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Friendship Networks and Political Opinions

Author

Listed:
  • Algan, Yann
  • Dalvit, Nicolo
  • Do, Quoc-Anh
  • Le Chapelain, Alexis
  • Zenou, Yves

Abstract

We examine how social interactions and friendships shape students' political opinions in a natural experiment at Sciences Po, a leading French university specializing in social and political sciences. The quasi-random assignment of students into short-term integration groups before their academic curriculum reduces political opinion gaps and fosters friendship formation. Using same-group membership as an instrumental variable for friendship, we find that after 6 months friendship reduces opinion differences by 50% of the mean opinion gap. Our evidence supports a homophily-enforced mechanism: friendships form among initially politically similar students, leading them to join political associations together, reinforcing their similarity. However, friendship does not significantly influence politically dissimilar pairs. Instead, it reduces opinion divergence without enforcing ideological convergence.

Suggested Citation

  • Algan, Yann & Dalvit, Nicolo & Do, Quoc-Anh & Le Chapelain, Alexis & Zenou, Yves, 2025. "Friendship Networks and Political Opinions," CEPR Discussion Papers 20075, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20075
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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