Work

The Social Multiplier

Year: 2002

Type: report

Abstract: In many cases, aggregate data is used to make inferences about individual level behavior.If there are social interactions in which one person's actions influence his neighbor's incentives or information, then these inferences are inappropriate.The presence of positive social interactions, or strategic complementarities, implies the existence of a social multiplier where aggregate relationships will overstate individual elasticities.We present a brief model and then estimate the size of the social multiplier in three areas: the impact of education on wages, the impact of demographics on crime and group membership among Dartmouth roommates.In all three areas there appears to be a significant social multiplier.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w9153

Authors: Edward Glaeser, Bruce Sacerdote, Jose Scheinkman

Institutions: Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Rockefeller University, National Bureau of Economic Research, Princeton University

Language: English

Topic: Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2891949673

Cites: 17

Cited by: 40

Related to: 10