Student Performance, Peer Effects, and Friend Networks: Evidence from a Randomized Peer Intervention

Jia Wu, Junsen Zhang and Chunchao Wang

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2023, vol. 15, issue 1, 510-42

Abstract: We estimate the effects of an educational peer intervention in which previously high- and low-achieving students are randomly paired as deskmates in elementary schools in China. Our treatment boosts the mathematics scores of the low-achieving students. Moreover, the treatment enhances the extraversion and agreeableness of high- and low-achieving students, thereby providing evidence that peers can influence personality traits. The positive treatment effects can be attributed to the deskmate-level peer effects. We document friend network structure changes and present additional evidence on how friendship ties help us better understand the mechanisms behind peer effects.

JEL-codes: I21 I26 J24 O15 P36 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200563

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