Identification of Peer Effects with Missing Peer Data: Evidence from Project STAR*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sojourner, Aaron
• 署名单位: University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2012.02559.x
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 574-605
• 关键词: class size; academic-achievement; student-achievement; selection; outcomes; progress; IMPACT

摘要

This article studies peer effects on student achievement among first graders randomly assigned to classrooms in Tennessee's Project STAR. The analysis uses previously unexploited pre-assignment achievement measures available for 60% of students. Data are not missing at random, making identification challenging. This study develops and applies new ways to identify peer effects in the presence of missing data, which incorporate knowledge of how groups form. Estimates suggest sizeable positive effects of mean peer lagged achievement on average. Analysis of a common peer-effects estimator implies caution is warranted in interpreting many peer-effect estimates extant in the literature.