IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/21857.html

Small-Group Interactions Reduce Homophily by Muting Directed Search

Author

Listed:
  • Galeotti, Andrea
  • Qamar, Reem
  • Szeidl, Adam

Abstract

We study how the quasi-random assignment of MBA students to different peer groups shapes their homophily by gender and ethnicity. We show that students form substantially more cross-trait friendships within small groups than in the broader MBA cohort. We then decompose homophily into the contributions of peer-group composition, preferences, and directed search. Directed search, in which students approach peers with particular characteristics, can substantially amplify even weak preferences for same-trait friends. Survey evidence indicates only weak same-trait preferences but strong same-trait bias in approach decisions. Consistent with this pattern, structural estimates imply that directed search accounts for much of overall homophily. This result helps explain why homophily is lower in small groups, where directed search is muted, and suggests that homophily can be reduced through peer-group design.

Suggested Citation

  • Galeotti, Andrea & Qamar, Reem & Szeidl, Adam, 2026. "Small-Group Interactions Reduce Homophily by Muting Directed Search," CEPR Discussion Papers 21857, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21857
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP21857
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21857. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CEPR (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://cepr.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.