Networks and Workouts: Treatment Size and Status Specific Peer Effects in a Randomized Field Experiment / Philip S. Babcock, John L. Hartman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Babcock, Philip S.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Hartman, John L.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w16581.

NBER working paper series no. w16581

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Networks and Workouts

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2010.

Summary:

This paper estimates treatment size and status specific peer effects that are not detected by widely-used approaches to the estimation of spillovers. In a field experiment using university students, we find that subjects who have been incentivized to exercise increase gym usage more if they have more treated friends. However, control subjects are not influenced by their peers. Findings demonstrate that fraction treated has a large influence on outcomes in this environment, and spillovers vary greatly by treatment status. Results highlight subtle effects of randomization and document a low-cost method for improving the generalizability of controlled interventions in networked environments.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2010.