Innovation and the role of social capital in nursery industry: The case of Sicilian micropropagation companies

The advent of technological innovation does not constitute a process confined to a particular territory or to a specific economic system, but represents a shared opportunity, cutting across all regions, sectors, and activities, that is destined to grow to meet the expectations of the modern consumer in terms of food safety, wholesomeness, quality, certification, etc. It is in this context that the work places itself, exploring the role played by social capital in the diffusion of micropropagation in agriculture, an innovation able to shift productive chains upstream, particularly in the activities of the nursery industry. The paper demonstrates the influence of numerous relational variables on the success of this activity.