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

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.