Regional innovation culture in innovation laggard: A case of Croatia

The aim of the article is to explore the possible impacts of culture on in-country regional differences in innovation capacities and propensity to entrepreneurship using the Hofstede's model of national culture. There is a number of studies that proved the profound influence of culture on innovation and entrepreneurship capacities. By contrast to cross-country cultural studies, the cross-regional cultural research on innovation and entrepreneurship within a country, especially in Europe, is an under-researched area. The research is based on national survey data (N = 1000) in Croatia, the country that suffers from weaknesses in innovation and entrepreneurial capacities with great regional development disparities. This suggests it as a good example for exploring regional cultural differences. The research proved that Croatian regions are culturally heterogonous but the correlation between regional culture and regional entrepreneurship and innovation capacities was not found. Hofstede's model appeared as having little practical value for strategic management and development and suggest that other factors, presumably more structural than cultural, that mediate poor innovation and entrepreneurship performance should be taken into account. The article contributed to the conceptualization and empirical research of regional innovation culture and provide evidence of the limited explanatory power of Hofstede's model in explaining regional differences by cultural factors.