Do peer groups matter?: Peer group versus schooling effects on academic attainment

This paper estimates an educational production function. Educational attainment is a function of peer group, parental input and schooling. Conventional measures of school quality are not good predictors for academic attainment, once we control for peer group effects; parental qualities also have str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economica (London) 2003-02, Vol.70 (277), p.31-53
Main Authors: Robertson, Donald, Symons, James
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Bildungsertrag
Class size
Economic models
Economic theory
Economics
Education
Effects
Empirical research
Estimation
Instrumental variables
Instrumental variables estimation
Labour market
Mathematical tables
Mathematics education
Methodology
Mothers
Parents
Peer groups
Peers
Production functions
Schooling
Schule
Socioeconomic status
Studies
Vereinigtes Königreich
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Summary:This paper estimates an educational production function. Educational attainment is a function of peer group, parental input and schooling. Conventional measures of school quality are not good predictors for academic attainment, once we control for peer group effects; parental qualities also have strong effects on academic attainment. This academic attainment is a then a key determinant of subsequent labour market success, as measured by earnings. The main methodological innovation in this paper is the nomination of a set of instruments, very broad regions of birth, which, as a whole, pass close scrutiny for validity and permit unbiased estimation of the production function.
ISSN:0013-0427
1468-0335
1468-0335
DOI:10.1111/1468-0335.d01-46