Mechanisms and Impacts of Gender Peer Effects at School

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lavy, Victor; Schlosser, Analia
• 署名单位: Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; University of London; National Bureau of Economic Research; Tel Aviv University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.3.2.1
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 1-33
• 关键词: achievement; education; outcomes; COSTS

摘要

We present in this paper evidence about the effects and mechanisms of gender peer effects in elementary, middle, and high schools. For identification, we rely on idiosyncratic variations in gender composition across adjacent cohorts within the same schools. We find that an increase in the proportion of girls improves boys and girls' cognitive outcomes. These academic gains are mediated through lower levels of classroom disruption and violence, improved inter-student and student-teacher relationships, and lessened teachers' fatigue. We find no effect on individual behavior, which suggests that the positive effects of girls on classroom environment are mostly due to compositional change. (JEL I21, J16)