Let’s Stick Together: Peer Effects in Secondary School Choice and Variations by Student Socio-Economic Background

Abstract

Despite the vast body of research focusing on peer effects in education, the role of the immediate peer environment in school choice has been understudied to date. We study the extent to which students from the same primary school cluster in the same secondary school, and how this effect varies by a student’s socio-economic background. We use register data from the Netherlands, covering six cohorts of students (2013–2019), that enable us to account for selection into primary schools and other endogeneity issues when identifying peer effects. The results indicate that students are more likely to choose a secondary school when students from their primary school cohort also choose this school, even after accounting for school popularity trends. We find evidence that students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to cluster in the same secondary school as their primary school peers, yet these differences are small.

Industry and Regional Peer Effects in Corporate Digital Transformation: The Moderating Effects of TMT Characteristics

“…Peer effect is a phenomenon in which the decision-making behavior of an organization or individual changes in response to changes in peers' decision-making behaviors in a reference group, thus exhibiting a convergence in decision-making behavior [18]. In early literature research, peer effect has been widely used in sociology [19,20] and education [21,22]. For example, Foell, Pitzer, and Nebbitt et al (2021) have found that exposure to criminal peers and community violence has a negative impact on the mental health of adolescents [19].…”

“…Wu, Cheng, and Yang (2022) have found that peer effect increased the participation rate of Chinese farmers with men and larger-scale farmers having a greater impact on other peers [20]. Zwier, Geven, and Bol et al (2022) have found that under the influence of peer effect, primary school students are more likely to choose to enter the same secondary school as their peers [21]. Coveney and Oosterveen (2021) have shown, through a study of college freshmen, that peer-to-peer social activities could improve college students' grades and personal abilities [22].…”

Peer Effects on Educational Aspirations

“…Most previous studies have considered the highest desired or anticipated level of education (e.g., Kretschmer and Roth, 2021;Lorenz et al, 2020). Among those studies that examined peer effects regarding the next decision point in the educational system (e.g., Burgess and Umaña-Aponte, 2011;Mora and Oreopoulos, 2011;Kiuru et al, 2007;Rosenqvist, 2018;Roth, 2017;Sewell and Hauser, 1972;Smith, 2023;Zimmermann, 2018), studies that focused on aspirations before students entered secondary education were mainly concerned with peers in the same school cohort or class (e.g., Jonsson and Mood, 2008;Rosenqvist, 2018;Smith, 2023;Zwier et al, 2023). For Hungary, Keller (2023) did not find evidence for friends' and desk mates' effect on adolescents' effect on secondary school track choice.…”

“…Therefore, unlike previous studies in this field, this study focuses on the secondary school track preferences of primary school students. Peer effects on the educational preferences of primary school students have mainly focused on the school cohort and not friends (e.g., Jonsson and Mood, 2008;Rosenqvist, 2018;Smith, 2023;Zwier et al, 2023).…”

“…As a result, the influence of peers on students' future educational preferences may be limited in secondary school (Buchmann and Dalton, 2002;Raabe and Wölfer, 2019). Therefore, the present analysis focuses on friends' and classmates' effects on the secondary school track preferences of primary school students which have not been widely examined (exceptions exist for the effect of the school cohort, e.g., Jonsson and Mood, 2008;Rosenqvist 2018;Smith, 2023;Zwier et al, 2023).…”