| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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The third reason why the research is important is because it attempts to tackle the issue concerning the channels through which ethnolinguistic diversity impacts the economic performance of countries. This study points to innovation as the channel through which diversity positively affects the economy. The innovative potential of diversity has been already acknowledged by many other scholars. However, this study makes the first attempt to quantitatively assess the impact of ethnolinguistic diversity on the level of innovativeness of countries. By examining the impact of diversity on innovativeness, the study assesses whether innovation is indeed the channel through which ethnolinguistic diversity impacts the economic performance of countries.
Research Approach
The study bases its quest for the right context variables on the research conducted within organizational science. The scholars of that science conducted very extensive theoretical and empirical research concerning the impact of ethnolinguistic diversity on the performance of firms, groups, and organizations. First, the research is used to identify the context that is necessary for the ethnolinguistic diversity to fulfill its positive potential and to increase the levels of innovativeness of countries. Then, the findings from the research on the level of firms is applied to the level of countries.
As a follow-up empirical study, I conduct a quantitative analysis of the relationship between diversity and innovativeness, moderated by the existence of the right context. I pose the hypothesis that the countries that are ethnolinguistically more heterogeneous will have higher levels of innovativeness than the countries that are less heterogeneous; however, only if they have the right context in place. The hypothesis is tested using a simple cross-country regression analysis. The regressions evaluate the influence of ethnolinguistic diversity on innovativeness, and, most importantly, they assess the impact of the right context on the relationship between diversity and innovativeness.