Peer Effects and Human Capital Accumulation in Endogenous Social Networks
Paper Session
Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM (EST)
- Chair: Aureo de Paula, University College London
Ethnic Mixing in Early Childhood
Abstract
The social integration of minority groups is a major policy challenge for many countries. This paper addresses this issue in the context of an early childhood program conducted in Turkey aimed at preparing 5-year-old native and Syrian refugee children for elementary school. We randomly assign children to groups with varying ethnic composition and examine whether random exposure to non-coethnic children over a period of 2 months affects interethnic friendship formation and language acquisition. We find that exposure to children of the other ethnicity leads to an increase in the formation of interethnic friendships, especially for Turkish children, while the Turkish language skills of Syrian children are better developed in classes with a larger presence of Turkish children. To explain the empirical patterns, we develop a model of friendship formation with two key mechanisms: preference bias for forming coethnic links, and congestion in the friendship formation process. Structural estimation of the model suggests that interethnic contact: (i) reduces the share of own-ethnicity friends, and (ii) has a non-monotonic effect on the bias toward forming own-ethnicity friendships beyond what would be expected given the size of the group (inbreeding homophily). The latter finding implies that increased exposure of minority children to non-coethnic children can lead to more in-group bias in friendship formation, relative to when the two ethnic shares are more balanced. Finally, counterfactual analysis indicates that improvement in the language skills of Syrian children can offset more than half of the effect that ethnic bias has on friendship formation patterns.Estimating Peer Effects Using Partial Network Data
Abstract
We study the estimation of peer effects through social networks when researchers do not observe the network structure. Instead, we assume that researchers know (a consistent estimate of) the distribution of the network. We show that this assumption is sufficient for the estimation of peer effects using a linear-in-means model. We present and discuss important examples where our methodology can be applied. In particular, we provide an empirical application to the study of peer effects on students' academic achievement.Effects of Disruptive Peers in Endogenous Social Networks
Abstract
This study explores the role of social networks in shaping the diffusion (i.e., spread and heterogenous impact) of the negative classroom externalities generated by disruptive peers. We recognize that social networks are endogenous and model friendship formation based on homophily. Using the Stockholm Birth Cohort 1953, we find that classmates exposed to abuse and neglect have negative effects on peers' cognitive achievement at ages 13, 16 and 19. We find stronger effects for those students who are socially closer to the disruptive peers and a fade out that limits the reach of the externality to a path length of three edges. Finally, social networks provide instruments that allow us to estimate the structural parameters of the modified linear-in-means model. We find that most of the effect disruptive peers exert on their classmates is accounted for by the direct effect of their disruptiveness, leaving no scope for social multiplier effects.Discussant(s)
Angelo Mele
,
Johns Hopkins University
Alan Griffith
,
University of Washington
JEL Classifications
- D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
- I2 - Education and Research Institutions