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Do People Know Who Knows? Evidence from Advice Networks

Author

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  • Diego Marino-Fages

    (University of Durham)

Abstract

Do people seek advice from objectively more knowledgeable peers? I study this question using network data from a survey experiment (N = 1,162), linked to university administrative records and a public graduation registry. Respondents named advice contacts and hangout contacts, allowing me to compare advice-seeking ties with ordinary social ties in the same en vironment. Respondents with higher financial and economic literacy receive disproportionately more advice nominations than hangout nominations. A similar advice-hangout pattern appears for graduation status among registry-matched contacts. Within the same respondent’s network, advice contacts are also more literate and more likely to have graduated than hangout contacts. The advice-hangout literacy difference is largest among lower-literacy respondents. The results suggest that advice networks reveal expertise recognition beyond ordinary social proximity.

Suggested Citation

  • Diego Marino-Fages, 2026. "Do People Know Who Knows? Evidence from Advice Networks," Department of Economics Working Papers 2026_08, Durham University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:dur:durham:2026_08
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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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