Title: Likely technological trajectories in agricultural tractors by analysing innovative attitudes of farmers

Authors: Eugenio Cavallo; Ester Ferrari; Mario Coccia

Addresses: Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Torino, Italy ' Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Torino, Italy ' Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Moncalieri, Italy; The United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands; RAND Corporation, Washington, DC, USA

Abstract: This paper analyses current technological innovations in agricultural tractors and their possible future directions. The study here suggests three main technological trajectories: (a) safety and warning systems that inform the driver about dangerous situations and communicate any accident to an emergency service (technological trajectory safety oriented); (b) comfort for operators that spend a higher number of hours on tractors in difficult environmental conditions (technological trajectory comfort oriented); (c) higher on-road travelling speed (greater than 40 kph or 25 mph) is a useful technological characteristic required for modern agricultural tractors (technological trajectory speed-oriented). The results of this study, based on attitude of users of agricultural tractors, can provide vital information for supporting strategies of leading firms towards fruitful technological trajectories to improve farms' efficiency and safety on farms.

Keywords: agricultural mechanisation; agricultural tractors; farm tractors; technology foresight; strategic management; technological innovation; technological trajectories; adopters; innovative attitudes; farmers; farmer attitudes; agriculture; farming; tractor safety; warning systems; ride comfort; on-road travelling speed; farm efficiency; farm safety.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2015.069203

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2015 Vol.15 No.2, pp.158 - 177

Received: 12 Nov 2013
Accepted: 05 Aug 2014
Published online: 05 May 2015 *

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