This paper examines the effect of peers on an individual's likelihood of retirement using an administrative dataset of all retirement-eligible Los Angeles teachers for the years 1998-2001. We use two large unexpected pension reforms that differentially impacted financial incentives within and...

We develop a stochastic model of electoral competition in order to study the economic and political determinants of trade policy. We model a small open economy with two tradable goods, each of which is produced using a sector specific factor (e.g., land and capital) and another factor that is...

In this paper we relate a particular form of social interactions, i.e. peer group influences, to the structure of the network from which they originate. Using an extremely detailed dataset on friendship relationships between students from U.S. school, we find evidence suggesting that the...

Does the peer effect vary with the field of study? Using data from a middle-sized public university located in Southern Italy and exploiting the random assignment of first year students to college accommodation, we find that roommate peer effects for freshmen enrolled in the Hard Sciences are...

We develop an endogenous network formation model, in which agents form connections to acquire information. Our model features complementarity in actions as agents care not only about accuracy of their decision making but also about the actions of other agents. In equilibrium, the information...

This paper presents a research framework for studying peer effects in the diffusion of innovations. The underlying mechanisms of peer effects are generally under-discussed in existing studies. By investigating diffusion processes in the real world and reviewing previous studies, we find that...

Strategic communication occurs in committee decision environments. Theory suggests that small differences in monetary incentives between committee members explains why deception may be strategically optimal (Crawford and Sobel, 1982; Galeotti et al, 2012). In natural environments, however, social...