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What Makes a Classmate a Peer? Examining Which Peers Matter in NYC Elementary Schools

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Abstract

We identify and estimate the effects of student-level social spillovers on standardized test performance in New York City (NYC) elementary schools. We leverage student demographic data to construct within classroom social networks based on shared student characteristics, such as a gender or ethnicity. Rather than aggregate shared characteristics into a single network matrix, we specify additively separate network matrices for each shared characteristic and estimate city-wide peer effects for each one. Conditional on sharing a classroom, we find that the most important student peer effects are shared ethnicity, gender, and primary language spoken at home. Identification of the model is discussed.

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  • William C. Horrace & Hyunseok Jung & Jonathan L. Pressler & Amy Ellen Schwartz, 2021. "What Makes a Classmate a Peer? Examining Which Peers Matter in NYC Elementary Schools," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 241, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    • Handle: RePEc:max:cprwps:241
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlos Díaz & Eleonora Patacchini, 2023. "Parents, neighbors and youth crime," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 673-692, June.

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    Keywords

    Peer Effect; Network; Homophily; Education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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