Geography matters for learning and innovation in natural resource-based activities: regional differences in technical linkages across Argentine agriculture

Abstract

Although innovation is present in all economic sectors, innovation surveys and empirical research are biased towards high-tech activities. Meanwhile, quantitative studies on agricultural innovation systems (AIS) usually neglect the regional dimension. As in many developing countries, Argentine agriculture seems to have evolved towards a new techno-productive paradigm, but no study has yet analyzed its geographical scope. This article proposes a regional-structural approach to study where, how and with whom technical linkages and interactive learning processes are developed. Using under-explored data from the 2018 National Agricultural Census and multivariate analysis techniques, the results reveal significant regional differences in technical linkages and show that the new techno-productive paradigm is limited to the Pampean region. While private sources of knowledge are mainly concentrated in central areas, technical linkages with public agencies are geographically widespread. Acknowledging these regional heterogeneities poses different policy challenges for promoting AIS in developing countries with large and diverse territories.