Vincent Boucher, Université Laval - Peer-Induced Beliefs Regarding College Participation

Title: Peer-Induced Beliefs Regarding College Participation

Abstract: 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 teenagersʼ beliefs regarding college
participation, controlling for preferences and academic achievement. We find that,
on average, friendsʼ 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.

Presenter: Vincent Boucher, Université Laval

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