Friendship Network in the Classroom: Parents Bias and Peer Effects

Fabio Landini, Natalia Montinari , Paolo Pin , Marco Piovesan

Abstract

We interview both parents and their children enrolled in six primary schools in the district of Treviso (Italy). We study the structural differences between the children network of friends reported by children and the one elicited asking their parents. We find that the parents’ network has a bias: parents expect peer effects on school achievement to be stronger than what they really are. Thus, parents of low-performing students report their children to be friends of high-performing students. Our numerical simulations indicate that when this bias is combined with a bias on how some children target friends, then there is a multiplier effect on the expected school achievement
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationCopenhagen
PublisherØkonomisk institut, Københavns Universitet
Number of pages41
Publication statusPublished - 2014
SeriesUniversity of Copenhagen. Institute of Economics. Discussion Papers (Online)
Number06
Volume2014
ISSN1601-2461

Keywords

  • Faculty of Social Sciences
  • social networks
  • primary school
  • friendships
  • parents' bias
  • homophily
  • peer effects
  • Bonacich centrality

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