Peers' Parents and Educational Attainment: The Exposure Effect

Bobby Chung
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Bobby Chung: Clemson University

No 2018-086, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: This paper discusses the `exposure effect' in child development by investigating the extent to which the educational background of peers' parents is related to a child's future college attainment. I analyze the friendship networks of a nationally representative sample of high-school students in the US. To address endogenous friendship formation, I adopt two distinct strategies: a selection correction approach and exploiting within-school cohort variations in parental compositions. I find that peers' academic performance and other observed characteristics, with a rich set of control variables and network fixed effect, do not fully explain the spillover from peers' parents of the same gender. Effects are more prominent for students with a disadvantaged background (those with less-educated parents, single-mother households, and less caring fathers, e.g.). Suggestive evidence is provided to support the role model effect as a plausible channel.

Keywords: peers' parents; social interactions; college attainment; childhood exposure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C11 D91 I24 J10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-net and nep-ure
Note: ECI
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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Chung_ ... ional-attainment.pdf First version, November 3, 2018 (application/pdf)
http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Chung_ ... tainment_v2_2020.pdf This version, March 13, 2020 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hka:wpaper:2018-086

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