Editorial note: referees

Abstract

This study investigates three methods to handle dependency among effect size estimates in meta-analysis arising from studies reporting multiple outcome measures taken on the same sample. The three-level approach is compared with the method of robust variance estimation, and with averaging effects within studies. A simulation study is performed, and the fixed and random effect estimates of the three methods are compared with each other. Both the robust variance estimation and three-level approach result in unbiased estimates of the fixed effects, corresponding standard errors and variances. Averaging effect sizes results in overestimated standard errors when the effect sizes within studies are truly independent. Although the robust variance and three-level approach are more complicated to use, they have the advantage that they do not require an estimate of the correlation between outcomes, and they still result in unbiased parameter estimates.     

What is intersectional equality? A definition and goal of equality for organizations

Organizational research has come a long way in understanding and dealing with inequalities in the workplace. Despite this, there has not been enough progress toward equality. The reason for the stymied progress, we argue, is in large part due to the conceptual gaps in our understanding of equality. This has not been clear enough to prevent previous imbalances in power, interests and domination from re-manifesting themselves in new ways. Because organizations are complex, there needs to be a clear definition and goal of equality that can account for these mechanisms. In this article, we present a conceptual approach we call intersectional equality. To develop this approach, we build on Kimberlé Crenshaw's intersectionality and Joan Acker's inequality regimes that are useful for understanding the presence and persistency of inequality in organizations, but these do not define solutions for equality. At this point, we turn to equality and justice theory and examine Amartya Sen's capabilities approach for incorporating organizations and organizational responsibilities to pursue equality. In light of the conceptual gaps in intersectionality, the inequality regimes, and the capabilities approach, we present intersectional equality as a conclusive alternative concept and approach. Intersectional equality sharpens the feminist definition and vision of equality for organizations and provides a practical path forward for building coalitions and capabilities across four dimensions of organizational disparities (procedural, discursive, material, and affective).     

The mediating role of frustration of psychological needs in the relationship between job insecurity and work-related well-being

Abstract

This study aims to test a new process underlying the negative relationship between job insecurity and work-related well-being. Specifically, based on Self-Determination Theory, frustration of the psychological needs for autonomy, belongingness and competence was expected to explain the associations between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion and vigour (i.e. the core energy-related components of burnout and work engagement, respectively). Structural equation modelling using data from a heterogeneous sample of 3185 Flemish employees confirmed that frustration of the three needs mediated the association between job insecurity and both outcomes. These results suggest that job insecurity is related to impaired work-related well-being, because it frustrates employees’ psychological needs. This study contributes to a rather small, but growing body of research on the theoretical explanations of the negative consequences of job insecurity for employees’ work-related well-being.     

The role of individual and organizational characteristics in feedback seeking behaviour in the initial career stage

The present study investigates whether the frequency by which employees seek informal feedback and the quality of the self-initiated feedback influences perceived career development. Furthermore, we investigated goal orientation and perceived learning culture, as antecedents of feedback seeking behaviour. Data were collected from 116 financial experts from various multinational corporations worldwide. Results show that particularly the quality of self-initiated feedback from supervisors positively affects perceived career development. The quality of self-initiated feedback from supervisors mediates the relation between the perceived learning culture and perceived career development. Furthermore, learning goal orientation directly relates to perceived career development. Last, our results highlight the significance of creating a learning culture in which informal feedback is stimulated. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Exploring emotional face processing in 5-month-olds: The relation with quality of parent–child interaction and spatial frequencies

It is unclear whether infants differentially process emotional faces in the brain at 5 months of age. Contradictory findings of previous research indicate that additional factors play a role in this process. The current study investigated whether five-month-old infants show differential brain activity between emotional faces. Furthermore, we explored the relation between emotional face processing and (I) stimulus characteristics, specifically the spatial frequency content, and (II) parent, child, and dyadic qualities of interaction characteristics. Face-sensitive components (i.e., N290, P400, Nc) in response to neutral and fearful faces that contained only lower or higher spatial frequencies were assessed. Quality of parent–child interaction was assessed with the Manchester Assessment of Caregiver Infant Interaction (MACI). The results show that, as a full group, none of the components differed between emotional expressions. However, when splitting the group based on median MACI scores, infants who showed high quality of interaction (i.e., more attentiveness to caregiver, positive and negative affect, and liveliness) processed emotions differently, whereas infants who showed low quality did not. These results indicate that a sub-group of infants show differential emotional face processing at 5 months of age, which seem to relate to quality of their behavior during the parent–child interaction.     

Games with a local permission structure: separation of authority and value generation

It is known that peer group games are a special class of games with a permission structure. However, peer group games are also a special class of (weighted) digraph games. To be specific, they are digraph games in which the digraph is the transitive closure of a rooted tree. In this paper we first argue that some known results on solutions for peer group games hold more general for digraph games. Second, we generalize both digraph games as well as games with a permission structure into a model called games with a local permission structure, where every player needs permission from its predecessors only to generate worth, but does not need its predecessors to give permission to its own successors. We introduce and axiomatize a Shapley value-type solution for these games, generalizing the conjunctive permission value for games with a permission structure and the $\beta $ -measure for weighted digraphs.     

A Comparison of Estimation Methods on the Coverage Probability of Satterthwaite Confidence Intervals for Assay Precision with Unbalanced Data

Construction of closed-form confidence intervals on linear combinations of variance components were developed generically for balanced data and studied mainly for one-way and two-way random effects analysis of variance models. The Satterthwaite approach is easily generalized to unbalanced data and modified to increase its coverage probability. They are applied on measures of assay precision in combination with (restricted) maximum likelihood and Henderson III Type 1 and 3 estimation. Simulations of interlaboratory studies with unbalanced data and with small sample sizes do not show superiority of any of the possible combinations of estimation methods and Satterthwaite approaches on three measures of assay precision. However, the modified Satterthwaite approach with Henderson III Type 3 estimation is often preferred above the other combinations.     

On hierarchies and communication

Many economic and political organizations have some relational structure, meaning that participating agents do not only differ with respect to certain individual characteristics such as wealth and preferences, but also belong to some relational structure in which they usually take different positions. Two examples of such structures are communication networks and hierarchies. In the literature, the distinction between these two types of relational structures is not always clear. In models of restricted cooperation, this distinction should be defined by properties of the set of feasible coalitions. We characterize the sets of feasible coalitions in communication networks and compare them with sets of feasible coalitions arising from hierarchies.     

Effect of audit and feedback on the availability, utilisation and quality of emergency obstetric care in three districts in Malawi

BACKGROUND: Facility-based maternal death reviews and criterion-based clinical audit, were introduced in three districts in Malawi in 2006. RESEARCH QUESTION: Can audit and feedback improve the availability, utilisation and quality of emergency obstetric care (EmOC)? PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Observational study in which emergency obstetric care offered to women who gave birth in 73 health facilities (13 hospitals and 60 health centres) in three districts in Malawi in 2005 (baseline, 41,637 women) was compared to 2006 (43,729 women) and 2007 (51,085 women). RESULTS: The number of comprehensive and basic EmOC facilities did not change over the 3-year period (p for trend=1.000). Although institutional delivery rate decreased in 2006, overall it increased over 3 years (p for trend<0.001) - 31.8% (2005), 31.1% (2006) and 34.7% (2007), and Caesarean section rate was low and did not change (p for trend=0.257) - 1.7% (2005), 1.6% (2006) and 1.5% (2007). There was a significant increase in the met need for EmOC (p for trend<0.001) - 15.2% for 2005, 17.0% for 2006 and 18.8% for 2007. Maternal mortality decreased significantly from 250 per 100,000 women in 2005 to 222 in 2006 and 182 in 2007 (p for trend<0.001). Similarly, the case fatality rate decreased monotonically (p for trend<0.001) - 3.7% (2005), 3.0% (2006) and 1.5% (2007). DISCUSSION: Audit and feedback can improve availability, utilisation and quality of emergency obstetric care in countries with limited resources. CONCLUSION: There is need to increase availability of emergency obstetric care by upgrading some health centres to EmOC level through training of staff and provision of equipment and supplies.