Evolutionary Mechanisms of Ecological Agriculture Innovation Systems: Evidence from Chongming Eco-Island, China

Yang Yang, Shishuai Ge, Xianzhong Cao () and Gang Zeng ()
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Yang Yang: The Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Shishuai Ge: The Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Xianzhong Cao: The Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Gang Zeng: The Center for Modern Chinese City Studies, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Constructing an ecological–agricultural innovation system (EAIS) and exploring its evolution patterns are effective ways to overcome the current bottleneck in the world’s agricultural development, which is also an important area of concern for economic geography scholars. Based on innovation system and agricultural innovation system (AIS) theories and relevant research literature, this study constructed an analytical framework for the evolution of the EAIS and analyses the characteristics and mechanisms of the EAIS evolution at three levels. With the help of in-depth research data on the ecological agriculture of Chongming’s eco-island, this study analysed the structural composition, evolutionary paths, and mechanisms of Chongming’s ecological–agricultural innovation system (EAIS). The main findings are that the evolutionary structure of the EAIS can be divided into three levels. At the micro level, ecological–agricultural producers and operators are continuously spun off along with the expansion of industry scale under the role of market orientation, technology promotion, and regulatory management. At the meso level, all actors actively seek specialised associations to obtain innovation resources, forming an innovation network. At the macro level, ecological–agricultural regulatory actors incorporate all actors into the ecological regulatory system so that the evolutionary path of the EAIS can be regulated for cleaner production. EAIS is the evolution of innovation systems in synergy between the three levels of ‘actor’ + ‘network’ + ‘institution’.

Keywords: ecological agriculture; agricultural innovation system; innovation network; spinoff; evolutionary mechanism; Chongming Eco-Island (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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