Exploring the link between integrated leadership and public sector performance

This study develops the concept of integrated leadership in the public sector. Integrated leadership is conceived as the combination of five leadership roles that are performed collectively by employees and managers at different levels of the hierarchy. The leadership roles are task-, relations-, change-, diversity-, and integrity-oriented leadership. Using data from the Federal Human Capital Survey and Program Assessment Rating Tool, we analyze the relationship between integrated leadership and federal program performance. The findings from the empirical analysis indicate that integrated leadership has a positive and sizeable effect on the performance of federal sub-agencies. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and limitations of the study.     

The Cat and the Cloud: ACT for LGBT Locus of Control,Responsibility, and Acceptance

Advocating acceptance, committed action, and value-guided behavior over experiential avoidance, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may aid lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) clients affected by hetero/homonormative social pressure. By conceptualizing LGBT paradigms of internal/external control/responsibility (IC-IR; EC-IR; IC-ER; EC-IR), ACT may be adapted to a myriad of multicultural worldviews. This article presents locus of acceptance as the attributed worth of internal/external cues perceived necessary by the client to achieve self-acceptance. Recognizing visibility and isolation as recurrent LGBT issues, locus of acceptances balances identity as individual (internal acceptance) with identity as community (external acceptance).     

Interval estimation for the breakpoint in segmented regression: a smoothed score‐based approach

This paper is concerned with interval estimation for the breakpoint parameter in segmented regression. We present score‐type confidence intervals derived from the score statistic itself and from the recently proposed gradient statistic. Due to lack of regularity conditions of the score, non‐smoothness and non‐monotonicity, naive application of the score‐based statistics is unfeasible and we propose to exploit the smoothed score obtained via induced smoothing. We compare our proposals with the traditional methods based on the Wald and the likelihood ratio statistics via simulations and an analysis of a real dataset: results show that the smoothed score‐like statistics perform in practice somewhat better than competitors, even when the model is not correctly specified.     

“Service” Municipal Administration as Part of the Development of Youth Entrepreneurship in Russia

The study offers a development of the social technologies of “service” municipal administration. The consumers’ opinions should be taken into consideration when determining the nomenclature and standards of their provision, which include the quality parameters that the consumers consider important. In addition, “service” relations imply the assessment of consumer satisfaction with the services and the correction of services based on the results of the assessment. Since this interaction implies communication between the municipal administration body and service users, it is necessary to focus on communicative technologies that are capable of providing a full cycle of service development and improvement for young entrepreneurs. Communications should help determine the expectations associated with a service, raise awareness thereof, and involve young people in the decisions related to the provision of services.     

An algorithm for scheduling a chemical processing tank line

This paper presents a model and an algorithm for scheduling a system in which parts are processed through a chemical processing tank line. The tank line is equipped with one piece of material-handling equipment. The tank line is modelled with a mixed integer linear programming formulation. The formulation is then used to develop a heuristic algorithm. The algorithm generates the optimum or near optimum schedule and is easy to apply in practice where no defectives are permitted.     

Demand for contract enforcement in a barter environment

Do greater potential gains from trade enhance or erode contracting institutions? In an anonymous exchange environment traders can sign a contract, hence agreeing to interact with the assigned partner, or wait till the next match. Any contract can be endorsed (for a payment) by the enforcement agency, which then observes the interaction with a positive probability known to the traders and punishes any detected infractors. Demand for contract enforcement is the highest amount a proposer of a contract is ready to pay to the agency, in a stationary subgame perfect equilibrium. It may be strictly positive, as we show, even when contracts are broken. Surprisingly, larger potential gains from exchange may dampen the demand, but not always: the demand is boosted under agencies that oversee the interactions frequently.     

Sums of powers of binomial coefficients

An asymptotic series for sums of powers of binomial coefficients is derived, the general term being defined and usable with a computer symbolic language. Sums of squares of coefficients in the symmetric case are shown to have a link with classical moment problems, but this property breaks down for cubes and higher powers. Problems of remainders for the asymptotic series are mentioned. Using the reflection formula for I'(.), a continuous form for a binomial function is set up, and this becomes oscillatory outstde the usual range. A new contmued fraction emerges for the logarithm of an adjusted sum of binomial squares. The note is a contribution to the problem of the interpretation of asymptotic series and processes for their convergence acceleration.