Working Paper: NBER ID: w30815
Authors: Matthew O. Jackson; Stephen M. Nei; Erik Snowberg; Leeat Yariv
Abstract: We examine friendships and study partnerships among university students over several years. At the aggregate level, connections increase over time, but homophily on gender and ethnicity is relatively constant across time, university residences, and different network layers. At the individual level, homophilous tendencies are persistent across time and network layers. Furthermore, we see assortativity in homophilous tendencies. There is weaker, albeit significant, homophily over malleable characteristics---risk preferences, altruism, study habits, and so on. We find little evidence of assimilation over those characteristics. We also document the nuanced impact of network connections on changes in Grade Point Average.
Keywords: Homophily; Networks; Friendship; Study Partnerships; GPA
JEL Codes: D85; I21; J15; J16; Z13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| homophily on gender and ethnicity (J15) | stable individual characteristics (I31) |
| more homophilous individuals (C92) | connect with other homophilous individuals (C92) |
| homophily on malleable characteristics (C92) | selection influences traits rather than assimilation (Z13) |
| homophily in study partnerships (C92) | GPA for female students (I24) |