Identifying peer effects in student academic achievement by spatial autoregressive models with group unobservables

Citation

Lin, X. (2010). Identifying peer effects in student academic achievement by spatial autoregressive models with group unobservables. Journal of Labor Economics. vol. 28 (4) pp. 825-860

Abstract

Disentangling peer effects from other confounding effects is difficult, and separately identifying endogenous and contextual effects is impossible for the linear-in-means model. This study confronts these problems by using spatial autoregressive models with group fixed effects. The nonlinearity introduced by the variations in the peer measurements provides information to identify both endogenous and contextual effects, thus resolving the “reflection problem.” The group fixed effects term captures the confounding effects of the common variables. Applying the model to data sets from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, I find strong evidence for both endogenous and contextual effects in student academic achievement.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1086%2F653506

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Journal of Labor Economics

Author(s)

Lin, X.

Year Published

2010

Volume Number

28

Issue Number

4

Pages

825-860

DOI

10.1086/653506

Reference ID

1255