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  4. July 2015
  5. The Girl Next Door: The Effect of Opposite Gender Friends on High School Achievement

American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics

ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)

The Girl Next Door: The Effect of Opposite Gender Friends on High School Achievement

  • Andrew J. Hill
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 7, no. 3, July 2015
(pp. 147–77)
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Abstract

This paper finds that a student's share of opposite gender school friends negatively affects high school GPA. It uses the gender composition of schoolmates in an individual's neighborhood as an instrument for the gender composition of an individual's self-reported friendship network. The effect occurs across all subjects for students older than 16, but only in mathematics and science for younger students. Additional results indicate effects may operate inside the classroom through difficulties getting along with the teacher and paying attention, and outside the classroom through romantic relationships. (JEL I21, J13, J16)

Citation

Hill, Andrew J. 2015. "The Girl Next Door: The Effect of Opposite Gender Friends on High School Achievement." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7 (3): 147–77. DOI: 10.1257/app.20140030

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
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