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Using bibliometric analysis to map innovative business models for vertical farm entrepreneurs

Paolo Pietro Biancone (Department of Management, University of Turin, Torino, Italy)
Valerio Brescia (Department of Management, University of Turin, Torino, Italy)
Federico Lanzalonga (Department of Management, University of Turin, Torino, Italy)
Gazi Mahabubul Alam (Department of Foundations of Education, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia)

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 10 January 2022

Issue publication date: 8 June 2022

902

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the literature on vertical farming to define key elements to outline a business model for entrepreneurs. The research aims to stimulate entrepreneurship for vertical farming in a smart cities' context, recognising urban agriculture as technology to satisfy increasing food needs.

Design/methodology/approach

The research conducts a structured literature review on 186 articles on vertical farming extracted from the Scopus. Moreover, the bibliometric analysis revealed the descriptive statistics on this field and the main themes through the authors' keywords.

Findings

Different perspectives showed the multidisciplinary nature of the topic and how the intersection of different skills is necessary to understand the subject entirely. The keywords analysis allowed for identifying the topics covered by the authors and the business model's elements.

Research limitations/implications

The research explores a topic in the embryonic stage to define key strands of literature. It provides business model insights extending George and Bock's (2011) research to stimulate entrepreneurship in vertical farming. Limitations arise from the sources used to develop our analysis and how the topic appears as a frontier innovation.

Originality/value

Originality is the integration of literature strands related to vertical farming, highlighting its multidisciplinary nature to provide a holistic understanding of the themes. In smart cities' context, innovations allow traditional business models to be interpreted in a novel perspective and revealed the elements for transforming vertical farming from innovative technology to an effective source of food sustenance. Finally, the paper suggests a new methodology application for the analysis of word clusters by integrating correspondence analysis and multidimensional scaling analysis.

Keywords

Citation

Biancone, P.P., Brescia, V., Lanzalonga, F. and Alam, G.M. (2022), "Using bibliometric analysis to map innovative business models for vertical farm entrepreneurs", British Food Journal, Vol. 124 No. 7, pp. 2239-2261. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2021-0904

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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