Adam Smith Institute blog:
Peer effects: they exist but they're not very big
16 February 2015
A paper newly published in the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics tests the size of these effects on achievement by looking at the random component of sorting that occurs when most British children transition from primary to secondary school at age 11. 'Peer Effects: Evidence from Secondary School Transition in England', by Stephen Gibbons and Shqiponja Telhaj, finds that although having brighter peers raises someone's grades a bit, the effect size is very small.
This article was published in the Adam Smith Institute blog on February 16, 2015
Link to article here
Related publications
'Peer Effects: Evidence from Secondary School Transition in England', by Stephen Gibbons and Shqiponja Telhaj, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, in progress
Details here
Peer Effects: Evidence from Secondary School Transition in England, by Stephen Gibbons and Shqiponja Telhaj, Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No.63, May 2006
Related links
Stephen Gibbons webpage
Shqiponja Telhaj webpage
Education and Skills webpage