Greta Morando, University of Westminster - The effect of the academic ability of peers on youth custody

Title: The effect of the academic ability of peers on youth custody
with Richard Dorsett, Emma Gorman, Veruska Oppedisano

Abstract: Does the academic ability of secondary schoolmates affect the probability of being imprisoned during teenagerhood? We exploit the idiosyncratic variation of peer ability across four cohorts of secondary school students within an instrumental variable strategy. The latter leverages the academic ability of secondary schoolmates with that of their primary school peers. A one standard deviation in peer ability at secondary school decreases the probability of being in custody at 17-18 years old by 0.74 percentage points . This effect is not statistically significant for the pooled sample. Heterogeneous effects are found across different socio-economic and demographic groups. We additionally find that peer ability significantly affects the educational and behavioural outcomes of students at secondary school.

Presenter: Greta Morando, University of Westminster

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