Working Paper: NBER ID: w21418
Authors: Timothy Conley; Nirav Mehta; Ralph Stinebrickner; Todd Stinebrickner
Abstract: We develop and estimate a model of student study time choices on a social network. The model is designed to exploit unique data collected in the Berea Panel Study. Study time data allow us to quantify an intuitive mechanism for academic social interactions: own study time may depend on friend study time in a heterogeneous manner. Social network data allow us to embed study time and resulting academic achievement in an estimable equilibrium framework. We develop a specification test that exploits the equilibrium nature of social interactions and use it to show that novel study propensity measures mitigate econometric endogeneity concerns.
Keywords: Peer Effects; Study Time; Academic Achievement; Social Networks
JEL Codes: H0; I20; J0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Friend study time (Y60) | Student's own study time (A00) |
| Student's own study time (A00) | Academic achievement (I23) |
| Friend study time (Y60) | Academic achievement (I23) |
| Student characteristics (I21) | Response to friend study time (C92) |
| Network structure and homophilous sorting (D85) | Propagation of peer influences (C92) |