Knowledge integration in family SMEs: an extension of the 4I model

This article explores the process of learning and strategic change in small and medium-sized family firms (family SMEs). Organizational learning theory posits that knowledge must be integrated throughout the firm to facilitate strategic renewal. This process occurs in a particular way in family SMEs, according to their specific characteristics. In such firms the family’s role, the company size and the lack of formal procedures and systems strongly affect the process of learning and change. The study applies the 4I model of organizational learning to three case studies and offers empirical support for this model. The article has theoretical implications for variants of the 4I model as applied to family SMEs, and implications for practice related to the family’s role in starting and perpetuating the process of learning and change.     

Estimating percentile-specific treatment effects in counterfactual models: a case-study of micronutrient supplementation, birth weight and infant mortality

Summary.  Clinical trials of micronutrient supplementation are aimed at reducing the risk of infant mortality by increasing birth weight. Because infant mortality is greatest among the low birth weight (LBW) infants (2500 g or under), an effective intervention increases the birth weight among the smallest babies. The paper defines population and counterfactual parameters for estimating the treatment effects on birth weight and on survival as functions of the percentiles of the birth weight distribution. We use a Bayesian approach with data augmentation to approximate the posterior distributions of the parameters, taking into account uncertainty that is associated with the imputation of the counterfactuals. This approach is particularly suitable for exploring the sensitivity of the results to unverifiable modelling assumptions and other prior beliefs. We estimate that the average causal effect of the treatment on birth weight is 72 g (95% posterior regions 33–110 g) and that this causal effect is largest among the LBW infants. Posterior inferences about average causal effects of the treatment on birth weight are robust to modelling assumptions. However, inferences about causal effects for babies at the tails of the birth weight distribution can be highly sensitive to the unverifiable assumption about the correl-ation between the observed and the counterfactuals birth weights. Among the LBW infants who have a large causal effect of the treatment on birth weight, we estimate that a baby receiving the treatment has 5% less chance of death than if the same baby had received the control. Among the LBW infants, we found weak evidence supporting an additional beneficial effect of the treatment on mortality independent of birth weight.     

John U. Ogbu: a personal recollection1 2

The article presents a portrait of the late anthropologist John U. Ogbu through the author’s personal recollections of him as a social scientist, a teacher, a colleague and a longtime friend.     

Identification of latent class Markov models with multiple indicators and correlated measurement errors

Statistical Methods & Applications - A necessary condition for identification of latent class models is that the number of unknown independent parameters must not be greater than the number of...     

Correction to: Detecting economic insecurity in Italy: a latent transition modelling approach

Statistical Methods & Applications -     

Timely Indicators for Inequality and Poverty Using the Italian Labour Force Survey

Income distribution measures obtained from standard household income surveys are usually published with a significant delay, of about 2 years. In this paper we propose a methodology for obtaining timelier indicators using the Italian Labour Force Survey (ILFS), a database which collects detailed information not only on individuals’ labour market status, but also on their households and wages. We develop a framework to estimate household labour income and we use it to construct distributional indicators that are available 1 year and half before the standard measures. After discussing the limitations of our approach, we show that the ILFS-based indicators closely track those calculated on standard household income surveys. The suggested indicators are not meant to substitute standard income measures but can offer up-to-date information, with the aim of better monitoring the distributional impact of changing macroeconomic conditions.

     

Children with disabilities in Swedish child welfare – a differentiating and disabling practice

ABSTRACT

Research shows that children with disabilities are victims of violence and abuse to a higher extent than other children and thus need support from social services. In Sweden, cooperation between two different social services units is required to support children with disabilities in socially vulnerable families. In this study, we have examined the intersection between children and disability in a Swedish social services context from the perspective of childhood studies and disability studies. The reasoning of the two units including the child perspective emerged during focus group interviews based on two vignettes. The results show two different rationalities, which has consequences for the disabled child. In spite of a social policy where the ‘best interests of the child’ are meant to prevail and disabilities are meant to be interpreted as barriers in society, children with disabilities seem to be reduced to individuals who are lacking in ability and competency and who are profoundly victimised by power structures that favour the adult perspective in social services.