The development of a sustainable rural world must have an innovative agri-food industry as one of its bases. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of the main drivers of innovation by small and medium agri-food companies in Spain. A combined multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is performed to identify the key factors among 63 indicators in the domains of the technology-organisation-environmental approach. The results suggest an open field of research. Positively related to innovation are firm capacities and financial resources. Moreover, agri-food firms innovate in products, processes or marketing in order to increase sales, enter new markets, or increase the quality of their products. On the contrary, most of these firms did not innovate to reduce costs or time of response, meet regulatory compliance or maintain employment. Authorities should be aware that smaller and younger agri-food firms face more restrictions to innovate, and firms feel public policies could help to meet market demand as a driving force of innovation. On the contrary, essential objectives of regional development such as environmental compliance and maintaining employment seem to depend solely on public action.

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西班牙农村农业食品公司创新的决定因素：MCA PLS-SEM 分析

可持续农村世界的发展必须以创新的农业食品工业为基础之一。本文全面分析了西班牙中小型农业食品公司创新的主要驱动力。执行组合多重对应分析 (MCA) 和结构方程模型 (PLS-SEM)，以确定技术-组织-环境方法领域 63 项指标中的关键因素。结果表明了一个开放的研究领域。与创新正相关的是企业能力和财政资源。此外，农业食品公司在产品、流程或营销方面进行创新，以增加销售额、进入新市场或提高产品质量。相反，这些公司中的大多数没有创新以降低成本或响应时间，满足监管要求或维持就业。当局应该意识到，规模较小、较年轻的农业食品企业在创新方面面临更多限制，企业认为公共政策可以作为创新的驱动力来帮助满足市场需求。相反，区域发展的基本目标，如环境合规和保持就业，似乎完全取决于公共行动。