A longitudinal study of the effects of charismatic leadership and organizational culture on objective and perceived corporate performance

We investigated the combined effects of charismatic leadership and organizational culture on perceived and objective company performance using a longitudinal design. Employees (N = 1214) in 46 branches of a large Dutch bank rated branch management on charismatic leadership, organizational culture in terms of work practices, as well as perceived organizational performance. Objective performance data were collected twice, two years apart. The split sample technique attenuated common source bias. Results of structural equation modeling, in which Time 1 financial performance measures were controlled, revealed that charisma increased financial performance; however culture did not do so. Culture and charisma were significantly related to perceived performance, and culture and charisma were interrelated. A longer time interval may be necessary before the effects of culture on financial performance become apparent. The findings are discussed against the backdrop of the value of intangible resources.     

Public/Private Pension Mix,Income Inequality and Poverty among the Elderly in Europe: An Empirical Analysis Using New and Revised OECD Data

Prior studies have suggested that higher public pensions are associated with lower income inequality among the elderly, whereas the reverse is true for private pensions. Van Vliet et al. ( 2012 ) empirically test whether relative shifts from public to private pension schemes entail higher levels of income inequality among the elderly using panel data from the OECD SOCX and the EU‐SILC databases. Contrasting earlier empirical studies using either cross‐sectional or time‐series data, they do not find evidence that shifts from public to private pension provision are associated with higher levels of income inequality or poverty among the elderly. The aim of the current article is to extend the analysis of Van Vliet et al. by: (1) adding additional countries; (2) adding additionally available years; and (3) using revised OECD SOCX data. In contrast to Van Vliet et al., we find that a greater relative importance of private pensions is associated with higher levels of income inequality and poverty among the elderly. A central explanation of the difference in conclusions stems from the revision of OECD SOCX data.     

Mending the Levee: How Supernaturally Anchored Conceptions of the Person Impact on Trauma Perception and Healing among Children (Cases from Madagascar and Nepal)

When dealing with children and youth who experience distressing events, psychosocial diagnostics and healing programmes principally resort to biomedical models. Children are often viewed as individualised ‘victims’ suffering from trauma and ‘in need’ of outside help. Highlighting case studies from Madagascar and Nepal, this article argues that the biomedical approach to trauma would be strengthened by a concomitant analysis of social networks, including the perceived relations with the supernatural. The various tandems of family and kin relationships, the living and the dead, constitute not only a social ‘levee’ breached by distressing events, but also the locus around which social relations are rebuilt.     

A Multivariate Intervention Model for the Dutch Mint Circulation: Estimation and Monte Carlo Simulation

For each of the five Dutch coinage denominations, a transfer-function model is estimated. The output variables are monthly observations of coins in circulation. Two input variables represent transaction flows; all other inputs are step functions, representing the occurrence of interventions. Using the method of cross-correlating the residuals of the individual equations, a multivariate transfer-function model is constructed and estimated. Next Monte Carlo simulation is applied to derive expectations and variances of the yearly addition to the stock of coins until 1996. Our results enlighten on some aspects of a problem situation faced by the Dutch State Mint.     

On the abundance ofDermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart, 1897) (Pyroglyphidae: Acarina) in house dust

Summary The dominance of the Pyroglyphidae in house dust has been influenced by a number of factors. The humidity in houses dropped recently to such an extent that only Pyroglyphidae can survive. When temperature and relative humidity are favorable forAcarus siro andGlycyphagus destructor as well asDermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides diminished in numbers by competition. Introduction of the predatorCheyletus eruditus into this mixed breeds causes the extermination ofDermatophagoides. The vacuum cleaner trapped mites, butDermatophagoides was protected by its habit to hide in cracks and crevices. The use of insecticides has a more killing effect onAcarus andGlycyphagus than onDermatophagoides. Supported by a grant of the Dutch Asthma Foundation.     

Childcare and labor force participation in the Netherlands: the importance of attitudes and opinions

We analyze the joint decision of participating in the labor force and using paid childcare made by mothers in two-parent households with pre-school age children in the Netherlands. Both the choice to use paid childcare and the number of hours taken up are analyzed. The data, collected in 2004, contains information on economic factors and on attitudes and opinions on childcare and labor. While acknowledging potential endogenous selection effects and bidirectional causality implying problems of endogeneity with the attitudes and opinions, our results show that, in addition to economic factors, attitudes and opinions are important when explaining the decision to participate in the labor force and to use paid childcare services, but they are less important when it comes to the decision on the number of hours childcare is taken up.