Employee diversity and innovation performance among agricultural businesses: evidence from South Africa

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between employee diversity and innovation performance within agricultural businesses. Using data from the South African Agricultural Business Innovation Survey (AgriBIS) 2019-2021, this study applies the Blau index to measure diversity and uses binary logit models to assess how these diversity dimensions influence product and process innovation, as well as intellectual property (IP) outcomes. The study found that gender diversity was significantly and positively associated with all three dimensions of innovation as measured by the dependent variables (product innovation, process innovation, and IP). Racial diversity was weakly but positively associated with product innovation but showed no significant effects on process innovations or intellectual property, while age diversity was found to be insignificant across all innovation outcomes. The findings suggest policymakers should develop instruments that promote gender diversity, while business leaders are encouraged to incorporate gender diversity into their innovation strategies to enhance agricultural innovation.