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Integrating “Neoliberal-Turn” and “Social-Turn” Constructs in Examining Sustainable Development and Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Global, Country Cluster, and Country Level Study
Canatay, A.; Prieto, L.; Amin, M.R. Integrating “Neoliberal-Turn” and “Social-Turn” Constructs in Examining Sustainable Development and Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Global-, Country Cluster-, and Country-Level Study. Sustainability2023, 15, 10010.
Canatay, A.; Prieto, L.; Amin, M.R. Integrating “Neoliberal-Turn” and “Social-Turn” Constructs in Examining Sustainable Development and Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Global-, Country Cluster-, and Country-Level Study. Sustainability 2023, 15, 10010.
Canatay, A.; Prieto, L.; Amin, M.R. Integrating “Neoliberal-Turn” and “Social-Turn” Constructs in Examining Sustainable Development and Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Global-, Country Cluster-, and Country-Level Study. Sustainability2023, 15, 10010.
Canatay, A.; Prieto, L.; Amin, M.R. Integrating “Neoliberal-Turn” and “Social-Turn” Constructs in Examining Sustainable Development and Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Global-, Country Cluster-, and Country-Level Study. Sustainability 2023, 15, 10010.
Abstract
This study explores several global and country cluster sustainable development (herein SD) models. It jointly examines constructs from the “Neoliberal-turn” ((e.g., Institutional Enhancers (e.g., business freedom, property rights, government integrity, and judicial effectiveness), Financial Enhancers (e.g., government spending and monetary, trade, investment, and financial freedoms), Foreign Direct Investment, Global Competitiveness-institutions, and Global Competitiveness-innovation-sophistication)), and the “Social-turn” (five SD pillars (e.g., Planet, People, Peace, Prosperity, and Resources), which synthesize the 17 United Nations SD goals); and Happiness and Life Satisfaction (herein H&LS). The study examines a large and diverse set of relationships encompassing 11 years of data of 108 social, economic, and environmental indicators from 129 countries at the global, country cluster, and country levels. We analyze data using structural equation modeling. Remarkably, Planet, an SD pillar constituted by biophysical variables, is the least of the five SD pillars positively related to the "neoliberal-turn" constructs and H&LS. Results show model configurations and scale effects. Furthermore, findings reveal both synergies between neoliberal and the five SD pillars as well as both negative and non-significant relationships among them. The diversity of results calls for further model integration and specificity. Diverse findings entail caution and difficulties in generalizing knowledge. Similarly, results suggest that it is not advisable, since there may be many different and partly legitimate alternatives, to rely on just one perspective (e.g., giving primacy to economic-based analyses) and or in analyses at only one scale. The perspective effects and the stakes involved in SD urgently call for more collaborative efforts at all levels.
Keywords
Social turn models; Sustainable development pillars; Neoliberal turn constructs; Model configurations; Collaborative perspective; Global, cluster, and country-level analyses
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Business and Management
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
