Are Coworkers in the Italian Peripheral Areas Performing Better? A Counterfactual Analysis

Coworking spaces are “serendipity accelerators” designed to host creative people and entrepreneurs. While recent literature has started exploring the indirect effects of coworking spaces on the local context, little is still known on how coworking spaces may directly affect the coworkers’ economic performance and wellbeing. Using a novel dataset based on a survey of 326 CWs working in the Italian coworking spaces in 2018, this paper explores the potential economic impact for coworkers, depending on whether a coworking space is localized in a peripheral or an urban area. Through a propensity-score matching approach, we found that being located in a peripheral area for coworkers may represent an opportunity to earn more than working in an urban center. The same holds for the organization coworkers belong to

Emerging work patterns and different territorial contexts: trends for the coworking sector in pandemic recovery

Objectives: The paper aims to explore and unpack the complexity of coworking's users and supply (i.e. coworking spaces), based on the recent trends caused by Covid19. It is discussed whether and how coworking's environment increases its diversification in terms of users and the spatial and policy implications linked to this shift. Methodology: The study embraces a qualitative approach exploring the existing literature on the emerging dynamics in the field of work, moving from an overview of recent trends across Europe based on existing international surveys. Results: New possible scenarios may be based on different forms of proximity, not just in the dense metropolitan cores, but also in other types of territories, where the population may decide to selectively re-distribute, and the question will be how to supply all these areas with effective, efficient and equal opportunities in terms of jobs and services. The study highlights the diffusion of shared workspaces in different forms: traditional coworking spaces catering for freelancers and knowledge workers, but also workspaces in which employees from large organisations (public and private) will spend part of their working week, hybrid spaces based on peculiar combinations of locally required services (related to both jobs and care), third-spaces based on some form of everyday recreational activities, and many others. Limits and implications: The pandemic is still ongoing and, since the paper focuses on the review of existing literature and surveys in a changing context, its main limitation is the ability to collect verifiable and up-to-date data. Originality: The paper's uniqueness lies in the prefiguration of a range of development directions concerning the relationship between work practices and collaborative spaces in different territories, exploring how local and diffused dynamics might be the opportunity for a potential transformation of work patterns

Post-anthesis accumulation and remobilization of dry matter, nitrogen and phosphorus in durum wheat as affected by soil type

The objective of the research was to quantify the changes in the accumulation of dry matter and N and P content of four durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) varieties grown on two soil types (sandy-loam and clay-loam), differing for texture, nitrogen content and water holding capacity. Plants were grown in containers and were rainfed until anthesis; irrigation was performed during grain filling to avoid water stress. The difference in total vegetative weight and nitrogen and phosphorus content of plants between anthesis and maturity was used to indirectly estimate the relative contribution of pre-anthesis assimilation and remobilization to grain yield. The behaviour of the four varieties was similar as they ranked in the same order for pre-anthesis and post-anthesis dry matter accumulation and grain yield and differences in soil characteristics induced similar changes in dry matter, N and P accumulation and remobilization. Soil type greatly affected the patterns of dry matter, N and P accumulation and remobilization. Plants grown on clay-loam soil had higher dry weight and N and P content both at anthesis and at maturity and higher grain yield at maturity, compared to plants grown on sandy-loam soil and the remobilization of dry matter, N and P were 75, 140 and 55% higher. Most of the grain carbohydrates originated from photosynthates produced during grain fill, as the contribution of remobilization of dry matter to grain yield did not reach 30%, while most of the grain N and P originated from the remobilization of N and P accumulated prior to anthesis as remobilization of N accounted for 73–82% of grain N content and remobilization of P accounted for 56–63% of grain P content

Above- and below-ground competition between barley, wheat, lupin and vetch in a cereal and legume intercropping system

The effects of intercropping on dry weight (DW) of herbage and nitrogen (N) nutrition of plants of two winter cereals, barley and wheat, and two legumes, white lupin and common vetch, were investigated, and above- and below-ground competition were separated in a fully factorial additive design. Intercropping increased DW compared with the sole species and the increase was higher for the cereals and lupin than for cereals and vetch intercropping systems. Above-ground competition for light reduced DW of cereals and lupin while it did not influence the DW of vetch. Processes involved in below-ground competition increased shoot growth of cereals and reduced shoot growth of legumes. N nutrition of cereals was enhanced by below-ground competition with legumes and N nutrition of vetch was enhanced by above-ground competition with cereals. Cereals had a higher competitive ability than legumes as a result of their below-ground competitive ability. The interaction between above- and below-competition is not predictable: negative, positive and no interaction (additivity) between different types of competition were found. In low-input intercropping systems, when a N-fixing species is present, the mixture of the roots of components is important for the utilization of the soil resources and, when a climbing species is also present, the mixture of shoots can result in an increased utilization of light

Coordination between plant and apex development in Hordeum vulgare ssp. distichum

Developmental scales for cereals describe apex and plant morphology separately. In order to link crucial steps of internal and external development, in three varieties of Hordeum vulgare spp. distichum L., sown in autumn and in spring, we recorded plant, leaf and apex stage, following the scales of Zadoks, Haun, and Banerjee and Wienhues, the number of primordia, culm and spike length, and the final number of leaves and spikelets. Primordia initiation was coordinated with leaf appearance and the relative rate was constant for the initiation of productive primordia. The maximum number of primordia was achieved just before the first node became detectable, but development was completed only by those initiated before floret differentiation and internode distension started. The first spikelet was initiated when the third leaf tip became visible, and the last one when plants were at the pseudo stem erection stage and five leaves had still to appear