Abstract
We suggest a new method for detecting patterns of social clustering based on choice data. The method compares similar subjects within and between cohorts and thereby allows us to isolate the effect of peer influence from that of exogenous factors. Using this method on Norwegian register data, we address the question of whether students tend to cluster socially based on similar background. We find that common background correlates with making the same choices of curricular tracks, and that both exogenous preferences and peer influence matter. This applies to immigrant students from the same country, and, to some extent, to descendants of immigrants, but not to students from culturally similar countries. There are also small effects related to parents' education and income.
Highlights
With an increasing availability of large-scale data documenting people’s choices and behaviour, observations of people’s actual choices have become more accessible in a variety of situations
We develop a three-step analysis to distinguish between the two mechanisms of exogenous educational preferences and choices related to endogenous preference formation that results from social interaction in class
We suggest a new method for identifying endogenous preference formation based on specific characteristics
Summary
With an increasing availability of large-scale data documenting people’s choices and behaviour, observations of people’s actual choices have become more accessible in a variety of situations. What these data typically do not measure directly, is information on the mechanisms behind these choices, such as the degree to which people interact and influence each other. The purpose is two-fold: to illustrate that it is possible to trace out meaningful patterns of interaction in static data such as administrative registers, by suggesting a specific method, and to use that method to detect such patterns and address a substantial sociological issue. We will start by describing this issue and how it can be addressed using the presented method, before moving on to the details of the method
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