Introduction

'The influence of national culture on cooperative attitudes in high-technology start-ups', by Jan Ulijn, Hans Frankort and Lorraine Uhlaner the main focus is the concept of cooperation by hightechnology start-ups and in particular, the influence that culture may have upon attitudes that may predict cooperative behaviour. The research question is: what is the influence of national culture on cooperative attitudes within high-tech start-ups towards (potential) strategic partners, including partners from a different cultural background? The authors propose a definition and discuss past research on culture and economic behaviour. One interesting aspect in past research on national culture is the differing roJes these characteristics may play in different phases in a firm's development. First, the authors stress the role of techno-ventures in the European economy and identify the challenges faced by high-tech start-ups. Then, to explore the relationship between culture and cooperation, the authors build a research model that tests a series of hypotheses for a better understanding of three cultural dimensions in high-tech startups: individualism, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity. This model is tested on a sample of 109 such stali-ups representing 13 European countries and five different cultural clusters. The results point to a negative influence of individualism and masculinity on cooperative attitudes among the start-ups. No support was found for the effect of uncertainty avoidance. In addition, research results show a positive relationship between cross-functional experience and cooperative attitudes, as well as a sector effect. Manufacturers, for example, are not only more likely to report positive cooperative attitudes towards strategic partners but also more willing to acknowledge the value of strategic partners from a different cultural background. These latter findings emphasize the importance of professional and sector experience of individuals. Finally, the authors give some directions for future research. There is a need, for example, to link attitudes about cooperation to cooperative behaviours, to validate the importance of such attitudes more clearly. In the same spirit, other types of national cultural characteristics, such as postmaterialism (Inglehart, 1997; Inglehart and Welzel, 2005) should also be further explored, and future research should not only focus on attitudes but also deepen the understanding of cooperative behaviours across firms and cultures. Finally, the authors present further implications for EU policy. Facilitating cooperation among firms, for example, is likely to become an increasingly important success factor for high-tech venturing in Europe. The authors also stress that the notion of cooperation, within and between cultural boundaries, is a more comfortable notion for high-tech entrepreneurship for certain countries (those with lower individualism and masculinity) than for others