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School ties: An analysis of homophily in an adolescent friendship network

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  • Simon Burgess
  • Eleanor Sanderson
  • Marcela Umana-Aponte

Abstract

Homophily is the tendency to establish relationships among people who share similar characteristics or attributes. This study presents evidence of homophilic behaviour for an adolescent friendship network of 6,961 links in the West of England. We control for unobserved characteristics by estimating school and individual fixed effects and present evidence on the role of length and closeness of friendships on the degree of homophily. We also exploit the dynamics of the friendship by comparing similarities among existing and future friends. Results indicate that academic achievement, personality, educational aspirations, bad behaviour and mother’s education are essential in the friendship formation process. However, income and parents’ occupational class proved to be insignificant. We also show that the degree of homophily among friends selected from a random process is much lower than that of the observed friendships.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Burgess & Eleanor Sanderson & Marcela Umana-Aponte, 2011. "School ties: An analysis of homophily in an adolescent friendship network," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 11/267, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:11/267
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    File URL: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/papers/2011/wp267.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Claire L. Adida & David D. Laitin & Marie-Anne Valfort, 2015. "Religious Homophily In A Secular Country: Evidence From A Voting Game In France," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(2), pages 1187-1206, April.
    2. Burgess, Simon, 2016. "Human Capital and Education: The State of the Art in the Economics of Education," IZA Discussion Papers 9885, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Ayako Morita & Yoshimitsu Takahashi & Takeo Fujiwara, 2022. "Investigation of Age-Associated Cognitive Functional Homophily in Community-Dwelling Older Adults’ Confidant Social Networks Using Exponential Random Graph Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-9, April.
    4. K. Kułakowski & M. Stojkow & D. Żuchowska-Skiba & P. Gawroński, 2018. "Separate or perish — the coevolving voter model," International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 29(07), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Simon Burgess & Marcela Umaña-Aponte, 2011. "Raising your sights: the impact of friendship networks on educational aspirations," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 11/271, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    6. Meldrum, Ryan Charles & Young, Jacob T.N. & Kavish, Nicholas & Boutwell, Brian B., 2019. "Could peers influence intelligence during adolescence? An exploratory study," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 28-34.
    7. Rong Hai, 2022. "The Causal Effects of Youth Cigarette Addiction and Education," Working Papers wp2022-01, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    8. Boutwell, Brian B. & Meldrum, Ryan C. & Petkovsek, Melissa A., 2017. "General intelligence in friendship selection: A study of preadolescent best friend dyads," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 30-35.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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