Peer Effects and Multiple Equilibria in the Risky Behavior of Friends

David Card and Laura Giuliano

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2013, vol. 95, issue 4, 1130-1149

Abstract: We study social interactions in the initiation of sex and other risky behaviors by best friend pairs in the Add Health panel. Focusing on friends with minimal experience at the baseline interview, we estimate bivariate ordered-choice models that include both peer effects and unobserved heterogeneity. We find significant peer effects in sexual initiation: the likelihood of initiating intercourse within a year increases by almost 5 percentage points (on an 11% base rate) if one's friend also initiates intercourse. Similar effects are present for smoking, marijuana use, and truancy. We find larger effects for females and important asymmetries in nonreciprocated friendships. © 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Keywords: peer effeccts; sexual initiation; risky behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C35 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (109)

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Working Paper: Peer Effects and Multiple Equilibria in the Risky Behavior of Friends (2011)
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