The outsourcing of household tasks and labour contract in domestic work

This paper empirically illustrates that flexible work arrangements may be found unsuitable for outsourcing certain household tasks. For this purpose we analyse the relationship between tasks performed by domestic workers and the nature of the labour contract. Our study draws on a dataset from a sample of Portuguese domestic workers, and uses a fuzzy clustering approach to identify bundles of tasks together with contract features. The results achieved suggest a segmentation of domestic workers into four groups: two comprising carers, who enjoy a standard type of contract, and another two groups of cleaners with flexible and informal work arrangements. However, there is no distinct boundary between these groups. The overlapping that occurs between tasks and contracts justifies the use of the fuzzy approach to data analysis.FC

Employers’ perception of the role of higher education in Portugal: The varying solutions for skill problems

Higher education is under great pressure to provide skills that smooth graduates’ transition into the labour market, prepare them for the world of work and, ultimately, contribute to their employability. This supply-side perspective does not, per se, reflect employers’ view of the mission of higher education. Our research provides empirical evidence on how employers in Portugal perceive the role of higher education. It relies on data gathered in 2020 through an original online survey applied to N = 162 employers in Portugal. A k-means clustering distinguishes three groups of employers: those that acknowledge the autonomy of higher education; those who prefer to train their workforce; and those that blame higher education for their skill problems. The latter employers report skill shortages and propose different answers to mitigate them. Ultimately, the findings indicate that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for skill problems; firms have agency in finding appropriate solutions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Competências requeridas e empregos para graduados: Lições a partir dos anúncios

We use 2812 online job advertisements from 21 European countries to identify attributes demanded by employers and explore economic and labour market characteristics associated with the set of required skills. Whereas some employers clearly target ready-to-work candidates for high skilled occupations, others do not even specify skill requirements. The latter are from countries that are moderate or modest innovators with varying levels of high-tech employment activities, a high level of youth unemployment and a low job vacancy rate. The findings suggest employers have raised hiring criteria and have therefore contributed to credential inflation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fuzzy approach to discrete data reduction: an application in economics for assessing the skill premium

Measures of stock of skills alternative to human capital have raised fresh difficulties, especially in data managing. We propose to empirically compare the efficiency of a hierarchical cluster analysis and a fuzzy clustering in reducing discrete skill data. The outcomes of both methods are subsequently used to measure the impact of skills on earnings in addition to human capital. The proposed methodological comparison was made using an original dataset of retail bankers’ skills assessed by supervisors. Empirical evidence shows that the fuzzy approach is more efficient than the hierarchical clustering: the resulting clusters are fewer and easier to interpret. Furthermore, the earnings equation enriched with skill variables allowed us to correct the education premium, and provides information on monetary incentives related to individual skills. Our paper attempts to raise researchers’ and practitioners’ awareness of data reducing methods, and their implications for wage determinants.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Understanding firms compensation policy using fuzzy sets

It has been noted in the literature that firms rarely follow a single theoretical model when designing their compensation policy. This study illustrates how a fuzzy cluster analysis can be helpful in understanding the way employees are rewarded according to firms' specificity and market conditions. For this purpose, we convert linked employer-employee data (LEED) into firm level data prior to fuzzy clustering. Then, we explore the particular distribution of firms on the emerged fuzzy partition to sort them by compensation policy and, eventually, to examine the potential factors behind a specific option.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Employability skills of higher education graduates: Little consensus on a much-discussed subject

The expansion of higher education (HE) has given rise to research on skills that smooth transition and benefit the careers of graduates. We examine literature that attempts to inform HE institutions and policy makers about the skills required in the labor market. A variety of methods have been implemented to collect data on employability skills. It has been acquired directly using hiring criteria but it has also been gleaned indirectly on the basis of employers' satisfaction with graduates' skills. The evidence shows little consensus on which skills actually foster employability. Wide agreement exists on the need for relational skills, namely interpersonal, communication and teamwork abilities, which are reported in almost all papers. Moreover, the literature suggests that some employers find graduates are poorly prepared for teamwork but they recognize the good level of IT skills. We are concerned about the lack of agreement on the necessary skills as well as the perception that graduates are poorly prepared. Conceptual issues and methodological solutions are likely to have generated results that contain some degree of ambiguity. Researchers and policy makers therefore remain uncertain about graduate skills that match workplace requirements and foster employability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Peradilan Masa Bani Abbasiyah

The judiciary (al-Qadha) is well-known from time immemorial up to the present time. Driven by the need and the welfare of human life, judiciary is something inevitable to exist. It is one of the prerequisites to the establishment of a government in order to resolve disputes between citizens. No political sovereignty in the world, whatever its form, will stand without justice enforcement

Problematika Arah Kiblat

Permasalahan kiblat tiada lain adalah masalah arah, yakni arah ka\u27bah ke Makkah. Arah ka\u27bah ini dapat ditentukan dari setiap titik atau tempat di permukaan bumi ini dengan melakukan perhitungan dan pengukuran. Oleh sebab itu perhitungan arah kiblat pada dasarnya adalah perhitungan untuk mengetahui guna menetapkan ke arah mana ka\u27bah di Makkah itu dilihat dari suatu tempat di permukaan bumi ini sehingga semua gerakan orang yang sedang melaksanakan salat, baik ketika berdiri, ruku\u27, maupun sujudnya selalu berimpit dengan arah yang menuju ka\u27bah

Firms’ wage policies: New evidence from linked employer-employee data

The research on wage policies has been triggered by the interest in identifying whether labour market or institutional forces shape the wage settings inside firms. This paper draws on linked employer-employee data and uses a fuzzy c-means clustering analysis to identify typical wage policies of medium and large firms in Portugal. Empirical evidence suggests that firms are segmented into four clusters that can be labelled according to wage rules as “Regulated”, “Asymmetric”, “Hierarchical” and “Discretionary”. The first two clusters comprise low wage firms, and are highly responsive to market conditions. The firms belonging to the latter clusters take advantage of discretionary power to differentiate the workforce. Our findings therefore illustrate different dimensions of wage flexibility. Furthermore, we found that employment flexibility and wage adjustments can coexist, and affects female, young, and blue collar workers in particular.FC