Technological Learning Strategies and Technology Upgrading Intensity in the Mining Industry

Abstract

Abstract Despite extensive research on technology upgrading in firms from emerging economies, we know little about micro-level learning strategies underlying technological capability accumulation or technology upgrading intensity, particularly in natural resource-intensive industries. Through a study of Brazil’s mining industry we found that: (1) leading firms implemented technological learning strategies as responses to changing windows of opportunity; (2) these technological learning strategies manifested from imitative and defensive to the offensive, with elements overlapping during the technology upgrading process, involving two forms of knowledge: “doing, using and interacting” (DUI) and “science, technology and innovation” (STI), which were operationalized through various learning mechanisms; (3) the use of learning mechanisms changed qualitatively over time affecting firms’ technology upgrading intensity positively. We contribute to furthering the understanding of latecomer firms’ technology upgrading by providing in-depth empirical insights through a comprehensive approach to innovation capabilities and learning strategies in an under-researched natural resource-intensive industry in a middle-income resource-rich country.