Abstract

Business competitiveness is normally associated with performance. In this context, a firm that performs well under some criterion such as profitability is said to be competitive. Researchers, using performance as a proxy of business competitiveness, have identified different drivers of competitiveness including capital and knowledge acquisition, among others. The objective of this article is to extend this research to show that behavioural factors may also influence business competitiveness. In order to test this idea, a sample of ex-sugar beet farmers was studied using the theory of planned behaviour. For this purpose, a Probit econometric model was adopted. The results have revealed that competitiveness in agriculture is influenced by behavioural factors reflecting farmers’ attitudes towards risk, pleasure at work, farmers’ perception on their ability to innovate, and farmers’ perception on their ability to quickly adjust in response to business environment changes.