Peer Effects in Sexual Initiation: Separating Demand and Supply Mechanisms

Seth Richards-Shubik ()

PIER Working Paper Archive from Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract: Most work on social interactions studies a single, composite effect of interactions within a group. Yet in the case of sexual initiation, there are two distinct social mechanisms - peer-group norms and partner availability with separate effects and different potential interventions. Here I develop an equilibrium search and matching model for first sexual partners that specifies distinct roles for these two mechanisms as part of demand and supply. I estimate the model using a national sample of high school students, with data over time on individual virginity status. The results indicate that peer-group norms have a large effect on the timing of sexual initiation for both boys and girls. Changes in opposite-gender search behavior (i.e., partner availability) also have a large impact on initiation rates for boys, but not for girls. The existence of a composite effect of social interactions is also confirmed using a standard method: instrumental variables estimation of linear regressions.

Keywords: social interaction models; mechanisms; sexual activity; youth; structural estimation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 C33 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 63 pages
Date: 2012-01-17
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab, nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Peer effects in sexual initiation: Separating demand and supply mechanisms (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pen:papers:12-015

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