Toward a General Theory of Peer Effects

IF 6.6 1区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Econometrica Pub Date : 2024-03-19 DOI:10.3982/ECTA21048

Vincent Boucher, Michelle Rendall, Philip Ushchev, Yves Zenou

引用次数: 0

Abstract

There is substantial empirical evidence showing that peer effects matter in many activities. The workhorse model in empirical work on peer effects is the linear-in-means (LIM) model, whereby it is assumed that agents are linearly affected by the mean action of their peers. We develop a new general model of peer effects that relaxes the linear assumption of the best-reply functions and the mean peer behavior and that encompasses the spillover, conformist model, and LIM model as special cases. Then, using data on adolescent activities in the United States, we structurally estimate this model. We find that for many activities, individuals do not behave according to the LIM model. We run some counterfactual policies and show that imposing the mean action as an individual social norm is misleading and leads to incorrect policy implications.

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建立同伴效应的一般理论

大量经验证据表明，同伴效应在许多活动中都很重要。在有关同伴效应的实证研究中，最常用的模型是线性平均（LIM）模型，即假设行为主体受到同伴平均行为的线性影响。我们建立了一个新的同伴效应一般模型，该模型放宽了最佳回应函数和同伴平均行为的线性假设，并将溢出效应、顺应模型和 LIM 模型作为特例。然后，我们利用美国青少年活动的数据，对这一模型进行了结构性估计。我们发现，在许多活动中，个人的行为并不符合 LIM 模型。我们运行了一些反事实政策，结果表明，将平均行动强加为个人社会规范会产生误导，并导致不正确的政策影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Econometrica 社会科学-数学跨学科应用

CiteScore

11.00

自引率

3.30%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Econometrica publishes original articles in all branches of economics - theoretical and empirical, abstract and applied, providing wide-ranging coverage across the subject area. It promotes studies that aim at the unification of the theoretical-quantitative and the empirical-quantitative approach to economic problems and that are penetrated by constructive and rigorous thinking. It explores a unique range of topics each year - from the frontier of theoretical developments in many new and important areas, to research on current and applied economic problems, to methodologically innovative, theoretical and applied studies in econometrics. Econometrica maintains a long tradition that submitted articles are refereed carefully and that detailed and thoughtful referee reports are provided to the author as an aid to scientific research, thus ensuring the high calibre of papers found in Econometrica. An international board of editors, together with the referees it has selected, has succeeded in substantially reducing editorial turnaround time, thereby encouraging submissions of the highest quality. We strongly encourage recent Ph. D. graduates to submit their work to Econometrica. Our policy is to take into account the fact that recent graduates are less experienced in the process of writing and submitting papers.