InsIDE Lab

The InsIDE Lab (Insubria Information & Data for Economics) is a research and scientific support laboratory dedicated to the study and application of statistical and econometric models. Its main goal is to provide qualified assistance at every stage of quantitative analysis: from the theoretical construction of models to their estimation, interpretation, and the communication of results.

  • The lab places strong emphasis on the mathematical foundations underlying the models to be estimated, recognizing that a solid theoretical base is essential to ensure reliability and coherence in empirical applications. Among the tools employed are: probability theory, approximation theory, advanced simulation algorithms, numerical optimization techniques, and machine learning methods.
  • A distinctive feature of the InsIDE Lab is its critical reflection on the foundations of statistical and econometric inference, addressing the epistemological implications of the techniques used and promoting a deeper understanding of the limitations and potential of modeling.
  • Another key aspect is attention to the understanding of the assumptions and premises behind models and their potential non-neutrality—thus linking model selection and interpretation to critical hermeneutics.
  • The lab does not merely apply existing methods but is actively involved in the development of new methodologies, both computational and inferential. Methodological innovation is considered a key component in tackling the challenges posed by modern data and complex economic phenomena.
  • Applications of the methodologies developed include empirical analysis of micro- and macroeconomic, social, psychological, demographic, and environmental data; evaluation of public policies; and the management, integration, and analysis of big data—including complex climate data—with the aim of supporting evidence-based decision-making.
  • Finally, lab members adhere to best practices in data analysis: using open-source software whenever possible, responsibly sharing data, promoting the replicability of studies, and preregistering research projects. These principles ensure transparency, reliability, and scientific rigor.

To this end, the InsIDE Lab works in close collaboration with research centers and similar laboratories around the world.

Collaborations

Biotechnologies

TheProteinFactory

The Protein Factory 2.0 (https://www.theproteinfactory2.it)

“Our studies are focused on proteins and enzymes related to important human diseases, in particular those involved in the metabolism of D-amino acids. In addition, we produce wild-type and variants recombinant proteins useful in several fields of biotechnology: forhuman health (therapeutic proteins), for bioindustry (enzymes for biocatalysis), for biorefineries (lignin valorization) and for bioremediation of pesticides, plastics and toxins.”

 

Open Science

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Psychological Science Accelerator (https://psysciacc.org/)

“The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a globally distributed network of researchers that pool intellectual and material resources to accelerate the accumulation of rigorous knowledge in psychological science. We believe that many of the world’s biggest challenges cannot be addressed by a single researcher or small team. We thus seek to leverage team science to address big questions rooted in theory and/or real-world problems.”
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Institute for Replication (https://i4replication.org/)

“The Institute for Replication is dedicated to advancing credible research through mass reproductions and replications. At I4R, we work closely with researchers to systematically reproduce and replicate research findings published in leading academic journals to encourage transparency and improve trust in social science research.”

 

Publications

Mathematics

  • Raffaello Seri (2025). Necessary and sufficient conditions for the Central Limit Theorem under the unconditional Lindeberg assumption. R&R. 
  • Raffaello Seri (2025). Uniformity Testing in High Dimensions. The Law of Large Number of Modes, Revisited. Submitted.
  • Mario Martinoli, Raffaello Seri, Samuele Tonati (2026). Confidence Sets for the Sample Average Approximation of Stochastic Discrete Optimization Problems. Submitted.
  • Raffaello Seri (2026). Computational Issues in the Asymptotic Distribution of the Diaphony. Submitted.

Philosophy

  • Lorenzo Gagliardi, Massimo Rusconi (2025). Investigating conspiracy beliefs: methodological biases and experimental challenges. Accepted in Journal of Economic Methodology.
  • Massimo Rusconi, Davide Secchi, Raffaello Seri (2025). The Analogical Roots of Agent-Based Modeling in Economics and Social Sciences: The case of Innovation Dynamics. Accepted in Journal of Economic Methodology.
  • Massimo Rusconi, Davide Secchi, Raffaello Seri (2025). Model Trustworthiness and Modeler Responsibility in Economic Agent-Based Modeling practices: a Meta-Analytical approach. Accepted in Journal of Economic Methodology. https://doi.org/1080/1350178X.2026.2617538
  • Massimo Rusconi, Raffaello Seri (2025). Model Selection as a Decision Problem. Soon to be submitted.
  • Massimo Rusconi, Raffaello Seri (2025). On the Utility of Models: Bridging the Theoretical and Analytical Sides of Model Selection. Submitted.

Statistics

  • Massimo Rusconi, Raffaello Seri (2025). Model Selection as a Multiple-Criteria Optimization Problem. Submitted.
  • Raffaello Seri (2025). Theoretical Properties of Approximations of the Distribution of a Large Quadratic Form in Normal Variables. Soon to be submitted.
  • Mario Martinoli, Raffaello Seri, Fulvio Corsi (2025). Generalized Optimization Algorithms for Complex Objective Functions. Submitted.
  • Chiara Casoli, Luca Pedini (2026). Measuring spillovers and connectedness in gretl. Computational Statistics, Volume 41, Article 22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00180-025-01680-9 Replication package: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18592748

Artificial Intelligence

  • Regina de Brito Duarte, Samuele Tonati, Sergio Muñoz, Joana Campos, Fosca Giannotti, Rui Prada (2025). Effects of Interaction and Explanation Type on Human–AI Collaboration for Fake News Detection. Accepted in IEEE Access.
  • Samuele Tonati, Sergio Muñoz, Roberto Pellungrini (2026). Self-Supervised Counterfactual Text Generation via Control Token Conditioning. Submitted.

Applications

Economics

  • Valerio Sterzi, Cecilia Maronero, Gianluca Orsatti, Andrea Vezzulli (2024). Non-practicing entities in Europe: an empirical analysis of patent acquisitions at the European Patent Office. Industrial and Corporate Change, Volume 33, Issue 5, October 2024, Pages 1271–1297. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtae010
  • Grazia Sveva Ascione, Andrea Vezzulli (2024). Leveraging NLP and web knowledge graphs to harmonize locations: A case study on US patent transactions. World Patent Information, Volume 79, 102320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wpi.2024.102320
  • Grazia Sveva Ascione, Valerio Sterzi, Andrea Vezzulli (2026). Terrorizer: a novel algorithm for patent assignee name disambiguation. Accepted in Scientometrics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-025-05510-z
  • Isaac K. Ofori, Emmanuel Y. Gbolonyo, Andrea Vezzulli (2025). Heterogeneous effects of frontier technology adoption on economic growth in Africa. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Volume 75, December 2025, Pages 526–540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.004
  • Stefano M. Iacus, Devika Jain, Andrea Nasuto, Giuseppe Porro, Marcello Carammia, Andrea Vezzulli (2025). The Human Flourishing Geographic Index: A County-Level Dataset for the United States, 2013-2023. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03915

Psychology

  • Lusine Grigoryan, Ani Grigoryan, Kathleen Schmidt, Erin Michelle Buchanan, Sobhan Yousefi, …, Raffaello Seri (2025). (In)Alienable Worth? Cultural Logics of Dignity, Honor, and Face and their Links to Prosociality Across the World. Soon to be submitted. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/9hb8k_v1
  • Miroslav Sirota, Jakub Šrol, Matteo Lisi, …, Raffaello Seri (2025). Mapping and Increasing Error Correction Behaviour in a Culturally Diverse Sample. Soon to be submitted. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/wegc5_v1

Climate Science

  • Maryam Ahmadi, Chiara Casoli, Matteo Manera, Daniele Valenti (2025). Climate shocks, economic activity and cross-country spillovers: Evidence from a new global model. Economic Modelling, Volume 148, July 2025, 107082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107082

Open Science

  • Balazs Aczel, Barnabas Szaszi, Harry T. Clelland, Marton Kovacs, …, Massimo Rusconi, Raffaello Seri, …, Brian A. Nosek (2025). Investigating the analytical robustness of the social and behavioural sciences. Nature, Volume 652, Pages 135–142. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09844-9
  • Abel Brodeur, David Valenta, Alexandru Marcoci, Juan P. Aparicio, Derek Mikola, …, Raffaello Seri (2025). Comparing Human-Only, AI-Assisted, and AI-Led Teams on Assessing Research Reproducibility in Quantitative Social Science. Accepted in Proccedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA. https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/zbwi4rdps/195.htm
  • Stanisław Karkosz, Raffaello Seri, Julie Vargo (2025). A comment on “Gender-Ambiguous Voices and Social Disfluency”.
  • Emma Kosmalla, Maximilian Schmidt, Raffaello Seri, Jotham Talemwa (2026). A comment on “Gender rating gap in online reviews”.
  • Shumi Akhtar, Raffaello Seri (2026). A comment on “Gender Differences in Climbing up the Ladder: Why Experience Closes the Ambition Gender Gap”. 
  • Marta Korczak, Philipp Külpmann, Raffaello Seri (2026). A comment on “Strategic conformity or anti-conformity to avoid punishment and attract reward”.

Projects

Rich CariploProject

Cariplo Project RICH – Turning Rubbish Into biobased materials: a sustainable CHain for the full valorization of organic waste (https://www.chimicaverdelombardia.it/progetto-rich/), 01/04/2021–31/03/2024

The RICH project aims to investigate the use of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) to convert organic waste into biomolecules for the generation of innovative products. In particular, the project seeks to develop an innovative and integrated circular economy value chain that, starting from the biotransformation of source-separated organic waste, leads to the production of high–technological-value and environmentally friendly biomaterials, such as bioplastics and other protein-based materials, as well as lipids for biofuel production.

 

ProPla

 

Cariplo Project ProPla – Proteins from Plastics (https://www.theproteinfactory2.it/propla), 01/03/2023–28/02/2026

The project addresses the problem of microplastics focusing on their recovery and valorization through a pre-competitive, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary approach. ProPla aims to develop an innovative biotechnological application to recover PET microplastics (microPET) from wastewater and exploit the power of protein engineering and systems biology approaches to generate a novel bacterial strain able to convert microPET into amino acids (plastic-eating activity) or high-value compounds (protein, lipid, chitin) through appropriately modified insects.

 

MUR-FRES Project “Una, sola, indivisibile: le tante Italie nel COVID” (https://www.feem.it/ricerca/progetti/una-sola-indivisibile-le-tante-italie-nel-covid/), 25/05/2025–25/05/2027

The project aims to analyze territorial socio-economic inequalities in Italy and the role of COVID-19 in exacerbating them. By using granular municipal-level data and advanced statistical techniques, it seeks to provide policy recommendations to reduce territorial disparities. Comparison with European data allows for a geopolitical positioning of post-pandemic Italy.

 

FAO Project “Research Studies on the Nexus between Energy and Agricultural Commodity Markets” (https://www.feem.it/ricerca/progetti/research-studies-on-the-nexus-between-energy-and-agricultural-commodity-markets/), 15/12/2025–01/12/2026

The project consists of two related studies that examine the interconnection between energy markets and agricultural commodity markets from a global perspective. The first study analyzes how shocks in energy markets—such as disruptions in the oil, natural gas, and fertilizer sectors—are transmitted to agricultural commodity markets and prices. […] The second study focuses on price transmission mechanisms between energy markets and agricultural commodities used in biofuel production, such as sugar and palm oil.

 

Interreg Project SUST-STAM – Ecosistema insubre transfrontaliero per start up e imprese d’eccellenza nell’ambito delle staminali per la medicina rigenerativa (https://research.uniupo.it/it/projects/ecosistema-insubre-transfrontaliero-per-start-up-e-imprese-deccel/), 01/01/2026–30/06/2028

The project aims to develop a cross-border innovation ecosystem focused on regenerative medicine using stem cells, leveraging scientific, clinical, and entrepreneurial excellence in the cooperation area between Canton Ticino, Province of Varese, and Province of Novara. Its main objective is to support the creation and growth of innovative start-ups and SMEs capable of generating high-impact technological, social, and health solutions.

 

Reproducibility

The InsIDE Lab has its own repository where it hosts the replication packages of the laboratory’s and department’s articles:

https://github.com/InsIDE-Lab-DiECO

The packages are also made available individually via Zenodo.

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Contatti

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