Absenteeism and Peer Interaction Effects: Evidence from an Italian Public Institute

Using microdata on a sample of about 350 workers, employed at an Italian public institute, we explain individual absence rates both considering variables that may be related to health conditions and to variables that may suggest shirking behaviour. Among these variables we especially focus our attention on the influence produced by the behaviour of randomly assigned peers. To handle reflection problems we use the proportion of females in the peer group as instrument of peer absence behaviour. From Two-Stage least square estimates it emerges that social and group interactions play an important role in shaping individual absence behaviour.