Peter Schmidt(University of Giessen and HSE Moscow) and Nadya Lebedeva (HSE Moscow)
Values and innovation in Central Russia and the Caucasus
Innovations in the economic sector are central for the transformation of the Russian economy into a
market society. This paper discusses the theoretical contribution of the refined model of 19 basic
values (Schwartz et al. 2012) for understanding attitudes toward innovation and innovative behavior
in organizations. It is assumed that the two subdimensions of Self-Direction that is Freedom to
cultivate one`s own ideas and abilities and freedom to determine one`s own actions and
furthermore Stimulation have a positive influence on individual innovative behavior in
organizations. This is also postulated for the effect of achievement as value. In contrast to this we
predict that conformity, tradition and Personal and Societal Security as Values are negatively
associated with innovative behavior. We contextualize the postulated model by examining the
differences between two culturally distinct regions of Russia, the Central and the North-Caucasian
federal districts. We formulate a structural equation model for multiple(two) groups for the two
districts and test it with data from a representative survey from 2012 ( N = 2000) from the two
districts. The equivalence of meaning (partial metric invariance) of the value and innovation
constructs across the two socio-cultural settings is assessed by using multi-group confirmatory factor
analysis (MGCFA). We then report the effects of the relevant values on innovative behavior using
multiple group structural equation modeling (MGSEM). Finally we examine the effects of
religion,gender, age and education as control variables and test whether their effects are mediated
by values.