy and Firms’ Green Technology Innovation: Mediating Roles of Open Innovation and Human Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-17, March.
    18. Pinaz Tiwari & Rahul Pratap Singh Kaurav & Kian Yeik Koay, 2024. "Understanding travel apps usage intention: findings from PLS and NCA," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 25-41, March.
    19. Lourdes Moreno‐Mondéjar & Ángela Triguero & Francisco José Sáez‐Martínez, 2020. "Successful eco‐innovators: Exploring the association between open inbound knowledge strategies and the performance of eco‐innovative firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 939-953, March.
    20. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Giovanni Marin & Elena Paglialunga, 2016. "Eco-innovation, sustainable supply chains and environmental performance in European industries," LEM Papers Series 2016/19, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

    More about this item

    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:bla:bstrat:v:33:y:2024:i:8:p:9075-9097. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.