Exploratory Graph Analysis for  Well-being Composite Indicators

Exploratory Graph Analysis for Well-being Composite Indicators | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Exploratory Graph Analysis for Well-being Composite Indicators Antonio Irpino, Francesca Tamburrino, Maria Gabriella Grassia This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8489900/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Traditional well-being and sustainability indicators often overlook cross-domain interactions. This study introduces a network-based framework using Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) to identify coherent well-being dimensions from the 2021 Italian BES dataset (NUTS-3). Utilizing EBICglasso and Walktrap algorithms, we identify eleven empirical communities that reveal latent structures not captured by predefined aggregations, including specific clusters for education and NEET indicators. The derived composite indicators show high internal consistency and confirm significant North–South geographical disparities. By integrating network psychometrics into official statistics, this paper provides a robust, data-driven approach to composite indicator construction, enhancing the interpretability of complex multidimensional systems for policy intervention. Exploratory Graph Analysis Well-being Sustainability EBICglasso Walktrap Partial correlation networks Composite indicators Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8489900","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":578379851,"identity":"a0e9a22d-4e32-4056-8363-a3fb8698fea8","order_by":0,"name":"Antonio Irpino","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABE0lEQVRIie3PMUvDQBTA8VcOrstruhaC7VeIHLgY+llyBLKlBFwCDhYKNwldCw5+hWzWLeUNLtGukTgY8gWKjjqYllBpcjg73J9wRy78eBcAk+nf5gDweksBXADWHDYnmtgJCVpEa9jJG7W+asjwbrmposgFy37eUBRv5UOflR+v6+nM6qc92nXJ6I2YWDkBcGvm0Sor5OOCCzvM/CuOnv5iuc9tdAg41utAFTIhBDtUTCrQk0mLvOwJ+wrVjVTDdy1xWiTdE15PIalG+innuS8EOgFytDzCzBcJ8YvLMHuqSTlPsy4Z57Ks8NsdT24H9Inx9CzZUlWE62t5v/RpF2t+vwkPz7He/Hf9oy4xmUwm06Efv+dmHm3lVK4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Campania \"Luigi Vanvitelli\"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Antonio","middleName":"","lastName":"Irpino","suffix":""},{"id":578379852,"identity":"3b3c6cc3-fd65-43c7-9098-eefc659bd0eb","order_by":1,"name":"Francesca Tamburrino","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Campania \"Luigi Vanvitelli\"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Francesca","middleName":"","lastName":"Tamburrino","suffix":""},{"id":578379853,"identity":"8ab5d41e-912b-4592-91b1-37aa8ddf441a","order_by":2,"name":"Maria Gabriella Grassia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maria","middleName":"Gabriella","lastName":"Grassia","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-31 12:53:35","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8489900/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8489900/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100940667,"identity":"bae9dae6-65f6-4271-85ef-d070792dfa25","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-23 04:30:43","extension":"json","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4489,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"80bf6e405c194928b5e34657eb0536e7.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8489900/v1/70301deaed00fe536728df03.json"},{"id":100952229,"identity":"d2121719-3b46-44b5-a9cb-56edb786e29a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-23 07:12:17","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":818543,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"anonim.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8489900/v1_covered_c212198f-fd0c-4357-b9c9-d9e67fb2811d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Exploratory Graph Analysis for Well-being Composite Indicators","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Exploratory Graph Analysis, Well-being, Sustainability, EBICglasso, Walktrap, Partial correlation networks, Composite indicators","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8489900/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8489900/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Traditional well-being and sustainability indicators often overlook cross-domain interactions. 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