The effects of national culture and ethno‐linguistic diversity on innovativeness

Abstract

PurposeThere is an established link between national cultural differences and documented variations in technological innovations across countries. To move beyond a narrow emphasis on national cultures, scholars have suggested using within‐country diversity to compensate for known limitations in national culture measures. Given that ethno‐linguistic diversity is a known source of cultural variation, this paper specifically aims to explore the relationship between culture, ethno‐linguistic diversity and national innovativeness.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used publicly available data on patents and trademarks in a multivariate regression context to study the effects of national culture and within‐country diversity on national levels of innovativeness.FindingsThe research found that culture and ethno‐linguistic diversity are independently positively associated with national innovation. More importantly, cultural and intra‐cultural variation measures when taken together account for significantly greater variance in levels of national innovation than does national culture when measured separately.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study points to the importance of ethno‐linguistic diversity in explaining national levels of innovativeness, there are other measures of within‐country diversity to be explored.Practical implicationsIf national culture were the sole factor in innovativeness, then companies would be limited by their host cultural legacies; since within‐country diversity is also associated with innovation, it provides entrepreneurs, government policy makers and executives with important options for increasing innovativeness.Originality/valueWhile previous studies pointed to the potential link between ethno‐linguistic diversity and innovation, prior research has generally not taken this variable into account.

Exploring cultural heterogeneity

“…Prior research has focused on archival data to measure intra-cultural variation; works in political economy and international business have relied on ethnolinguistic diversity as a proxy to account for intra-cultural variation (e.g. Puia and Ofori-Dankwa, 2013). The use of ethnolinguistic diversity as an antecedent of intra-cultural variation has been well documented since Au's (1999) discussion of such concept.…”

“…The fundamental tenet of intra-cultural variation is to show the extent to which the shared practices within a society are widely and deeply shared among its members (Puia and Ofori-Dankwa, 2013). Drawing on the multilayered construct of culture (Leung et al, 2005), Tung (2008) argued for the necessity to account for intra-national variation when conducting cross-cultural research.…”

“…Finally, research examining the association between national culture (including intra-cultural variation) and innovation has concluded that culture does indeed matter (Puia and Ofori-Dankwa, 2013). Other works in the discretion literature (e.g.…”

Intra-Cultural Variation, Zone of Acceptance and Managerial Discretion: A Theoretical Discussion

“…Au and Cheung (2004) empirically demonstrated that intra-cultural variation and cultural mean are not substitutes, which provides supporting argument for the importance of studying the implications of both constructs. The fundamental importance of intra-cultural variation is to show the extent to which the shared practices within a society are widely and deeply shared amongst its members (Puia and Ofori-Dankwa, 2013). Drawing on the multi-layered construct of culture (Leung et al, 2005), Tung (2008a) argued for the necessity to account for intra-national variation when conducting cross-cultural research.…”

“…Others established a strong link between intra-country variation and technological innovations. Puia and Ofori-Dankwa (2013) employed the within-country diversity framework to explore the relationship between cultural diversity (within a given country) and national innovativeness. Their findings suggest that intra-cultural variation is independently and positively related to national innovativeness.…”