Self-Control and Peer Groups: An Empirical Analysis

Eleonora Patacchini, Marco Battaglini and Carlos Díaz

No 11563, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We exploit the exogenous variation in peer groups generated by high school to college transitions to study the theoretical predictions of Battaglini, Benabou and Tirole's (2005) model of self-control in peer groups. We find evidence consistent with the two key predictions of this theory regarding the relationship between an agent's expected self-control problems and the size and composition of his or her social circles: (i) students embedded in social circles have more self-control than those who are alone and their self-control is increasing in the size of their social group; (ii) students' self-control is, however, a non-monotonic hump-shaped function of the average self-control of their friends.

Keywords: Peer effects; Self-control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 D71 D85 I21 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-soc and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Journal Article: Self-control and peer groups: An empirical analysis (2017)
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