National culture and cultural orientations of owners affecting the innovation–growth relationship in five countries

Abstract

This study tests the cross-cultural validity of the relationship between innovation and growth in a sample of 857 business owners from five different countries: China, Germany, the Netherlands, Peru and Russia. We found that innovation is effective in each country, suggesting universal relationships. In addition, cultural variables moderated the innovation–growth relationship. Finally, our cross-level operator analysis revealed that both cultural orientations of owners and national culture explain variance in innovation–growth relationships. Thus, we found interactions across difference levels of culture, which have theoretical and practical implications for cross-cultural entrepreneurship research.