Peer Effects in Adolescent Cannabis Use: It's the Friends, Stupid

John Moriarty, Duncan McVicar and Kathryn Higgins
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John Moriarty: Institute of Child Care Research, Queen's University Belfast
Kathryn Higgins: School of Sociology, Social Policy, and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: This paper examines peer effects in adolescent cannabis use from several different reference groups, exploiting survey data that have many desirable properties and have not previously been used for this purpose. Treating the school grade as the reference group, and using both neighbourhood fixed effects and IV for identification, we find evidence of large, positive, and statistically significant peer effects. Treating nominated friends as the reference group, and using both school fixed effects and IV for identification, we again find evidence of large, positive, and generally statistically significant peer effects. Our preferred IV approach exploits information about friends of friends – ‘friends once removed’, who are not themselves friends – to instrument for friends’ cannabis use. Finally, we examine whether the cannabis use of schoolmates who are not nominated as friends – ‘non-friends’ – influences own cannabis use. Once again using neighbourhood fixed effects and IV for identification, the evidence suggests zero impact. In our data, schoolmates who are not also friends have no influence on adolescent cannabis use.

Keywords: Peer effects; reference groups; cannabis; adolescents; friends (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I00 J00 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2012-11
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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