Publications by year
2020
Pascucci S (2020). Building natural resource networks: urban agriculture and the circular economy. In (Ed) Achieving sustainable urban agriculture, BURLEIGH DODDS SCIENCE PUBLISHING.
Borrello M, Pascucci S, Caracciolo F, Lombardi A, Cembalo L (2020). Consumers are willing to participate in circular business models: a practice theory perspective to food provisioning.
Journal of Cleaner Production,
259Abstract:
Consumers are willing to participate in circular business models: a practice theory perspective to food provisioning
© 2020 the Authors Implementing circular business models in food supply chains is an organizational solution to tackle the issue of household food waste, converting it in feedstock to upcycle within industrial symbioses. Adopting literature on practices of food consumption as theoretical framework, this paper analyzes consumers’ participation in circular business models. A conceptual model of the emergence of food provisioning practices in circular business models is designed and empirically tested, through a survey, in order to analyze consumers’ willingness to participate in an innovative food provisioning mechanism with retailers. Respondents were asked to choose whether to participate or not in a proposed program, and their choices have been modelled in an ordered logit model. 88% of interviewees declared sorting organic food waste as a normal activity in his household. 78.9% of participants accepted to participate to the proposed programs independently of the type of agreement's attributes. 14.49% accepted only some programs depending on the program type, while 6.61% of respondents choose not to participate to any of the proposed program. Findings outline the expected participant as an individual already engaged in tasks to cope with risk in food provisioning and having already developed a long-lasting relation with a retailer. The study reveals also the opposite effect of concerns about tasks related to take-back system, such as food waste handling, and social desirability of recycling. Focusing on the business-to-consumers relationship, the paper suggests to practitioners interested in circular business models the possibility to adopt innovative ‘food-product-as-a-service’ approaches. Recommendations can be derived for future studies about the relevance of practice theory in the analysis of consumers’ engagement in circular business models.
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Pascucci S, Dentoni D, Clements J, Poldner K, Gartner W (2020). EXPRESS: Forging forms of authority through the sociomateriality of food in partial organizations.
Organization Studies Full text.
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Boehm S, Pascucci S (2020). It’s not just about the Mafia! Conceptualizing business-society relations of organized violence.
The Academy of Management Perspectives Full text.
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Dentoni D, Bijman J, Bossle MB, Gondwe S, Isubikalu P, Ji C, Kella C, Pascucci S, Royer A, Vieira L, et al (2020). New organizational forms in emerging economies: bridging the gap between agribusiness management and international development.
Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies,
10(1), 1-11.
Abstract:
New organizational forms in emerging economies: bridging the gap between agribusiness management and international development
© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: This editorial article introduces and analyzes a variety of new organizational forms that rapidly emerged in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe in the latest two decades. Among the others, these include: business model partnerships, business platforms, incubators and hubs, public–private partnerships, agribusiness companies' foundations and spin-offs, short supply chains, community-supported agriculture and other community self-organizing experiences. Building upon the recent literature and the five selected papers in this special issue, the authors discuss what is novel in these organizations and why, when and how they emerge and evolve over time. Design/methodology/approach: the authors identify three elements that, when considered together, explain and predict the emergence and evolution of these new organizational forms: institutions, strategies and learning processes. Findings: the authors demonstrate that societal actors seeking to (re)design these new organizational forms need to consider these three elements to combine the pursuit of their interests of their own constituencies with the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Originality/value: Taking stock from the literature, the authors invite future research on new organizational forms to take explicitly the pursuit of the SDGs into consideration; to build upon a process ontology; and to deeply reflect on our positionality of scientists studying and sometimes engaging in these organizations.
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Borrello M, Pascucci S, Cembalo L (2020). Three propositions to unify circular economy research: a review.
Sustainability (Switzerland),
12(10).
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Three propositions to unify circular economy research: a review
© 2020 by the authors. Transitioning into a circular economy (CE) has been recently proposed as an agenda for reconciling global industrial systems with natural equilibria, but the current understanding of CE is ambiguous among scholars. Informed by recent growing CE literature, this study summarizes through three key propositions a set of indisputable insights emerging from the CE debate. In particular, the paper: remarks how CE takes stock of concepts of other schools of thought to drive policy interventions; depicts CE as a systemic transition of global industrial systems; and highlights the role of eco-effectiveness to upgrade business-centered approaches to sustainability. The proposed propositions are expected to contribute to reducing ambiguities in the CE debate and to convey coherence to future research.
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2019
Pancino B, Blasi E, Rappoldt A, Pascucci S, Ruini L, Ronchi C (2019). Partnering for sustainability in agri-food supply chains: the case of Barilla Sustainable Farming in the Po Valley.
Agricultural and Food Economics,
7(1).
Abstract:
Partnering for sustainability in agri-food supply chains: the case of Barilla Sustainable Farming in the Po Valley
© 2019, the Author(s). The objective of the paper is to understand the process of designing a multi-stakeholder partnership in the adoption of sustainable innovations in value chains. More specifically, the focus is on the design of feasible types of horizontal agreements and contractual formulas to be implemented in the agri-food supply chain in order to introduce sustainable agricultural practices. To this purpose, the Barilla Sustainable Farming initiative, which is currently in the first phase of designing an MSP, is used as a case study.
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2018
Lerro M, Vecchio R, Caracciolo F, Pascucci S, Cembalo L (2018). Consumers' heterogeneous preferences for corporate social responsibility in the food industry.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,
25(6), 1050-1061.
Abstract:
Consumers' heterogeneous preferences for corporate social responsibility in the food industry
Copyright © 2018 John Wiley. &. Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment This study reveals the consumer side of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the food industry, exploring awareness, preferences and willingness to pay for CSR of a representative sample of Italian households. The results clearly indicate that Italian consumers reveal a high level of awareness within clear, though heterogeneous, preferences for CSR initiatives. Five consumers' groups were identified: ‘environmentalists’, ‘pro-socials’, ‘collectivists’, ‘animal friends’ and ‘selfish health centered’. Furthermore, the study reveals consumers' willingness to pay a premium price to reward food companies addressing their concerns and expectations in terms of CSR. Findings offer insights for business managers on how to promote CSR, developing communication and information strategies focusing on specific needs and personal relevance within a group of consumers.
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Trienekens J, van Velzen M, Lees N, Saunders C, Pascucci S (2018). Governance of market-oriented fresh food value chains: export chains from New Zealand.
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van der Werlf S, Trienekens J, Hagelaar G, Pascucci S (2018). Patterns in sustainable relationships between buyers and suppliers: evidence from the food and beverage industry.
INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT REVIEW,
21(8), 1023-1043.
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2017
Materia VC, Pascucci S, Dries L (2017). Are In-House and Outsourcing Innovation Strategies Correlated? Evidence from the European Agri-Food Sector.
Journal of Agricultural Economics,
68(1), 249-268.
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Dentoni D, Poldner K, Pascucci S, Gartner WB (2017). Consumer entrepreneurship: What is it? When, how, and why does it emerge?. In (Ed)
Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, 187-218.
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Consumer entrepreneurship: What is it? When, how, and why does it emerge?
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Borrello M, Caracciolo F, Lombardi A, Pascucci S, Cembalo L (2017). Consumers' perspective on circular economy strategy for reducing food waste.
Sustainability (Switzerland),
9(1).
Abstract:
Consumers' perspective on circular economy strategy for reducing food waste
© 2017 by the authors. The current linear system of production and consumption is unsustainable. In the food sector, despite the fact that valuable natural resources are intensively used to produce and distribute food products, little is done to upcycle residues generated along the supply chain. Circular economy strategies are crucial for restructuring the take-make-dispose model through the active participation of all actors of supply chains. However, little is known about consumers' willingness to participate in circular economy. A structured questionnaire was submitted to a representative sample of Italian households to assess the willingness of consumers to be actively involved in closed loops aiming at reducing food waste. Consumers are involved by returning their organic food waste to retailers in exchange for discounts on the purchase of animal products. The organic food waste returned enters in the production process of animal products. A choice experiment was designed to analyse alternative programs. Two scenarios were presented: one with a traditional technology (composting), and a second one with a radically innovative technology (insects as feed). Preferences and trade-offs, in monetary terms, among attributes were computed. Results depict a comprehensive portrait of the potential participation of consumers to closed loops inspired by the principles of circular economy.
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Fischer A, Pascucci S (2017). Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: the case of material use in the Dutch textile industry.
Journal of Cleaner Production,
155, 17-32.
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Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: the case of material use in the Dutch textile industry
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd the aim of this paper is to gain insight into how requirements for transitioning to circular economy creates new organizational forms in inter-firm collaborations, and ultimately how they stimulate the emergence of new institutions enhancing sustainability. Two strands of literature, one on circular economy and one on institutional analysis, provide the theoretical background for this research. Currently a clearly formulated and unified theory on the institutions of circular economy is lacking. Therefore this research compares and contrasts empirical evidence from cases derived from the textile industry in the Netherlands, and concepts derived from institutional analysis and literature on circular economy to inductively build a cohesive conceptual framework. Using information from cases we identified two pathways to transition into circular economy and to manage circular material flows. We define these pathways Status Quo arrangements (SQ), when firms focus on optimizing up-cycling technologies and infrastructure in their circular relations and collaborations, and Product as Service arrangements (PAS), to indicate a focus on providing products in service contracts. Chain coordination, contracting, and financial mechanisms were identified as key organizational elements for creating new pathways to transition into circular materials flows. However in analyzing these elements we also highlight differences between SQ and PAS arrangements. SQ arrangements may have implications at the level of formal rules, for example by creating a new industry standards for up-cycled fabrics. PAS arrangements may have wider implications, for example by reshaping ownership in service contracts and creating cascading activities. Moving ownership to the supply chain will result in increased responsibility for materials and will create an incentive for improving quality of products, including their environmental performance. This is expected to generate positive socio-environmental impacts at a system level as well. Moreover PAS arrangements may have bottom up effects at a formal institutional level, resulting in alteration and creation of formal rules, for example in terms of new approaches to the ownership of materials.
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Dentoni D, Pascucci S, Poldner K, Gartner WB (2017). Learning “who we are” by doing: Processes of co-constructing prosocial identities in community-based enterprises.
Journal of Business Venturing,
33(5), 603-622.
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Learning “who we are” by doing: Processes of co-constructing prosocial identities in community-based enterprises
© 2017 Elsevier Inc. This study investigates how members in community-based enterprises (CBEs) engage in processes of co-constructing their collective prosocial identities. Based on an inductive analysis of 27 organizations that were formed explicitly as communities and sought to build alternative forms of production and consumption through innovative ways to pool and recombine resources, we found that all of the CBEs engaged in distributed experimentation that lead to epiphany sense-making. These two approaches triggered and enacted collective processes of shifts in identity or identity persistence. We advance a processual model that identifies approaches for how members of CBEs either embrace epiphanies in identity shifts or limit and react to epiphanies in identity persistence.
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Duncan J, Pascucci S (2017). Mapping the Organisational Forms of Networks of Alternative Food Networks: Implications for Transition.
SOCIOLOGIA RURALIS,
57(3), 316-339.
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Nuhoff-Isakhanyan G, Wubben EFM, Omta OSWF, Pascucci S (2017). Network structure in sustainable agro-industrial parks.
Journal of Cleaner Production,
141, 1209-1220.
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Miralles I, Dentoni D, Pascucci S (2017). Understanding the organization of sharing economy in agri-food systems: evidence from alternative food networks in Valencia.
Agriculture and Human Values,
34(4), 833-854.
Abstract:
Understanding the organization of sharing economy in agri-food systems: evidence from alternative food networks in Valencia
© 2017, the Author(s). Despite the proliferation of sharing economy initiatives in agri-food systems, the recent literature has still not unravelled what sharing exactly entails from an organizational standpoint. In light of this knowledge gap, this study aims to understand which resources are shared, and how, in a heterogeneous set of sharing economy initiatives in the context of food and agriculture. Specifically, this study compares the organization of various forms of alternative food networks (AFNs), which are recognized to be frugal forms of sharing economy initiatives (i.e. locally based, small-scale and with limited use of information technology), in terms of leadership, bureaucracy, shared resources and participants’ engagement. Data from a comparative case study across 18 AFNs identify five sharing economy models of AFNs with distinctive shared resources and organizational mechanisms: consumer groups; commercial community gardens; as well as network-based, privately owned and publicly owned self-consumption community gardens. These models also display notable differences in terms of their origins, participants’ goals and constraints which, to some extent, may be associated to the nature of their organization. Findings inform policy-makers, AFNs’ leaders and stakeholders—especially those seeking to support innovative models towards sustainable transitions—on how to tailor institutional norms and develop networks to meet the heterogeneous needs of different typologies of sharing economy initiatives in agri-food systems.
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2016
Pascucci S, Fischer A (2016). Institutional incentives in circular economy transition: the case of material use in the Dutch textile industry.
Journal of Cleaner Production Full text.
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Pascucci S, Dentoni D, Lombardi A, Cembalo L (2016). Sharing values or sharing costs? Understanding consumer participation in alternative food networks.
NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences,
78, 47-60.
DOI.
Dicecca R, Pascucci S, Contò F (2016). Understanding reconfiguration pathways of agri-food value chains for smallholder farmers.
British Food Journal,
118(8), 1857-1882.
Abstract:
Understanding reconfiguration pathways of agri-food value chains for smallholder farmers
. Purpose
. – Smallholder farmers often deal with lack of information and knowledge, weak financial capacity and limited collaboration and network orientation. This is hampering their ability to adopt or co-develop innovation, and to participate in value chain exchanges. This calls for using intermediary organizations. The purpose of this paper is to understand how innovation intermediaries engage with smallholder farmers and provoke value chain reconfigurations.
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. Design/methodology/approach
. – the authors systematically review literature to draw cases on intermediaries operating in the agri-food sector in several geographical and socio-economic contexts. The authors then adopt a theory building from cases approach to identify relationships between smallholder farmers and innovation intermediaries, and their effects in the reconfiguration of value chains.
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. Findings
. – Consultants, knowledge transfer organizations (KTOs) and broker organizations (BOs) are the three typologies of intermediaries identified. While consultants facilitate change by modifying the way smallholders engage in transactions with their buyers and input providers, KTOs focus on farmers engagement in the value chain by stimulating the formation of knowledge platform or partnership. BOs operate in a similar way as compared to KTOs but mainly by forming and facilitating access to informal networks.
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. Practical implications
. – the authors build a framework in which relationships between typologies of intermediary organizations and types of innovation processes are connected with changes at value chain level.
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. Originality/value
. – the authors highlight how diverse forms of intermediations may stimulate not only smallholder farmers’ participation in innovation networks but also value chain reconfigurations.
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2015
Dentoni D, Bitzer V, Pascucci S (2015). Cross-Sector Partnerships and the Co-creation of Dynamic Capabilities for Stakeholder Orientation.
Journal of Business Ethics,
135(1), 35-53.
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de-Magistris T, Pascucci S, Mitsopoulos D (2015). Paying to see a bug on my food.
British Food Journal,
117(6), 1777-1792.
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Paying to see a bug on my food
. Purpose
. – the purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the European Novel Food Regulation (ENFR) on consumers’ acceptance of and willingness to pay (WTP) for radical food innovations. The research question is focussed on determining whether the ENFR is hampering the market potential of insect-based food products in the European Union (EU). The authors position this question within the domain of regulatory barriers related to food innovations.
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. Design/methodology/approach
. – Using a choice experiment, the authors assess the presence and relevance of these failures through the analysis of consumers’ acceptance and WTP for insect-based food products with different product attributes directly imposed by the ENFR. Namely, the authors assess the effect of the visualization of insects in the product, the use of logo, and nutritional information.
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. Findings
. – the results show that consumers prefer and are willing to pay a premium price for insect-based products with a nutritional health claim and logo, but they are not willing to pay for a product with a visualized insect.
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. Originality/value
. – This paper highlights the risk of regulatory failures for novel foods in the EU, such as insect-based food products due to the ENFR.
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Materia VC, Pascucci S, Kolympiris C (2015). Understanding the selection processes of public research projects in agriculture: the role of scientific merit.
Food Policy,
56, 87-99.
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Pascucci S, Materia VC, Kolympiris C (2015). Understanding the selection processes of public research projects in agriculture: the role of scientific merit.
Food Policy,
56, 87-99.
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Cembalo L, Lombardi A, Pascucci S, Dentoni D, Migliore G, Verneau F, Schifani G (2015). “Rationally Local”: Consumer Participation in Alternative Food Chains.
Agribusiness,
31(3), 330-352.
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2014
de-Magistris T, Pascucci S (2014). The effect of the solemn oath script in hypothetical choice experiment survey: a pilot study.
Economics Letters,
123(2), 252-255.
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van der Horst H, Pascucci S, Bol W (2014). The “dark side” of food banks? Exploring emotional responses of food bank receivers in the Netherlands.
British Food Journal,
116(9), 1506-1520.
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The “dark side” of food banks? Exploring emotional responses of food bank receivers in the Netherlands
. Purpose
. – the purpose of this paper is to address how food, social status as well as the interactions at the food bank induce emotions in receivers, such as shame, gratitude and anger. Since early 2000s a steadily growing number of low-income and/or over-indebted households in the Netherlands alleviate their situation with food donations from local food banks. Such food banks collect from companies edible food that would otherwise have gone to waste. The growing demand for food assistance indicates it is a welcome contribution to the groceries in many households. However, receiving food assistance as well as eating the products forces the receivers to set aside embodied dispositions towards food and norms about how to obtain food. Furthermore, it places them in interactions of charitable giving that may be harmful to the self-esteem of receivers.
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. Design/methodology/approach
. – the paper is based on a qualitative study at a food bank in the Netherlands, consisting among others of in-depth interviews with 17 receivers of food assistance, observations and several interviews with volunteers.
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. Findings
. – of all emotions that were expressed during the interviews, shame appeared as the most prominent. Particularly issues of shame emerged in relation to all three food-bank-related experiences: the content of the crate, the interaction with volunteers and lastly the understanding of one's positioning in a social hierarchy. While shame can be a very private emotion – even talking about being ashamed can be shameful – it is also an utterly social emotion.
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. Originality/value
. – This research is among the few ones explicitly addressing emotional emotions related to receivers in food bank.
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2013
Abebe GK, Bijman J, Pascucci S, Omta O (2013). Adoption of improved potato varieties in Ethiopia: the role of agricultural knowledge and innovation system and smallholder farmers’ quality assessment.
Agricultural Systems,
122, 22-32.
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Gerdessen JC, Pascucci S (2013). Data Envelopment Analysis of sustainability indicators of European agricultural systems at regional level.
Agricultural Systems,
118, 78-90.
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2012
Cechin A, Bijman J, Pascucci S, Omta O (2012). Decomposing the Member Relationship in Agricultural Cooperatives: Implications for Commitment.
Agribusiness,
29(1), 39-61.
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2011
Pascucci S, Gardebroek C, Dries L (2011). Some like to join, others to deliver: an econometric analysis of farmers' relationships with agricultural co-operatives.
European Review of Agricultural Economics,
39(1), 51-74.
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Pascucci S, de-Magistris T (2011). The effects of changing regional Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System on Italian farmers’ strategies.
Agricultural Systems,
104(9), 746-754.
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2010
Capitanio F, Coppola A, Pascucci S (2010). Product and process innovation in the Italian food industry.
Agribusiness,
26(4), 503-518.
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2009
Capitanio F, Coppola A, Pascucci S (2009). Indications for drivers of innovation in the food sector.
British Food Journal,
111(8), 820-838.
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