Technological innovation in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS): An organizational ecology perspective

• This study investigates how a firm's technological innovation in BRICS is shaped by its organizational attributes.
• Firms with more employees training will have higher probability of engaging in technological innovation.
• Firms with product certificates and publicly listed will have higher probability of engaging in technological innovation.
• Firms with a higher export ratio will have lower probability of engaging in technological innovation.
• Firms with a higher government ownership share will have lower probability of engaging in technological innovation.

This study investigates how a firm's engagement in technological innovation in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) is shaped by its organizational attributes. Drawing on the logic of organizational ecology theory, we suggest that a firm's engagement in technological innovation is influenced by its (1) organizational resource and capability (e.g., product certificate and employee training), (2) transactional-based competition (e.g., sales to government and export ratio), and (3) ownership structure (e.g., public listing, foreign ownership, and government ownership). Using the World Bank's data, we analyzed firms in BRICS economies and found partial support for the hypotheses. The results suggest that in BRICS economies, firms with more investment in employee training beyond on the job training and product certificates and that are publicly listed will have higher probability of engaging in technological innovation. Moreover, firms with a higher export ratio and a higher government ownership share will have lower probability of engaging in technological innovation. These results suggest that a firm's engagement in technological innovation is, at least in part, an organizational phenomenon influenced by the firm's resource conditions, required legitimization in the market, and founding conditions.

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