Toward a General Theory of Peer Effects

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Boucher, Vincent; Rendall, Michelle; Ushchev, Philip; Zenou, Yves
• 署名单位: Laval University; Monash University; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Universite Libre de Bruxelles; Monash University; IZA Institute Labor Economics
• 刊物名称: ECONOMETRICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0012-9682
• DOI: 10.3982/ECTA21048
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 543-565
• 关键词: model; identification

摘要

There is substantial empirical evidence showing that peer effects matter in many activities. The workhorse model in empirical work on peer effects is the linear-in-means (LIM) model, whereby it is assumed that agents are linearly affected by the mean action of their peers. We develop a new general model of peer effects that relaxes the linear assumption of the best-reply functions and the mean peer behavior and that encompasses the spillover, conformist model, and LIM model as special cases. Then, using data on adolescent activities in the United States, we structurally estimate this model. We find that for many activities, individuals do not behave according to the LIM model. We run some counterfactual policies and show that imposing the mean action as an individual social norm is misleading and leads to incorrect policy implications.