The Moderating Effect of Indulgence on the Relationships Among Global Innovation Index Indicators

Abstract

National level innovation has been studied prominently. Global indices are utilized while evaluating country level innovation. Global Innovation Index (GII) is one of the most commonly used indices in this context. Moreover, cultural dynamics also affect innovation level. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (HCD) is one of the outstanding guidelines on cultural dynamics of countries. In this study, infrastructure, institutions, and human capital and research are designated input indicators of GII while knowledge and technology output and creativity output are chosen output indicators of GII. Moreover, indulgence is considered as a moderator variable from HCD. Our main aim is to examine the relationships among global innovation index factors and investigate the moderating effect of indulgence on these relationships. For this purpose, we proposed a conceptual model to explore these relationships. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed in order to conduct path analysis with data from official web sites. The results show that all hypotheses related to GII factors are supported, and a moderating effect of indulgence is observed on some of the relationships. These findings indicate that countries with sufficient innovation input make the transformation to innovation outputs. Furthermore, innovation leaders should be aware of societies have more indulgent score moderate several relationships.