Do Older Peers Affect Adolescent Behavior?

Laura M. Argys, University of Colorado at Denver
Daniel I. Rees, University of Colorado at Denver

Parents, educators, and policymakers expend a great deal of effort trying to provide an environment for adolescents that increases the likelihood of success in school and work, and decreases the likelihood of substance use, criminal behaviors and early parenthood. Factors such as family background and income have been shown to be important determinants of child attainments but increasing attention is being paid to the role played by peers (schools, neighborhoods, friends and roommates) in the determination of adolescent successes and failures. Examinations of peer effects face potential endogeneity problems: neighborhoods and schools are selected by parents; peers and roommates are typically self-selected. In our paper, we take a different approach to measuring peer-effects exogenously. Using data from nationally representative samples of teens, we estimate whether adolescent risk-taking is more prevalent, or occurs at an earlier age, for those who would have more contact with older peers: children with older siblings.