Does Increased Exposure to Peers with Adverse Characteristics Reduce Workplace Performance? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in the US Army

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Murphy, Francis X.
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/700187
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 435-466
• 关键词: delinquent peers; military; enlistment; crime; AGE

摘要

While much research has investigated peer effects in education, less is known about peer influence at work, particularly how bad peers affect other workers. I study soldiers during a time when the US Army granted large numbers of morality waivers to recruits with felony or misdemeanor convictions that normally preclude enlistment. I find that soldiers randomly assigned to larger shares of peers with criminal backgrounds are more likely to commit major misconduct. Additionally, that misconduct often occurs in the same month a waivered peer commits misconduct, suggesting that influence occurs through both exposure to adverse peers and their contemporaneous behavior.