Peer-Induced Beliefs Regarding College Participation

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09 Septembre 2018
Types de publication: 
Cahier de recherche
Auteur(s): 
Vincent Boucher
Finagnon Antoine Dedewanou
Arnaud Dufays
Axe de recherche: 
Enjeux économiques et financiers
Mots-clés: 
Social Networks
Beliefs updating
College participation
Heterogeneous peer effects
Classification JEL: 
D83
I20
C31
C11

We study peer effects on the formation of beliefs regarding college participation. We present a structural model of learning in friendship networks. We show that the model is identified and we present a Bayesian estimation procedure. We estimate the model using data on teenagers’ beliefs regarding college participation, controlling for preferences and academic achievement. We find that, on average, friends’ beliefs account for about 12% of the updating process. We also find strong heterogeneity among schools and individuals. In particular, we find substantial unobserved individual heterogeneity, which casts doubt on the efficiency of network-targeted public policies.

Contact: 

Vincent Boucher: Corresponding author. Department of Economics, Université Laval, CRREP and CREATE, vincent.boucher@ecn.ulaval.ca
Finagnon A. Dedewanou: Department of Economics, Université Laval, CRREP, finagnon-antoine.dedewanou.1@ulaval.ca
Arnaud Dufays: Department of Economics, Université Namur, Associate professor, Université Laval, Arnaud.Dufays@unamur.be