Hofstede and Shane revisited: the role of power distance and individualism in national-level innovation success

Abstract

Hofstede’s value dimensions offer a measure of one component of culture (cultural values) and are a means of gaining greater understanding of the role culture plays in national innovation success. Hofstede’s (1980) cultural measures of individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance, for example, have been shown to be correlated to the number (per capita) of trademarks (Shane, 1993). Via multivariate multiple linear regression, we assess the link between Hofstede’s measures of cultural values and innovation as measured by the Global Innovation Index (GII). Our analyses show a strong negative relationship between Hofstede’s dimensions of power distance and GII innovation scores as well as a strong positive relationship between individualism and GII innovation scores. No relationship was found for Hofstede’s measure of uncertainty avoidance.