Life happiness, productivity, and cross-cultural dimensions: A multinational quantitative analysis of relationships with implications for business in the globalizing economy.

摘要

This study evaluated the relationships between national productivity, life happiness, and cultural dimensions in a global context. The genesis of the study stemmed from the continued quest for fuller explanations behind persistent differences in international productivity performance, together with the recent worrisome productivity growth deceleration observed in many of the world's key economies. Building on guidance from the literature review on national productivity, combined with growing research on life happiness (or well-being or satisfaction) and culture, this study aimed to add to the body of knowledge in the complex field of productivity, particularly from a business standpoint. The study employed a quantitative, non-experimental research design as part of a positivist framework. Specifically, a multivariate regression analysis was applied to test hypothesized relationships between the dependent variable of national productivity, and the explanatory variables of life happiness, and the cultural dimensions of individualism, power distance, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. The input data for the regression models were collected from three main databases: (a) Conference Board's Total Economy Database for national productivity; (b) World Values Survey for life happiness; and, (c) Hofstede's for the cultural dimensions. Based on the econometric analysis outputs, the study's omnibus null hypothesis, all four main null hypotheses, and two of the five null sub-hypotheses were rejected in favor of their alternative hypotheses and sub-hypotheses. Consequently, the umbrella research question, and the two research sub-questions were answered in the affirmative, supporting existence of relationships between national productivity, life happiness, and Hofstede's cultural dimensions in a cross-national milieu. These results can be used to guide businesses seeking to optimize their productivity performance by capitalizing on their human factor allocations drawing on the energy of life happiness, and certain cultural dimensions, particularly individualism and power distance, either singularly or in combination with other explanatory variables. Other researchers are encouraged to expand on the study findings using a larger sample, disaggregating the national-level relationships into industry and regional levels, as well as an addition of a temporal element, which may further empower business and policy decision makers to aid globalization-impacted businesses, and the society at large with enhanced productivity outcomes.