Like Father, Like Son: Social Network Externalities and Parent-Child Correlation in Behavior

B-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
Year: 2009
Volume: 1
Issue: 1
Pages: 124-50

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We build an overlapping generations model where an individual sees higher returns to adopting a behavior as many neighbors adopt the behavior. We show that overlap in the state of a parent and child's neighborhood can lead to correlation in parent-child behavior independent of any parent-child interaction. Increasing the sensitivity of individual decisions to the state of their social community leads to increased parent-child correlation and less efficient (more costly) behavior on average in the society. We show this model is distinguished from a direct parental influence model, in that it predicts increased generational effects, implying residual correlation between children and grandparents after including parental information. (JEL J12, J13, Z13)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejmic:v:1:y:2009:i:1:p:124-50
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25