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Middle-achieving students are also my peers: The impact of peer effort on academic performance

Author

Listed:
  • Dong, Xiaoqi
  • Liang, Yinhe
  • Yu, Shuang
Abstract
This paper provides evidence of a new peer effect structure by showing that middle-achieving peers influence academic achievement. By exploiting the random assignment of students to classes within middle schools, we find that students perform better in the presence of hardworking middle-achieving peers. We examine the role of a better classroom environment, motivated learning attitudes, and responsible teachers as key mechanisms. Low- (vs. high-) achieving students are more strongly affected in terms of academic performance and learning attitude by middle-achieving peers’ positive spillovers. Therefore, teachers should give due consideration to middle-achieving students.

Suggested Citation

  • Dong, Xiaoqi & Liang, Yinhe & Yu, Shuang, 2023. "Middle-achieving students are also my peers: The impact of peer effort on academic performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:80:y:2023:i:c:s0927537122002007
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102310
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Middle-achieving peers; Hardworking; Student performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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