Self-control and peer groups: An empirical analysis

Marco Battaglini, Carlos Díaz and Eleonora Patacchini

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2017, vol. 134, issue C, 240-254

Abstract: We exploit the exogenous variation in peer groups generated by high school to college transitions to study the theoretical predictions of Battaglini et al.’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 level of self-control 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: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Self-Control and Peer Groups: An Empirical Analysis (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:134:y:2017:i:c:p:240-254

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.12.018

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