Perceived Technological Regimes: An Empirical Analysis of the Apulian Wine Industry

Abstract

Technological regimes define the technological environment in which innovative and learning activities take place within each sector of the economy. However, in our view technological regimes must be interpreted and elaborated by each organisation operating in a specific sector in order to be rationally implemented, thus turning into perceived technological regimes. We test this argument on a sample of wine companies in the Apulia region (Italy). We find empirical evidence that the perceived technological regimes exist and that firms’ perceptions tend to vary uniformly across different wine technologies. In addition, we find evidence that different firms’ characteristics have a strong impact on firms’ perceptions both at the aggregate level and when distinct perception groups are identified.