TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Lalive, Rafael
AU  - Cattaneo, Maria Alejandra
        TI  - Social Interactions and Schooling Decisions
        PY  - 2006/Aug/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 2250
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp2250
        AB  - The aim of this paper is to study whether schooling choices are affected by social interactions. Such social interactions may be important because children enjoy spending time with other children or parents learn from other parents about the ability of their children. Identification is based on a randomized intervention that grants a cash subsidy encouraging school attendance among a sub-group of eligible children within small rural villages in Mexico. Results indicate that (i) the eligible children tend to attend school more frequently, (ii) but also the ineligible children acquire more schooling when the subsidy is introduced in their local village, (iii) social interactions are economically important, and (iv) they may arise due to changes in parents’ perception of their children’s ability.
        KW  - schooling
KW  - peer effects
KW  - field experiment
KW  - PROGRESA
        ER  -