Bringing innovation back in–strategies and driving forces behind entrepreneurial responses in small-scale rural industries in Sweden
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21296469 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paulina Ines Rytkönen (0000-0001-8939-1105, Södertörn University, corresponding author), Pejvak Oghazi (0000-0003-2125-6155, Södertörn University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 124 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 2550-2565 |
| Publication date | 2022-07-22 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Food Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-070X • E-ISSN: 1758-4108 |
| Publisher | Emerald (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1108/bfj-05-2021-0587 |
| OpenAlex | W3214045813 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 48 |
Purpose The paper contributes to the debate about local food and conceptualization of rural entrepreneurship by analysing the performance of small-scale dairies departing from their relation to innovations, innovative activities and risk. Design/methodology/approach The authors use phenomenography to identify representative categories, and to draw conclusions about how these are consistent or different from dominant definitions of rural entrepreneurship and self-employment. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews, participatory workshops and compiled a database of all small-scale dairies established between 1968 and 2020. Findings A focus on innovations contributes to differentiate between rural entrepreneurship and self-employment and how these interact in the process of economic growth. Innovations are seldom disruptive. Instead, innovative behaviour is strongly related to business models and to imitation. Social capital and collective action play a key role for the innovative capacity of small businesses, especially to realize disruptive innovations, such as the establishment of a new market. Research limitations/implications The innovative capacity of rural businesses can be understood through their ability to break patterns, alter institutions and turn embededdness into assets. Rural entrepreneurship and self-employment are intertwined in the economic growth process. Practical implications Innovative behaviour is a significant aspect for firm survival over time, and it is also strongly related to new business models. Most rural firms can be characterized as self-employment, the latter are essential because they provide rural livelihoods and help bring maturity to newly established markets. Social implications The right type of support, e.g. adopting enabling industrial regulations and granting access to constructive experiences of others, contributes to the innovative behaviour of small-scale rural firms. Originality/value This study differentiates rural entrepreneurship from rural self-employment by analysing the role of innovation. The authors show how innovations and innovative behaviour work their way through the process of economic growth and how innovation can break patterns by turning rural embeddedness into assets; and how innovative behaviour related to self-employments contributes to the creation of value and interacts with entrepreneurship in the process of economic growth
Agriculture · Business · Conceptualization · Disruptive innovation · Economic growth · Economics · Entrepreneurship · Industrial organization · Livelihood · Political science · Rural area · Scale (ratio) · Small business · Social capital · Sociology · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Family Business Performance and Succession · Marketing · Organic Food and Agriculture
Rural entrepreneurship in Europe
Self-employment in OECD countries
Contextualization and the advancement of entrepreneurship research
The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research
Socio-cultural factors and entrepreneurial activity
Entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurship nexus
Rural entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship in the rural – between place and space
Variation and commonality in phenomenographic research methods
Local food systems
Entrepreneurial innovation
Economic Action and Social Structure
Supporting rural entrepreneurship
Does rural entrepreneurship pay
Local resources, foreign influences, value creation, tradition and modernity. The case of a Local Agro-food System in Jämtland, Sweden
Social capital and community development
Rural social entrepreneurship
New rural territories
Rural communities as a context for entrepreneurship
The place of food
Self-employment and entrepreneurship in urban and rural labour markets
Imitation, Entrepreneurship, and Long-Run Growth
The Creative Response in Economic History
Structural Reform of Social Security
Profit and Entrepreneurial Functions
Twenty Years of Rural Entrepreneurship
Food Supply Chain Approaches
Understanding Alternative Food Networks
Local Embeddedness and Rural Entrepreneurship
The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes
| Citations per year | 0.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2024 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |