IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/col/000416/015306.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

It is not what you know but who you know: Heterogenous peer effects in education

Author

Listed:
  • Ana María Díaz- Ignacio Penagos
  • Ignacio Penagos

Abstract

This paper explores the presence of peer effects in education. We investigate whether and how education attainment depends on the educational attainment of peers. We consider the role of different types of relationships among peers on education outcomes using a detailed network structure among first-year economics students. We find that there are strong peer effects in education, but peers tend to be influential only if they interact frequently. This result suggest that the mechanism behind is that students teach their peers specific knowledge rather than general knowledge that they possess. We also find that peers can have a positive influence if they belong to the highest tercile of the distribution of the university entrance exam. While the influence can be negative if peers belong to the lowest decile of the distribution. This evidence suggest that the bad apple model and the shining light model can coexist.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana María Díaz- Ignacio Penagos & Ignacio Penagos, 2016. "It is not what you know but who you know: Heterogenous peer effects in education," Vniversitas Económica, Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá, vol. 0(0), pages 1-23, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000416:015306
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://cea.javeriana.edu.co/investigacion-publicaciones/documentos-trabajo/vniversitas-economica
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sacerdote, Bruce, 2011. "Peer Effects in Education: How Might They Work, How Big Are They and How Much Do We Know Thus Far?," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 4, pages 249-277, Elsevier.
    2. Bramoullé, Yann & Djebbari, Habiba & Fortin, Bernard, 2009. "Identification of peer effects through social networks," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 41-55, May.
    3. Marcelo J. Moreira, 2003. "A Conditional Likelihood Ratio Test for Structural Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(4), pages 1027-1048, July.
    4. Esther Duflo & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "The Role of Information and Social Interactions in Retirement Plan Decisions: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 815-842.
    5. Philip Babcock & Kelly Bedard & Gary Charness & John Hartman & Heather Royer, 2015. "Letting Down The Team? Social Effects Of Team Incentives," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(5), pages 841-870, October.
    6. David J. Zimmerman, 2003. "Peer Effects in Academic Outcomes: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 9-23, February.
    7. Charles F. Manski, 1993. "Identification of Endogenous Social Effects: The Reflection Problem," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(3), pages 531-542.
    8. Han, Li & Li, Tao, 2009. "The gender difference of peer influence in higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 129-134, February.
    9. Foster, Gigi, 2006. "It's not your peers, and it's not your friends: Some progress toward understanding the educational peer effect mechanism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(8-9), pages 1455-1475, September.
    10. Scott E. Carrell & Bruce I. Sacerdote & James E. West, 2011. "From Natural Variation to Optimal Policy? The Lucas Critique Meets Peer Effects," NBER Working Papers 16865, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Giacomo De Giorgi & Michele Pellizzari & Silvia Redaelli, 2010. "Identification of Social Interactions through Partially Overlapping Peer Groups," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 241-275, April.
    12. Edward P. Lazear, 2001. "Educational Production," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(3), pages 777-803.
    13. Bruce Sacerdote, 2001. "Peer Effects with Random Assignment: Results for Dartmouth Roommates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 681-704.
    14. Brady, Ryan & Insler, Michael & Rahman, Ahmed, 2015. "Bad Company: Reconciling Negative Peer Effects in College Achievement," MPRA Paper 68354, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Angela Granger-Serrano & Alexander Villarraga-Orjuela, 2021. "Peer Effects on First-Year University Students’ Results: The Role of Classmates’ Academic Performance and Socioeconomic Status," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(23), pages 1-26, December.
    2. Daichi Shimamoto & Yasuyuki Todo & Yu Ri Kim & Petr Matous, 2022. "Identifying and decomposing peer effects on decision-making using a randomized controlled trial," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 1029-1058, August.
    3. Oleg Poldin & Diliara Valeeva & Maria Yudkevich, 2016. "Which Peers Matter: How Social Ties Affect Peer-group Effects," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 57(4), pages 448-468, June.
    4. Humlum, Maria Knoth & Thorsager, Mette, 2021. "The Importance of Peer Quality for Completion of Higher Education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Matias Berthelon & Eric Bettinger & Diana I. Kruger & Alejandro Montecinos-Pearce, 2019. "The Structure of Peers: The Impact of Peer Networks on Academic Achievement," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(7), pages 931-959, November.
    6. Lépine, Andrea & Estevan, Fernanda, 2021. "Do ability peer effects matter for academic and labor market outcomes?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    7. Silvia Mendolia & Alfredo R Paloyo & Ian Walker, 2018. "Heterogeneous effects of high school peers on educational outcomes," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(3), pages 613-634.
    8. Gioia De Melo, 2011. "Peer effects identified through social networks. Evidence from Uruguayan schools," Department of Economics University of Siena 627, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    9. Berlinski, Samuel & Busso, Matias & Giannola, Michele, 2023. "Helping struggling students and benefiting all: Peer effects in primary education," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    10. Kandpal, Eeshani & Baylis, Kathy, 2019. "The social lives of married women: Peer effects in female autonomy and investments in children," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 26-43.
    11. Li, Tao & Han, Li & Zhang, Linxiu & Rozelle, Scott, 2014. "Encouraging classroom peer interactions: Evidence from Chinese migrant schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 29-45.
    12. Coveney, Max & Oosterveen, Matthijs, 2021. "What drives ability peer effects?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    13. Koen Jochmans, 2023. "Testing random assignment to peer groups," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 321-333, April.
    14. Liang Zhang & Shi Pu, 2017. "It takes two shining lights to brighten the room: peer effects with random roommate assignments," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 3-21, January.
    15. Ali-Rind, Asad & Boubaker, Sabri & Jarjir, Souad Lajili, 2023. "Peer effects in financial economics: A literature survey," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Presler, Jonathan L., 2022. "You are who you eat with: Academic peer effects from school lunch lines," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 43-58.
    17. Tisorn Songsermsawas & Kathy Baylis & Ashwini Chhatre & Hope Michelson, 2014. "Can Peers Improve Agricultural Productivity?," CESifo Working Paper Series 4958, CESifo.
    18. Alice Battiston & Sophie Hedges & Thomas Lazarowicz & Stefan Speckesser, 2020. "Peer Effects and Social Influence in Post-16 Educational Choice," CVER Research Papers 025, Centre for Vocational Education Research.
    19. David Card & Laura Giuliano, 2013. "Peer Effects and Multiple Equilibria in the Risky Behavior of Friends," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1130-1149, October.
    20. SHIMAMOTO Daichi & TODO Yasuyuki & Yu Ri KIM & Petr MATOUS, 2016. "Identifying and Decomposing Peer Effects on Participation Decisions Using a Randomized Controlled Trial," Discussion papers 16083, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Peer effects; social network formation; academic achievement; homophily;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:col:000416:015306. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mayerly Galindo Rodriguez (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.