Enterprise innovation has gained the interest of development policymakers and scholars as the bases for the industrial development. This study comprehensively analyzes the drivers of enterprise innovation in developing countries. The study uses survey data to analyze the determinants of enterprise innovation in Ethiopia using a multivariate probit (MVP) model. For this study, enterprises were grouped into four categories: all-sized, large-sized, medium-sized, and micro-and small-sized enterprises. It appears that engagement in R & D, on-the-job training, and website ownership significantly determine enterprise innovation. This study, unlike previous studies, comprehensively analyzes drivers of innovation by considering enterprises in different sizes and all at the same time. This helps identify factors most relevant for enterprise innovation at all stage which help policymakers get focused on strategy development. Based on the findings, further emphasis on engagement in R & D would help enterprises to become innovative for all categories of enterprises. Furthermore, strengthening the available formal training and diversifying type of the training that is related to skills, knowledge, and techniques that help achieve the long-term objective of the enterprises are worth considering. Enterprises also need to subscribe to different sites that help learn more and access information.

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It is widely accepted that agricultural innovations are vital to ensure food security and economic development. While farmers are among the key sources of agricultural innovations, many studies conducted in the past conceived them as adopters of externally generated technologies. They regarded farmers only as adopters of induced technologies. This study is designed to analyze farmers' participation in agricultural innovation activities using survey and experimental data. Both descriptive and econometric techniques were employed to analyze the data. It appears that risk attitudes and time preferences are variables that enhance farmers' participation in agricultural innovation activities. Wealth and socioeconomic variables such as access to information and irrigation facilities, input usage and age of household head are significantly correlated with farmers' participation in agricultural innovation activities. The findings comply with the induced innovation hypothesis, which recognizes the importance of threats and opportunities to triggering farmers' participation in agricultural innovation activities.

Purpose Though many studies in the past dealt with the survival and growth of enterprises both in the local- and export-markets, less attention was given to the analysis of the duration of enterprises entry into the export-markets. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to analyze the duration of Ethiopian enterprises entry into the export-markets. Design/methodology/approach This paper used data collected from 848 enterprises through a cross-sectional survey method conducted by the World Bank in 2015. In order to estimate the average duration – the time that enterprises need to wait before entering into the export-markets and the associated factors – the authors used the mixture of non-parametric (Kaplan-Meier) and parametric (Weibull) models. Findings The non-parametric results show that enterprises are required to wait for an average of about eight years before entering into the export-markets after their establishment. In addition, foreign-owned enterprises were found to be faster in entering into the export-markets than their domestically owned counterparts. The parametric results revealed that enterprises’ product innovation, enterprises’ size and age, and custom and trade regulations are factors that curtail the durations of enterprises entry into the export-markets. On the other hand, enterprises’ operational costs, the size of enterprises’ locality, and enterprises’ location are factors that slow the durations of enterprises’ entry into the export-markets. Originality/value This study is the first to offer pioneering evidences on the duration (time in years) that Ethiopian enterprises need to wait before entering into the export-markets and the factors that affect the length of their waiting time.

Potato is mainly tagged as a food security crop in Ethiopia. However, its productivity remains low due to low adoption of improved technologies by smallholder farmers. Duration models, namely, Parametric (Weibull) and Non-parametric (Kaplan Meier) were used to analyze the data gathered from 365 sample farmers. The Non-parametric result revealed that the average duration that potato growers should wait before adopting a new variety is about 3.5 years. The Weibull regression indicated that timely availability of seed, access to labor and irrigation water, land size, and adaptation strategy by farmers are found to be factors curtailing the timeframe to adopt improved potato varieties. The regression analysis revealed that costs of inputs such as manure and compost, environmental and market factors such as drought, pest and disease outbreaks, price variability of potato seed, and quality of potato seed were found to be factors influencing adoption decisions of improved potato varieties by smallholder farmers.

This study analyzes the technical efficiency and production risk of 862 maize farmers in major maize producing regions of Ethiopia. It employs the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) to estimate the level of technical efficiencies of stallholder farmers. The stochastic frontier approach (SFA) uses flexible risk properties to account for production risk. Thus, maize production variability is assessed from two perspectives, the production risk and the technical efficiency. The study also attempts to determine the socio-economic and farm characteristics that influence technical efficiency of maize production in the study area. The findings of the study showed the existence of both production risk and technical inefficiency in maize production process. Input variables (amounts per hectare) such as fertilizer and labor positively influence maize output. The findings also show that farms in the study area exhibit decreasing returns to scale. Fertilizer and ox plough days reduce output risk while labor and improved seed increase output risk. The mean technical efficiency for maize farms is 48 percent. This study concludes that production risk and technical inefficiency prevents the maize farmers from realizing their frontier output. The best factors that improve the efficiency of the maize farmers in the study area include: frequency of extension contact, access to credit and use of intercropping. It was also realized that altitude and terracing in maize farms had influence on farmer efficiency.