The
influence of cultural values , including spirituality, on
development, is always interesting to study. Weber (1930), in his book "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism," argues that the Christian (Protestant) ethic inherent in
European society encourages European progress and modernity. Jaffee (1998), in the book "Levels of Socio-economic Development
Theory," asserts that the success of development depends on characters or
traits such as achievement motivation and the work ethic of every individual in
society as development actors.
Culture
is defined as customs, beliefs, and values held by ethnic,
religious, and social groups that tend to remain unchanged from generation to
generation (Guiso, Sapienza, & Zingales, 2003). The values
of independence, work ethic, and spirituality of each country are
reflected in the behavior of human resources. Human resources have an essential
role in the process of economic development. Together with infrastructure and
governance, labor resources are a vital factor that can encourage and
accelerate the ups and downs of an economy's competitiveness (APO, 2015; OECD, 2015; World Bank, 2010).
Several
empirical studies, such as U��k and Vokorokosov� (2007) and Auzina-Emsina (2014), show a reasonably strong correlation between the competitiveness
of labor resources and the competitiveness of the economy. The higher the
competitiveness of labor resources in a country, the higher the competitiveness
of that country's economy, or vice versa.
One
indicator of a country's development performance is reflected in the
productivity of its citizens. Productivity can be a measure of the comparison
of the quality and quantity of a workforce in a unit of time to achieve work
results or performance. Productivity contains philosophical meanings,
definitions, and operational technicalities (Simanjuntak, 1998).
The
criteria for human resources that support the development results are human
resources with the character of independence. Independent character encourages
and spurs a person to solve his own life and life problems so that he is
motivated to take the initiative, be creative, innovate, be proactive and work
hard. Independence is defined as attitudes and behaviors that are not easy to
depend on others to complete tasks (Zuchdi, 2012). Independence is also defined as the ability to make decisions and
manage one's life without being overly dependent on others. Independence cannot
be completed at one stage of life but will continue to develop within the
individual (Susetyo, 2006).
Cultural
values other than independence that affect development
performance are the work ethic of its citizens. Work ethic is a work spirit
characteristic of a person or group of people who work, which is based on a
believed work ethic or perspective and is realized through factual
determination and behavior in the world of work (Ginting, 2016). The work ethic contains a set of positive work behaviors rooted
in solid cooperation and fundamental beliefs, accompanied by a total commitment
to an integral work paradigm (Sinamo, 2011). A good work ethic will show character and attitude, and have
confidence in a job by working and acting optimally (Mathis & Jackson, 2006). The development and underdevelopment of an ethnic or nation is a
matter of having or not having a work ethic following development (Mubyarto, 1993). The higher the work
ethic, manifested in their willingness to work hard and live frugally and
simply, the more likely they will succeed in development efforts.
Iannaccone (1998) introduced a new field
of study or research, namely the economics of religion. Spirituality is similar
or, in a way, related to specific emotions or behaviors, and attitudes of an
individual (Schreurs, 2002). Being spiritual means being open, giving, and loving. Schraeder (2002) explains spirituality
as a personal relationship to a transcendent figure. Spirituality can also be
about feelings of purpose, meaning, and feelings of connection with others (Fernando & Jackson, 2006). These studies use
economic tools and methods to study religion as the dependent variable or to
study religion as an independent variable on the outcome of other socioeconomic
variables. The influence of religion, both in terms of religiosity and
spirituality, on economic development is an exciting object of study (Iyer, 2016). Firmansyah and Pratiwi (2019) also found that the
involvement of religious ideas and spirituality can contribute to the
development process.
The
originality of this research is that this research compares the values
of independence, work ethic, spirituality, and productivity of
several other Asian countries, especially those whose citizens are religious
or non-religious (atheists). The influence of socio-cultural values
on development is sometimes difficult to describe through a
statistical approach. Cultural values such as independence, work
ethic, and spirituality tend to be closer to qualitative data (non-numeric).
Previous research used qualitative method, Aquino, Multifiah, & Manzilati (2020) examine
the role of spiritual leadership and work ethic in increasing productivity. The
novelty of this research is the used of quantitative methods to answer two
research questions. The first research question is how do the values of independence,
work ethic, spirituality, and productivity compare in several Asian countries.
The second research question is what are the effects of independence, work
ethic, and spirituality on productivity.
METHOD
The research
data source uses the results of the World Value Survey (WVS) wave 7. This
survey contains a list of questions (questionnaires) about values for various countries,
including Asian countries. Asian countries in WVS wave 7 consist of Central
Asia, West Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Central Asian
countries include Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. West Asia consists of
Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. East Asia consists of China, Hong
Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. South Asia consists of Bangladesh and
Pakistan. Southeast Asia consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand,
Vietnam, and Myanmar. �The reason for using samples from Asian countries is the diversity of
the majority religions adopted by citizens. There are countries that are
predominantly Muslim, such as Indonesia and Malaysia. The majority of the
population is Catholic, like the Philippines. The majority of the population is
Buddhist, like Thailand and Myanmar. The majority of the population is not
religious, such as China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
The research model uses a binary productivity variable with a value of one (1) if the respondent is working and
zero (0) if the respondent is not. The variables in this study include
independence, work ethic, spirituality, and productivity. The Independent
Character Variable was obtained from the answers to the Q48 WVS questionnaire.
The work ethic variable was obtained from the answers to the Q110
questionnaire. The spirituality variable in this study was obtained from the
answers to the WVS Q6 questionnaire. The productivity variable was obtained
from the answers to the WVS Q279 questionnaire.
The analytical
method used in this study is a comparative descriptive technique to compare the
values of independence, work ethic, spirituality, and productivity
based on groups of Asian countries. The probit regression method uses the
analysis technique to analyze the effect of
independence, work ethic, and spirituality on productivity.
The estimation results in table 6 show that the 3
independent variables used in this study (independence, work ethic, and
spirituality) significantly influence the dependent variable (productivity).
The influence of independence, work ethic, and spirituality simultaneously can
be known through Prob > x2 = 0.00000, meaning the significance
value is less than the 5% significance level. It can be concluded that
simultaneously the variables of independence, work ethic, and spirituality
affect productivity.
Probit regression results are not precise enough to analyze the effect of independence, work ethic, and
spirituality on productivity. The stages after performing probit
regression are analyzing the marginal effect value.
Table 7
Marginal Effect Results
|
Variable
|
Coefficient
|
|
Independence
|
0.004421
|
|
Work ethic
|
0.003464
|
|
Spirituality
|
-0.022929
|
Data source: WVS Wave 7
Table 7 shows the results of the sign (direction of
influence) that are consistent with table 6. Marginal effect values are obtained by probability
coefficient values of 0.004421 and have a positive direction. Partially, the
higher the independence, the higher the probability of productivity. These
results align with Cordery, Morrison, Wright,
and Wall's (2010) research, which found that independent employees
will increase productivity. The marginal
value effect of work ethic obtained a probability coefficient value of
0.0034649 and has a positive direction. Partially, the higher the work ethic,
the higher the probability of productivity. The marginal value effect of
spirituality is obtained by the probability coefficient value of -0.022929or
has a negative direction. Partially, the higher the spirituality, the lower the
probability of productivity. These findings are in line with the research
results of (Eka Dirgantara Aquino,
Multifiah, & Manzilati, 2020; Bataineh, 2020; Faregh, Jahanian, &
Salimi, 2021; Mi�on, 2017; Moon, Youn, Hur, & Kim, 2020), which proves that values such as
independence, work ethic, and spirituality have an essential role in increasing
labor productivity. Different findings from the
research of (Prihono, Budiartha, &
Astika, 2016) and (Noh & Yoo, 2016) state that spirituality in the workplace has a
positive and significant impact on work productivity.
CONCLUSION
Quantitative indicators of productivity from the group of
Asian countries that have the highest proportion of unemployed include
Tajikistan for the Central Asia group, Iran for the West Asia group, Taiwan for
the East Asia group, Pakistan for the South Asia group, and the Philippines for
the Southeast Asia group. The qualitative productivity indicators for groups of
Asian countries with the highest proportion of unskilled labor include
Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, China,
Bangladesh, and Vietnam in each group of countries tend to have freedom of
choice (independence) is more significant than other countries. Kyrgyzstan,
Jordan, China, Pakistan, and Myanmar have higher work ethic tendencies than
other countries in the group. Russia, China, Japan, and Vietnam have minor
religious inclinations.
Probit regression results prove that independence, work
ethic, and spirituality significantly affect the dependent variable
(productivity). Independence and work ethic have a positive influence, while
spirituality has a negative influence. In contrast, all members of the West
Asian group all countries have
important religious inclinations. The limitation of the results of this study is that the marginal effect
value is still small so that other relevant variables are needed to produce a
large marginal effect value.
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INDEPENDENCE, WORK ETHIC, SPIRITUALITY, AND PRODUCTIVITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SEVERAL ASIAN COUNTRIES