Diligence Aversion: The Psychological Burden of Quality Management

Abstract

Quality management can evidently generate improvements in quality. However, receiving criticism and the pressure to make improvements is psychologically burdensome. We hypothesize that this pressure is valued differently in different cultures. This study measures diligence aversion by running an online survey in eight countries. The elicited measure documents marked international differences. Econometric estimates then support the theoretical propositions that countries with a higher level of diligence aversion produce lower quality goods and generate a lower level of income and happiness. Particularly the fraction of the population with a high level of diligence aversion has a decisively negative effect on the productivity of an economy.