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Eurasian grapevine is a widely cultivated horticultural plant worldwide, but it is more susceptible to powdery mildew. In recent years, the high cost and negative environmental impact of calendar-applied sulfur fungicides are leading research to find alternative remedies. In this study, the early prediction (three days) of the first appearance of powdery mildew infection, on two different Italian grapevine cultivars, was detected through a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA). The treatment indications of the “PLSDA” models (treatments according to the predictive model) were compared with those of the “Standard” (treatments according to the established agricultural practice of the area). This allowed the early containment of the disease, preventing its subsequent propagation. The model was built based on weather-climate data and phytopathological information collected on the “Untreated” control cultivar to monitor the natural spread of the disease (three years of training and two of tests). For both the cultivars and the two test years (2021 and 2022), the “PLSDA” models early predicted the first appearance of fungal disease, reducing the treatment number (about four) with respect to “Standard”. In addition, analyses of key fruit quality parameters were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment reduction.

Improving the perovskite/electron-transporting layer (ETL) interface is a crucial task to boost the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs).

We applied an organic sensor for the detection and quantification of PbI2 released by perovskite solar cells. The molecule shows a fluorescence intensity enhancement in the presence of Pb2+ cations and is highly selective of the desired analyte.

This paper investigates whether exposure to academically gifted peers of the same and opposite gender in primary school (grade 5, at age 10) affects later academic achievement (grade 8, at age 13) and high-school track choice. For identification we exploit random allocation of kids across classes within primary schools. We document that, conditional on primary school fixed effects and grade 8 class fixed effects, as well as on baseline achievement, a higher share of same/opposite- gender high-achievers in math in primary school is related, both for boys and girls, to better/worse later math academic achievement in grade 8 and to a higher/lower probability of choosing a scientific high-school track. We argue that these results are consistent with a role model channel.

Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000266, Funder: Cambridge Trust Scholarship, Funder: Robert Gardiner Scholarship, Funder: Royal Society; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000288, Halide perovskite materials offer an ideal playground for easily tuning their color and, accordingly, the spectral range of their emitted light. In contrast to common procedures, this work demonstrates that halide substitution in Ruddlesden–Popper perovskites not only progressively modulates the bandgap, but it can also be a powerful tool to control the nanoscale phase segregation—by adjusting the halide ratio and therefore the spatial distribution of recombination centers. As a result, thin films of chloride‐rich perovskite are engineered—which appear transparent to the human eye—with controlled tunable emission in the green. This is due to a rational halide substitution with iodide or bromide leading to a spatial distribution of phases where the minor component is responsible for the tunable emission, as identified by combined hyperspectral photoluminescence imaging and elemental mapping. This work paves the way for the next generation of highly tunable transparent emissive materials, which can be used as light‐emitting pixels in advanced and low‐cost optoelectronics.

Entry in many occupations is regulated with the objective to screen out the least able producers and guarantee high quality of output. Unfortunately, the available empirical evidence suggests that in most cases these objectives are not achieved. In this paper we investigate entry into the legal profession in Italy and we document that such a failure is due to the combination of the incomplete anonymity of the entry exam and the intergenerational transmission of business opportunities. We use microdata covering the universe of law school graduates from 2007 to 2013 matched with their careers and earnings up to 5 years after graduation. Variation generated by the random assignment of the entry exam grading commissions allows us to identify the role of family ties in the selection process. We find that connected candidates, i.e. those with relatives already active in the profession, are more likely to pass the exam and eventually earn more, especially those who performed poorly in law school. When we simulate the process of occupational choice assuming family connections did not matter, we find that strong positive selection on ability would emerge.

We analyse theoretically and empirically the effects on young people’s labour market outcomes of two specific labour market institutions and their interaction: employment protection legislation and active labour market policy. The paper examines recent policy reforms in Italy focussing on the impact of the 2012 Fornero reforms of employment protection legislation as well as the initial impact of the EU-wide Youth Guarantee scheme introduced in Italy in March 2014. The paper then examines how these two policy reforms interacted. The analysis first confirms the finding that the Fornero reform increased permanent hires particularly amongst the very youngest workers; it then goes on to find that the YG was indeed successful in increasing the hires of young people, although this operated through a statistically significant increase in female hires on temporary contracts. Third, it finds some evidence of a dampening effect of the YG on EPL reforms as predicted by theory.

We apply a novel measure of intergenerational mobility (IM) developed by Güell, Rodríguez Mora, and Telmer (2014) to a rich combination of Italian data allowing us to produce comparable measures of IM of income for 103 Italian provinces. We then exploit the large heterogeneity across Italian provinces in terms of economic and social outcomes to explore how IM correlates with a variety of outcomes. We find that (i) higher IM is positively associated with a variety of “good” economic outcomes, such as higher value added per capita, higher employment, lower unemployment, higher schooling and higher openness and (ii) that also within Italy the “the Great Gatsby Curve” exists: in provinces in which mobility is lower cross-sectional income inequality is larger. We finally explore the correlation between IM and several socio-political outcomes, such as crime and life expectancy, but we do not find any clear systematic relationship on this respect.

We investigate how Internal Labor Markets (ILMs) allow complex organizations to accommodate positive and negative shocks calling for costly labor adjustments. Adverse shocks affecting one unit in the organization are shown to increase workers' mobility to other units rather than external firms, with stricter employment protection in the adversely hit unit causing an additional increase in internal mobility. The ILM response to adverse shocks is also stronger when the receiving units in the organization are more productive and have a better financing capacity. We also find that affiliated units faced with positive shocks to their growth opportunities rely on the ILM for new hires, especially managers in the top layers of the organization and other high-skilled workers, thus overcoming human capital bottlenecks that may curb growth. ILMs therefore emerge as a co-insurance mechanism within organizations, allowing them to bypass both firing and hiring frictions, and providing job stability to employees as a by-product.

We apply a novel measure of intergenerational mobility (IM) developed by Guell, Rodriguez Mora, and Telmer (2014) to a rich combination of Italian data allowing us to produce comparable measures of IM of income for 103 Italian provinces. We then exploit the large heterogeneity across Italian provinces in terms of economic and social outcomes to explore how IM correlates with a variety of outcomes. We find that (i) higher IM is positively associated with a variety of "good" economic outcomes, such as higher value added per capita, higher employment, lower unemployment, higher schooling and higher openness and (ii) that also within Italy the "the Great Gatsby Curve" exists: in provinces in which mobility is lower cross-sectional income inequality is larger. We finally explore the correlation between IM and several socio-political outcomes, such as crime and life expectancy, but we do not find any clear systematic relationship on this respect.