Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship in BRICS Economies: New Evidence from 2001–2023

Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship in BRICS Economies: New Evidence from 2001–2023 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship in BRICS Economies: New Evidence from 2001–2023 Lamin Dampha, Talat Afza, Muhammad Akram Naseem This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8680738/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper investigates whether technological innovation is an enabling factor for entrepreneurship in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) from 2001 to 2023, and the role of government support in this respect. The paper applies a balanced macro-panel dataset, where entrepreneurship is defined as total early-stage entrepreneurial activity, and technological innovation is defined as resident patent applications per capita. Government support is defined as a composite governance index, while human capital and trade openness are defined as structural controls. The study employs static panel models and a Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model. The results show that technological innovation is not an entrepreneurship driver in BRICS countries. The static fixed effects model shows a negative relationship, while the CS-ARDL model shows a statistically significant negative short-run relationship and a tendency of convergence in the long run. The government’s role does not have a significant direct or conditioning effect, while human capital has a positive effect on entrepreneurship in the short run. The results indicate that innovation in BRICS countries is state-led and innovation is not an automatic driver of entrepreneurship. The paper adds to the literature by showing that technological innovation is a necessary but insufficient condition for entrepreneurial dynamism in large emerging economies. The importance of innovation policies targeting entrepreneurs, improved access to finance for SMEs, and upgrading human capital is highlighted in the achievement of innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Technological Innovation Entrepreneurship BRICS Government Support CS-ARDL Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8680738","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":582279107,"identity":"c80bf3e6-59bd-44d4-b86d-55bddfa8c788","order_by":0,"name":"Lamin Dampha","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA0klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPoYEBgbGBgY5CJeNCC1sUC3GENWkaElsIF4Le/LTzYU77NI33G+/wPCh7DCDfNgBAlp4npndnnkmOXfDMZ4CxhnnDjMY3k4goEUiwew2bxszSEsCM28bUMtsglrSvwG11KcbgLT8JU5LDsiWwwkGx9gPMDMCtchLE9LC86bs9sy244Yzj+UwHOw5l85jQEgLP3v6ttuFbdXyfIePP3zwo8xaTp6Qw0CAGULxGByAk0RqYX8ApuQbiNAyCkbBKBgFIwoAAM7ORUlKR+TlAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of the Gambia","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lamin","middleName":"","lastName":"Dampha","suffix":""},{"id":582279108,"identity":"2365c174-f5dd-44d4-9c49-adb38af94f53","order_by":1,"name":"Talat Afza","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Lahore","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Talat","middleName":"","lastName":"Afza","suffix":""},{"id":582279110,"identity":"6c5e0882-31c3-4640-ba68-0c3952643c44","order_by":2,"name":"Muhammad Akram Naseem","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Lahore","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Muhammad","middleName":"Akram","lastName":"Naseem","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-23 15:38:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8680738/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8680738/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101948383,"identity":"29ac2f47-0c1c-491c-a8b1-128bea1ee385","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-05 10:13:05","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":460378,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TechnologicalInnovationandEntrepreneurship.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8680738/v1_covered_8807a793-333b-45f0-819d-303ad68d7b5f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship in BRICS Economies: New Evidence from 2001–2023","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, BRICS, Government Support, CS-ARDL","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8680738/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8680738/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper investigates whether technological innovation is an enabling factor for entrepreneurship in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) from 2001 to 2023, and the role of government support in this respect. The paper applies a balanced macro-panel dataset, where entrepreneurship is defined as total early-stage entrepreneurial activity, and technological innovation is defined as resident patent applications per capita. Government support is defined as a composite governance index, while human capital and trade openness are defined as structural controls. The study employs static panel models and a Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results show that technological innovation is not an entrepreneurship driver in BRICS countries. The static fixed effects model shows a negative relationship, while the CS-ARDL model shows a statistically significant negative short-run relationship and a tendency of convergence in the long run. The government\u0026rsquo;s role does not have a significant direct or conditioning effect, while human capital has a positive effect on entrepreneurship in the short run. 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