Determinants of eco-innovation in the agricultural machinery sector: the case of small and medium enterprises in the Piedmont region (Italy)

Abstract

The agricultural machinery industry can significantly contribute to a more sustainable farming system through the development of eco-innovative products and production processes. This is particularly true for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which represent a significant share of this market. This study investigated the determinants of attitudes towards eco-innovating products and processes in a sample of small and medium agricultural machinery manufacturers (N = 47) from the Piedmont region (North–West Italy), analysing the role of enterprise’s characteristics, perceived drivers and barriers, and environmental concern. Overall, product eco-innovation was considered important/very important for their firms by 88.3% of the respondents, whereas process eco-innovation by 67.7%. The regression analyses showed that the availability of a formal and hierarchical structure dedicated to Research and Development and of financial support were significantly associated (β = 0.301, p =.032 and β = 0.406, p =.011, respectively) to positive attitudes towards eco-innovating production processes, whereas the lack of know-how was the main obstacle to both product and process eco-innovativeness (β = − 0.564, p =.000 and β= − 0.397, p =.008, respectively). Environmental concern did not show any significant association with firms’ perceived importance to eco-innovate either products (β = 0.097, p =.475) or processes (β = 0.248, p =.087). Implications for the development of interventions aiming at fostering positive attitudes towards eco-innovation among the targeted enterprises are discussed.