A Cultural Interpretation of Nations’ Readiness for Knowledge Economy

Nations differ significantly in their readiness for knowledge economy (RKE). Some nations have made significant progress toward developing knowledge-based economies. Although the literature suggests that national culture could explain economic growth of nations, there is a gap that exists in research specifically designed to investigate the influence that national culture could have on nations’ RKE. This study explores the influence of national culture practices on nations’ RKE. We formulated and tested nine hypotheses using a data set on 59 nations. The data set included the nine culture practice scores of House et al. (2004) and the World Bank’s (2012b) Knowledge Economy Index (KEI). Six culture practices were found to influence RKE. Of these, uncertainty avoidance, future orientation, institutional collectivism, and performance orientation have a positive influence on RKE, whereas in-group collectivism and humane orientation have a negative influence. From the six cultural dimensions, in-group collectivism, human orientation, and institutional collectivism are the three key determinants of RKE. Although no strong evidence on a cause-effect relationship between the national culture dimensions and the adapted RKE measures was detected, our findings would provide a foundation for culture-based policies and strategies aiming at enhancing RKE across nations.