Identifying Marginal Returns to Treatment Through Social Networks
Speaker: Professor Firmin Doko Tchatoka
Affiliation: University of Adelaide
Location: Room S402, Social Sciences Building (#24), UQ St Lucia Campus
Abstract
We propose an econometric framework that accounts for the effects of both observed and unobserved characteristics of social networks on individuals' decision to undergo treatment in counterfactual models based on potential outcomes. We show that network peer effects provide exogenous variation to identify the marginal treatment effect (MTE) and the marginal policy-relevant treatment effect (MPRTE). Monte Carlo experiments demonstrate that ignoring the influence of social interactions on an individual's decision in counterfactual analysis can lead to misspecification, substantially biasing both the MTE and MPRTE estimates. We apply the proposed methodology to the college attainment model in the US, using Add-Health data that contain high school friendship networks. The results indicate that not controlling for high school friendship network peer effects misidentifies the marginal return to attending college, as well as the marginal effect of policies aimed at improving college attendance.
About the presenters meeting
If you would like to meet with Prof Tchatoka, contact: Dr Christiern Rose.
About School Seminar Series
The School of Economics General Seminar Series is held on Fridays. These are in-person and presented by a range of guest researchers from around Australia and internationally.