Cultural correlates of national innovative capacity: a cross-national analysis of national culture and innovation rates

Abstract

Although it is conventional wisdom that innovation requires free mind, diversity, or creativity all of which are closely associated with political and organizational decentralization, it is in fact more politically centralized countries in East Asia that successfully capitalized on innovation to catapult their economies onto the growth trajectory. Scholars have thus wondered if this is an exception rather a rule. Are more centralized countries innovative? Existing empirical research has produced mixed results. This study introduces a new perspective on this issue. Rather than the degree of centralization found in formal institutions, we focus on non-institutional or informal dimensions of centralization particularly associated with culture. Using Hofstede's cross-national dataset capturing national culture, we explore how different dimensions of national culture are linked to national innovative capacity as proxied by patents. Our preliminary findings from the analysis of 34 OECD member states based on the patent data extracted from the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) database suggest that non-institutional dimensions of centralization account more for the variations in national rates of patents per capita than more formal aspects of centralization measured by traditional political datasets such as POLCON. While cultural aspects have been examined in technology management at the individual and the firm level, this study fills a gap in the existing literature by exploring their relationship at the national level. More research is clearly needed to explore the roles of non-institutional features facilitating or hampering innovation.

Consumer adoption of pro-poor service innovations in subsistence marketplaces

“…Individuals in high uncertainty avoidance cultures have a lower tolerance for risk and an anxiety towards adoption of new products (Png, Tan, & Wee, 2001). Furthermore, high levels of both uncertainty avoidance and masculinity negatively influence adoption of complex IT innovations (van Everdingen & Waarts, 2003), and high scores on individualism have been linked to higher patent cooperation treaties (Jang, Ko, & Kim, 2016). Hence, countries with high individualism and low uncertainty avoidance may be more receptive to innovations (Lynn & Gelb, 1996;Steenkamp, Hofstede, & Wedel, 1999;Yaveroglu & Donthu, 2002).…”

Main and Interaction Effects of ‘Power Distance’ and ‘Uncertainty Avoidance’ on Innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises in Egypt

“…Nevertheless, the results are not conclusive with relation to power distance. For instance, Jang et al (2016) argue that the cases of many Asian countries prove the opposite of the conventional relationship. In other words, several Asian countries have made quick economic developments and innovations under autocratic regimes.…”

Sustaining Innovation: Creativity among Employees of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Students in Higher Education Institutions in Brunei Darussalam

“…Assessing creativity is a highly intricate challenge that is virtually impossible to be accomplished using a handful of parameters, especially when attempted at the national level. An economy largely dominated by cultural tastes may not respond well to competition and further study exploring effect of culture on competition in Brunei is recommended [42,43]. In this context, Brunei offers a unique opportunity to study effect and interplay between culture, competition and creative processes in SMEs due to the large number of SMEs in the country.…”