Peer Effects in Young Adults’ Marit al Decisions
Abstract:
Th
is paper studies peer group effects on marital decisions. We use data from
Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Ad
d Health). This database contains detailed information on adolescents’ high
school friends as well as their marital behavior later in life. We constru
ct a balanced panel for the years 1995-2002 using the calendar of all past
and current relationships of the respondents, which allows us to recover th
e marital status of each individual and of her friends at any given year. H
ence, we are able to analyze how the marital transitions of individuals dep
end on the marital status of their friends. We use panel data, instrumental
variables techniques, and exploit the timing of friendship formation to id
entify the effect of peers on marital decisions. Our results after controll
ing for various observable characteristics of individuals and their friends
show that peer effects in marital decisions are significant. Robustness ch
ecks using former and placebo friends support our results, and indicate tha
t actual peers do matter.