Stefano Balietti

Stefano Balietti is a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Data Science in the Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim's Business School, specializing in Information Systems. Previously, he held research positions at the Center for European Social Science Research at Mannheim University (MZES), the Alfred-Weber Institute of Economics at Heidelberg University, Microsoft Research Computational Social Science, Northeastern Network Science Institute, Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science, and ETH Zurich Computational Social Science group.

His research spans consensus formation, social influence, and polarization; governance in blockchain systems; incentives schemes for collective intelligence, particularly peer review systems; optimal experimental designs; socio-economic inequality; and philosophy of science with a focus on Paul Feyerabend's work. He employs methodologies combining computer simulations, data analytics, and online behavioral experiments to investigate complex social phenomena. His work often bridges computational methods with social science theory to address pressing societal issues.

His publication record shows a strong trajectory in computational social science, with recent work focusing on blockchain governance, DAOs, climate perception, and polarization reduction. His research demonstrates a consistent pattern of applying rigorous experimental methods to understand collective behavior, with increasing emphasis on decentralized systems and their social implications. His 2025 paper on climate perception divergence and 2024 work on DAO governance represent his current research frontiers.

• Special mention in the Exeter Prize for Research in Experimental Economics, Decision Theory and Behavioral Economics 2017
• Best Lightening Talk Award The Market Structure For Innovation SocInfo 2016

Dr. Balietti actively supervises master's students at the University of Mannheim, with recent theses focusing on blockchain applications, DAOs, and decentralized systems. He has developed significant research infrastructure including nodeGame, an open-source JavaScript platform for real-time online group-behavior experiments, and co-founded the State of Crypto initiative. His EduCERT project aims to enable innovation and increase digital teaching at higher education institutions through blockchain-based academic credentialing. His research program demonstrates strong continuity from his PhD work at ETH Zurich through his current focus on blockchain governance and decentralized systems.