TESTING UNILATERAL AND BILATERAL LINK FORMATION

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Comola, Margherita; Fafchamps, Marcel
• 署名单位: heSam Universite; Universite Pantheon-Sorbonne; Paris School of Economics; University of Oxford
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12071
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 954-976
• 关键词: risk-sharing networks; informal insurance; MODEL

摘要

Empirical analysis of social networks is often based on self-reported links from survey data. How we interpret such data is crucial for drawing correct inference on network effects. We propose a method for testing whether survey responses can safely be interpreted as a link and, if so, whether links are generated by a unilateral or bilateral link formation process. We present two empirical illustrations of the test on risk-sharing links in Tanzania and on communication among Indian farmers, respectively, demonstrating the ability of the methodology to discriminate between competing data-generating processes.