Status and digital innovation: A middle-status conformity perspective

What drives the digital innovation of manufacturing firms? On the basis of the middle-status conformity perspective, this study establishes a link between manufacturing firms’ status in the market hierarchy and their digital innovations. Using a longitudinal dataset of Chinese listed firms from 2007 to 2017, we find that high- and low-status manufacturing firms are more likely to be involved in digital innovations than their middle-status counterparts. Industrial and institutional conditions moderate these effects such that industry growth enhances, whilst industry competition and state ownership weaken the effect of status on digital innovation. Our findings have important implications for digital innovation and status research.