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dc.contributor.authorWANG, Zheng
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-26T09:49:11Z
dc.date.available2023-05-26T09:49:11Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.identifier.citationFlorence : European University Institute, 2023en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/75603
dc.descriptionDefence date: 23 May 2023en
dc.descriptionExamining Board: Prof. Andrea Ichino, (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Sule Alan, (European University Institute, co-supervisor); Prof. Eric Auerbach, (Northwestern University); Prof. Yann Bramoullé, (Aix-Marseille School of Economics)en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis contributes to the understanding of peer effects, both methodologically and empirically. The endogeneity of network formation has been a major obstacle to the study of peer influence. The first and the second chapters of the thesis propose a causal identification solution in the potential outcome framework. Combining results from multiple causal inference and statistical network analysis, I show that confounding can be addressed by inferring propensity scores of network link formation from the adjacency matrix. This identification strategy imposes minimum restrictions on the data-generating process and, unlike existing econometric solutions, does not rely on any parametric modelling. As an application, I estimate the effect of high school friendships on bachelor’s degree attainment. While previous literature finds that exposure to more high-achieving boys makes girls less likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree, I show that if the girls consider the boys as friends, their interactions induce a positive impact instead. Since friendship endogeneity has been addressed, the estimated effect is causal. The third chapter looks at the peer effects generated by group competition. It focuses on the gender differences in preference for competition in a setting where the competition does not involve face-to-face confrontation, and effort is the only determinant of the final ranking. I first develop a model of group competition with heterogeneous preference for ranking. With empirical implications generated from the theoretical model, I then test the gender difference in the preference parameter using web-scraped data from Duolingo, a free online foreign-language learning platform with over 300 million users. Every week, language learners on Duolingo are randomly allocated to groups of 30 people to compete on the number of language lessons completed during that week. The empirical results suggest in this setting, females have a stronger preference for ranking than males.en
dc.description.tableofcontents1. The linking effect: causal identification and estimation of the effect of peer relationship -- 2. Extensions, theoretical proofs, and additional results on the linking effect -- 3. Gender difference in preference for competition -- 4. Referencesen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherEuropean University Instituteen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesEUIen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesECOen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPhD Thesisen
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessen
dc.subject.lcshSocial networks -- Economic aspectsen
dc.subject.lcshEconometricsen
dc.subject.lcshNetwork analysis (Planning)en
dc.subject.lcshEconomics -- Sociological aspectsen
dc.titleEssays in the economics and econometrics of networks and peer effecten
dc.typeThesisen
dc.identifier.doi10.2870/479343en
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