So Hard to Say Goodbye? Turnover Intention among U.S. Federal Employees

Why do U.S. federal government employees choose to leave the federal service? By focusing on turnover intentions, this article develops propositions about why employees anticipate leaving their jobs along three dimensions: (1) demographic factors, (2) workplace satisfaction factors, and (3) organizational/relational factors. Two distinct measures of turnover intention are advanced that reflect those who intend to leave their agency for another position within the federal government and those who intend to leave the federal government for an outside position. The 2006 Federal Human Capital Survey is used to test the impacts of three clusters of independent variables on these measures of turnover intention. The findings suggest that overall job satisfaction and age affect turnover consistently. Practical recommendations are outlined for public managers seeking to boost employee retention.     

Determination of stature from skeletal and skull measurements by CT scan evaluation

The aim of this article is to find a correlation between height and femur/skull measurements through Computed Tomography (CT) scans and derive regression equations for total skeletal height estimation in the Caucasian population. We selected 200 Caucasian patients from March 2010 to July 2011 who had to perform a CT scan for cancer restaging. The mean age is 64.5 years. Both sexes are represented by the same number of persons. Patients have executed a total body CT scan with contrast; once scan accomplished, we measured height through a digital scales. We analyzed CT scans of each patient, obtaining multiplanar reconstruction in sagittal and coronal planes with 1mm of thickness, and we measured 10 diameters of skull and femur. Then we performed a single and a multiple regression analysis considering the three diameters that better correlated with height. The skeletal diameters with the highest correlation coefficients with stature were femur lengths, length of cranial base (Ba-N), and distance from the posterior extremity of the cranial base to the inferior point of the nasal bone (Ba-NB). Although both femur and skull are skeletal segments used for stature estimation, in our sample femur gave stronger correlation with height than skull. h=35.7+1.48·BaN+2.32·BaNB+2.53·FEM and h=3.06·FEM+72.6 are the formulae that provided the most accurate stature assessment using multiple and single regression analysis respectively.     

The electoral connection in presidential systems: non-legislative actions inside the Chilean congress

The purpose of this article is to explore how the features of districts affect representation activities in the Chilean Congress. Based on an analysis of interventions by deputies in the so-called Incidents Hour (Hora de Incidentes), we argue that district conditions affect the kind of appeals that deputies make. Specifically, we test two main hypotheses: a) that the degree of rurality of districts predicts greater use of policy intervention at the local level (local credit claiming), and b) that distance from the centre is an incentive for deputies to taking a position on local issues (local position taking). This article contributes to an understanding of how institutional spaces in the Congress serve not only as instruments for legislation but also, and with equal relevance, for representing constituents at the district level.     

Technology transfer in the americas

This paper focuses on a particular technology transfer area (Anglo-Saxon and Latin America) and presents possible answers to two questions: (1) What are the technologies most needed in the developing nations of Latin America today? (2) How can the transfer of these technologies from the United States and Canada be improved profitably? In addressing these questions, this discussion identifies key technologies driving economic development through-out the world today, and their particular importance for Latin American countries. To better analyze the transfer process, the paper proposes a general model designated as the relocation/absorption paradigm. This model evidences the necessity of an active approach to technology transfer in order for key technologies to arrive in Latin America. This active approach identifies a conceptual knowledge exchange as the essential catalyst in the absorption of the identified technologies. The purpose of this discussion is to explore issues related to the transfer of very recently developed technologies from the United States and Canada to the developing countries of Latin America. By leaving the political discussion aside, the paper approaches this matter from a technology management perspective, aiming to articulate why technology flow to “south of the border” should be increased, and to offer useful discussions on how to achieve that end.     

The 2000-2001 GEP-ISFG Collaborative Exercise on mtDNA: assessing the cause of unsuccessful mtDNA PCR amplification of hair shaft samples

We report the results of Spanish and Portuguese working group (GEP) of International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG) Collaborative Exercise 2001-2002 on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. 64 laboratories from Spain, Portugal and several Latin-American countries participated in this quality control exercise. Five samples were sent to the participating laboratories, four blood stains (M1-M4) and a sample (M5) consisting of two hair shaft fragments. M4 was non-human (Felis catus) in origin; therefore, the capacity of the labs to identify the biological source of this sample was an integral part of the exercise. Some labs detected the non-human origin of M4 by carrying out immuno-diffussion techniques using antihuman serum, whereas others identified the specific animal origin by testing the sample against a set of animal antibodies or by means of the analysis of mtDNA regions (Cyt-b, 12S, and 16S genes). The results of the other three human blood stains (M1-M3) improved in relation to the last Collaborative Exercises but those related to hairs yielded a low rate of success which clearly contrasts with previous results. As a consequence of this, some labs performed additional analysis showing that the origin of this low efficiency was not the presence of inhibitors, but the low quantity of DNA present in these specific hair samples and the degradation.As a general conclusion the results emphasize the need of external proficiency testing as part of the accreditation procedure for the labs performing mtDNA analysis in forensic casework.     

Employee Engagement as Administrative Reform: Testing the Efficacy of the OPM's Employee Engagement Initiative

Researchers have long recognized administrative reform as a constant feature of American public administration. The employee engagement initiative of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has become one of the most prominent administrative reforms underway in the federal government. Like many reforms, the veracity of claims about this reform have gone untested. This article addresses this gap by testing the relationship between the OPM's employee engagement initiative and agency performance. After establishing the psychometric validity of the OPM's Employment Engagement Index, the authors use a five‐year panel data set of federal agencies and two‐way fixed‐effects regression to test the efficacy of this prominent reform. The analysis shows that efforts to encourage employee engagement generally have the expected relationship with performance, but the relationship varies according to the components that make up the index and the organizational level at which these efforts are expended.     

Courts and the politics of secrecy: national security,human rights and the importance of supranational oversight

Abstract

The article examines the use of state secrecy in court litigation concerning alleged gross human rights violations committed in the struggle against terrorism, focusing specifically on cases of extraordinary rendition and comparing the performance of courts in the United States, in Italy and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The article explains that national courts have validated the assertion by national governments of the state secret privilege in litigation involving cases of extraordinary rendition, ensuring de facto immunity to individuals involved in gross human rights abuses. On the contrary, it underlines that the ECtHR has pierced the veil covering these ‘deep secrets’, undertaking a strict scrutiny of acts of extraordinary rendition to torture committed by governments in the name of national security. As the article argues, the success of the ECtHR can be explained by a number of reasons, including distance, time and institutional design. In conclusion, the case law of the ECtHR on secrecy and national security confirms the continuing importance of supranational courts as instruments of external oversight on the human rights practice of European states.     

Performance and Management in the Public Sector: Testing a Model of Relative Risk Aversion

Research has demonstrated that management influences the performance of public organizations, but almost no research has explored how the success or failure of a public organization influences the decisions of those who manage it. Arguing that many decisions by public managers are analogous to risky choice, the authors use a well‐validated model of relative risk aversion to understand how such choices are influenced by managers’ perceptions of organizational performance. They theorize that managers will be less likely to encourage innovation or give discretion to employees when they are just reaching their goals relative to other performance conditions. Analyses of responses to the 2011 and 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys provide considerable support for these assertions. The findings have significant implications for our understanding of the relationship between management and performance in public organizations.