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Do Peers Affect Student Achievement in China's Secondary Schools?

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Author Info
Weili Ding
Steven F. Lehrer

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Abstract

Peer effects have figured prominently in debates on school vouchers, desegregation, ability tracking and anti-poverty programs. Compelling evidence of their existence remains scarce for plaguing endogeneity issues such as selection bias and the reflection problem. This paper firmly establishes a link between peer performance and student achievement, using a unique dataset from China. We find strong evidence that peer effects exist and operate in a positive and nonlinear manner; reducing the variation of peer performance increases achievement; and our semi-parametric estimates clarify the tradeoffs facing policymakers in exploiting positive peers effects to increase future achievement.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 12305.

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Date of creation: Jun 2006
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12305

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Social Norms and Social Capital; Social Networks Economic Anthropology
P36 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health, Education, Welfare, and Poverty

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Kremer, Michael, 1993. "The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 108(3), pages 551-75, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Michael Kremer & Dan M. Levy, 2003. "Peer Effects and Alcohol Use Among College Students," NBER Working Papers 9876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Rivkin, Steven G., 2001. "Tiebout sorting, aggregation and the estimation of peer group effects," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 201-209, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Caroline Hoxby, 2000. "Peer Effects in the Classroom: Learning from Gender and Race Variation," NBER Working Papers 7867, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Bruce Sacerdote, 2001. "Peer Effects With Random Assignment: Results For Dartmouth Roommates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(2), pages 681-704, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1997. "Using Maimonides' Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size on Student Achievement," NBER Working Papers 5888, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Glewwe, Paul, 1997. "Estimating the impact of peer group effects on socioeconomic outcomes: Does the distribution of peer group characteristics matter?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 39-43, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Charles F. Manski, 2000. "Economic Analysis of Social Interactions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 115-136, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Alejandro Gaviria & Steven Raphael, 2001. "School-Based Peer Effects And Juvenile Behavior," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 257-268, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Thomas J. Nechyba, 2000. "Mobility, Targeting, and Private-School Vouchers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 130-146, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Hanushek, Eric A, 1995. "Interpreting Recent Research on Schooling in Developing Countries," World Bank Research Observer, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 227-46, August.
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  12. Brock, William A & Durlauf, Steven N, 2001. "Discrete Choice with Social Interactions," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 68(2), pages 235-60, April.
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  16. Hanushek, Eric A. & Kain, John F. & Rivkin, Steven G., 2004. "Disruption versus Tiebout improvement: the costs and benefits of switching schools," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 1721-1746, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Epple, Dennis & Romano, Richard E, 1998. "Competition between Private and Public Schools, Vouchers, and Peer-Group Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 33-62, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Benabou, Roland, 1996. "Heterogeneity, Stratification, and Growth: Macroeconomic Implications of Community Structure and School Finance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 584-609, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Matthew Neidell & Jane Waldfogel, 2008. "Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Peer Effects in Early Education," NBER Working Papers 14277, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Peter Arcidiacono & Sean Nicholson, 2002. "Peer Effects in Medical School," NBER Working Papers 9025, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Changhui Kang, 2007. "Does Money Matter? The Effect of Private Educational Expenditures on Academic Performance," Departmental Working Papers wp0704, National University of Singapore, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Stephen L. Ross, 2009. "Social Interactions within Cities: Neighborhood Environments and Peer Relationships," Working papers 2009-31, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Zhao Chen & Shiqing Jiang & Ming Lu & Hiroshi Sato, 2008. "How do Heterogeneous Social Interactions affect the Peer Effect in Rural–Urban Migration?:Empirical Evidence from China," LICOS Discussion Papers 22408, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  6. Zhao Chen & Shiqing Jiang & Ming Lu & Hiroshi Sato, 2008. "How Do Heterogeneous Social Interactions Affect the Peer Effect in Rural-Urban Migration?: Empirical Evidence from China," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd08-008, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. [Downloadable!]
  7. Goux, Dominique & Maurin, Eric, 2006. "Close Neighbours Matter: Neighbourhood Effects on Early Performance at School," CEPR Discussion Papers 5682, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo, 2009. "Tracking can be more equitable than mixing: peer effects and college attendance," Working Papers 09.04, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo, 2008. "On the optimal allocation of students when peer effect works: Tracking vs Mixing," Discussion Papers in Economics 08/18, Department of Economics, University of Leicester. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Duflo, Esther & Dupas, Pascaline & Kremer, Michael, 2008. "Peer Effects and the Impact of Tracking: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Kenya," CEPR Discussion Papers 7043, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & Michael Kremer, 2008. "Peer Effects, Teacher Incentives, and the Impact of Tracking: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Kenya," NBER Working Papers 14475, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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