Friendship Network in the Classroom: Parents Bias and Peer Effects

Arbeitspapier

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.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Paper ; No. 2014:19

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Network Formation and Analysis: Theory ; Analysis of Education ; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
• Subject: social networks ; primary school ; friendships ; parents' bias ; homophily ; peer effects ; Bonacich centrality

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Landini, Fabio ; Montinari, Natalia ; Pin, Paolo ; Piovesan, Marco
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Lund University, School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics
• (where): Lund
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/260116
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET