IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2013007.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Firms' innovation capability-building paths and the nature of changes in learning mechanisms: Multiple case-study evidence from an emerging economy

Author

Listed:
  • Figueiredo, Paulo N.

    (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation)

  • Cohen, Marcela

    (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation)

  • Gomes, Saulo

    (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation)

Abstract

Although much has been written about organizational-level learning, there is a dearth of empirical studies that explore the role of changes in the nature of firm-centred learning mechanisms in affecting inter-firm differences and similarities in the accumulation of innovation capabilities, especially among firms from emerging economies, known as latecomers. By examining the relationships between these issues based on fieldwork evidence from 13 natural resource-processing firms in Brazil (1950-2000s), this study found that: (1) firms that combined the use of external and internal learning mechanisms with increased intensity and quality achieved higher innovation capability levels than firms that used these learning mechanisms with limited frequency and unchanged quality over time; (2) the relative importance of both external and internal learning mechanisms changed as firms' capabilities approached world-leading levels; (3) some combinations of external and internal learning mechanisms were associated with the attainment of particular innovation capability levels. Therefore, if latecomer firms expend limited efforts in using and deliberately changing the intensity and, mainly, the quality of both external and internal learning mechanisms over time, they will deepen their innovation capabilities slowly and will remain innovation 'followers' rather than becoming world-leading innovators. Using a novel approach that explores the relationship between latecomer firms' innovation capability-building and the extent of changes in the underlying learning mechanisms, this paper furthers our understanding of the nature and dynamics of learning and its role as a primary source of firms' international innovation performance. It also challenges recent approaches that seem to over emphasize open learning processes and post-Chandlerian forms of learning as the leading sources of firms' innovation capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Figueiredo, Paulo N. & Cohen, Marcela & Gomes, Saulo, 2013. "Firms' innovation capability-building paths and the nature of changes in learning mechanisms: Multiple case-study evidence from an emerging economy," MERIT Working Papers 2013-007, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
  • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2013007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2013/wp2013-007.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dantas, Eva & Bell, Martin, 2009. "Latecomer firms and the emergence and development of knowledge networks: The case of Petrobras in Brazil," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 829-844, June.
    2. Amann, Edmund & Cantwell, John (ed.), 2012. "Innovative Firms in Emerging Market Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199646005.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hansen, Ulrich Elmer & Lema, Rasmus, 2019. "The co-evolution of learning mechanisms and technological capabilities: Lessons from energy technologies in emerging economies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 241-257.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Figueiredo P.N., 2013. "Beyond technological catch‐up : An empirical investigation of further innovative capability accumulation outcomes in latecomer firms with evidence from Brazil," MERIT Working Papers 2013-048, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Paulo Figueiredo, 2014. "Technological Catch-up and Indigenous Institutional Infrastructures in Latecomer Natural Resource-related Industries: An Exploration of the Role of EMBRAPA in Brazil’s Soybean and Forestry-based Pulp ," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series iriba_wp03, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    3. Figueiredo, Paulo N., 2016. "Evolution of the short-fiber technological trajectory in Brazil's pulp and paper industry: The role of firm-level innovative capability-building and indigenous institutions," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Paola Perez-Aleman & Tommaso Ferretti, 2023. "Creating innovation capabilities for improving global health: Inventing technology for neglected tropical diseases in Brazil," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 84-114, March.
    5. Lim, King Yoong, 2019. "Industrial Transformation With Heterogeneous Labor And Foreign Experts," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(8), pages 3225-3266, December.
    6. Cirera, Xavier & Marin, Anabel & Markwald, Ricardo, 2015. "Explaining export diversification through firm innovation decisions: The case of Brazil," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1962-1973.
    7. Barrientos, Armando & Amann, Ed, 2014. "Is there a Brazilian model of development? Are there lessons for countries in Africa?," WIDER Working Paper Series 134, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Figueiredo, Paulo N., 2016. "New challenges for public research organisations in agricultural innovation in developing economies: Evidence from Embrapa in Brazil's soybean industry," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 21-32.
    9. Mancini, Lorenzo & Paz, María José, 2018. "Oil sector and technological development: Effects of the mandatory research and development (R&D) investment clause on oil companies in Brazil," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 131-143.
    10. MahdaviMazdeh, Hossein & Saunders, Chad & Hawkins, Richard William & Dewald, Jim, 2021. "Reconsidering the dynamics of innovation in the natural resource industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Guo, Yanting & Zheng, Gang, 2019. "How do firms upgrade capabilities for systemic catch-up in the open innovation context? A multiple-case study of three leading home appliance companies in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 36-48.
    12. Edmund Amann & Armando Barrientos, 2014. "Is There a Brazilian Model of Development?: Are There Lessons for Countries in Africa?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-134, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Singh, Lakhwinder & Gill, Anita, 2016. "Emergence of Innovative Manufacturing Firms across Asian Countries," MPRA Paper 71148, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Nikas, A. & Koasidis, K. & Köberle, A.C. & Kourtesi, G. & Doukas, H., 2022. "A comparative study of biodiesel in Brazil and Argentina: An integrated systems of innovation perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    15. Keun Lee and John Mathews, 2013. "Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development," CDP Background Papers 016, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    16. de Aguiar, Thereza R.S. & Freire, Fatima de Souza, 2017. "Shifts in modes of governance and sustainable development in the Brazilian oil sector," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 701-710.
    17. Lee, Keun & Ki, Jee-hoon, 2017. "Rise of latecomers and catch-up cycles in the world steel industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 365-375.
    18. Yuanyuan Li & John Cantwell, . "Rapid FDI of emerging market firms: foreign participation and leapfrogging in the establishment chain," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    19. Luqman, Muhammad & Khan, Karim, 2022. "Does Innovation Affect Intensive and Extensive Margins of Exports? A Firm-Level Analysis," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 47(3), pages 125-145, September.
    20. Karabag, Solmaz Filiz, 2019. "Factors impacting firm failure and technological development: A study of three emerging-economy firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 462-474.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation capability building; learning mechanisms; latecomer firms; natural resources; multiple case-study; Brazil;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2013007. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ad Notten (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.