Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?

Studies on the effects of research and innovation in agriculture have been largely characterised by efforts to make a connection between expenditure and productivity. A number of issues have challenged the ability of productivity to measure the effects of research, namely, in recent years, increasin...

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Main Author: Davide Viaggi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Firenze University Press 2015-11-01
Series:Bio-based and Applied Economics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/bae/article/view/3280
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author Davide Viaggi
author_facet Davide Viaggi
author_sort Davide Viaggi
collection DOAJ
description Studies on the effects of research and innovation in agriculture have been largely characterised by efforts to make a connection between expenditure and productivity. A number of issues have challenged the ability of productivity to measure the effects of research, namely, in recent years, increasing efforts towards improving the environmental performance of the farming sector. Besides environmental concerns, however, a number of recent concepts have emerged that are shaping the current research and policy agenda and which could result in a revision of the productivity concepts used to evaluate research impacts. The objective of this paper is to discuss these issues and their implications for studies on the impact of research and innovation. We address, in particular, the following issues: a) the development of the of bioeconomy and related concepts such as the circular economy, resource efficiency and bio-refinery; b) the connection with entrepreneurship and eco-innovation; c) changing tools in research assessment, in particular the widespread use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); and d) the evolving concepts of sustainability and ecosystem services. We argue that while the traditional notion of productivity, intended as output/input ratio, maintains (and may be strengthens) its role on the aggregate, a more analytical interpretation of the pathways towards research impacts is needed, as well as a broadened view of productivity and its determinants.
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spelling doaj.art-e46cd71f1a6847ba8e4d00245d5b30822022-12-22T03:27:10ZengFirenze University PressBio-based and Applied Economics2280-61802280-61722015-11-014310.13128/BAE-1755514725Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?Davide Viaggi0Università di BolognaStudies on the effects of research and innovation in agriculture have been largely characterised by efforts to make a connection between expenditure and productivity. A number of issues have challenged the ability of productivity to measure the effects of research, namely, in recent years, increasing efforts towards improving the environmental performance of the farming sector. Besides environmental concerns, however, a number of recent concepts have emerged that are shaping the current research and policy agenda and which could result in a revision of the productivity concepts used to evaluate research impacts. The objective of this paper is to discuss these issues and their implications for studies on the impact of research and innovation. We address, in particular, the following issues: a) the development of the of bioeconomy and related concepts such as the circular economy, resource efficiency and bio-refinery; b) the connection with entrepreneurship and eco-innovation; c) changing tools in research assessment, in particular the widespread use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); and d) the evolving concepts of sustainability and ecosystem services. We argue that while the traditional notion of productivity, intended as output/input ratio, maintains (and may be strengthens) its role on the aggregate, a more analytical interpretation of the pathways towards research impacts is needed, as well as a broadened view of productivity and its determinants.https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/bae/article/view/3280agricultureresearchinnovationproductivitybio-refinerycircular economy
spellingShingle Davide Viaggi
Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?
Bio-based and Applied Economics
agriculture
research
innovation
productivity
bio-refinery
circular economy
title Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?
title_full Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?
title_fullStr Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?
title_full_unstemmed Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?
title_short Research and innovation in agriculture: beyond productivity?
title_sort research and innovation in agriculture beyond productivity
topic agriculture
research
innovation
productivity
bio-refinery
circular economy
url https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/bae/article/view/3280
work_keys_str_mv AT davideviaggi researchandinnovationinagriculturebeyondproductivity