In this paper we investigate agricultural innovation in three economic areas: the USA, Japan and Europe, taking into account simultaneously both the spatial and technological dimensions.

In particular, we introduce a theoretical framework and an empirical analysis based upon a dataset composed of worldwide R&D-intensive firms to discuss the role of spillover components in the waste management efficiency at firm level. The technological relatedness between the firms is computed through an original Mahalanobis Environmental industry weight matrix, based on the construction of technological vectors for each firm. Methodologically, from one hand, we explore the extent to which knowledge spillovers are important through spatial analysis procedure and from the other hand, we measure the effects of technology spillovers on firms’ productivity through econometric methods to handle heterogeneity and endogenous explanatory variables. The findings show a positive impact of Jacobian R&D spillovers on firms’ productivity and environmental performance and this result can be relevant repercussions in terms of policy implications.