Doctoral Dissertation Research: Do Social Networks Influence Households' Human Capital Investments?

建议编号：0617793机构：加州大学MD College Park国家科学基金会项目：经济学首席研究员：伦纳德，肯尼斯标题：博士论文研究：社会网络是否影响家庭的人力资本投资？摘要现在人们普遍认为，社交网络是影响许多经济决策和结果的重要机构。然而，由于内生问题，分析社会网络的因果效应是困难的。这项博士论文研究将使用来自乌干达的一个独特的数据集来调查社交网络是否影响家庭对人力资本的投资。乌干达叛乱对社交网络的影响因家庭流离失所的方式而异。虽然一些家庭保留了大部分原有的网络，但另一些家庭只保留了很少的旧网络，进入了与来自不同村庄的人一起的营地。由于置换条件不是自愿的，这种营地设置为分析社会网络质量对家庭人力资本投资的影响提供了一个自然的实验。这项研究将收集关于家庭流离失所经历变化的数据，使用关于营地历史和政府流离失所做法的家庭访谈和二手资料来源，以在分析社会网络对人力资本投资行为的影响时利用社会网络质量。数据收集与世界粮食计划署即将开始的学校供餐计划的随机试验不谋而合。这一计划代表着家庭收入的外源性冲击，家庭可能会利用这一点投资于儿童营养。比较学龄前儿童治疗前和治疗后的人体测量z分数，可以确定哪些家庭进行了这种人力资本投资。社会网络质量变化的数据和营养实验的数据使PI能够利用两个外生差异来源来识别社会网络对人力资本投资行为的影响。确定社会网络和经济决策之间的因果关系是困难的，因为家庭的社会网络的质量通常是家庭行为的内生因素。此外，确定家庭对人力资本的投资，而不仅仅是营养结果(投资、收入和遗传等因素的作用)的机会也同样困难。作为第一批研究社会网络如何影响营养投资行为而不仅仅是网络对儿童营养结果影响的人之一，这项博士论文研究将对经济科学做出重大贡献。这项研究中开发的方法可用于分析许多家庭流离失所的情况下的家庭投资，例如卡特里娜飓风。这项研究的结果对旨在保护社会网络以遏制流离失所对家庭福利的长期负面影响的政府流离失所做法也有意义。该项目为社交网络对投资行为的贡献提供了证据。这项研究的结果总体上具有发展政策含义。

Proposal No: 0617793 Institution: U of MD College Park NSF Program: ECONOMICS Principal Investigator: Leonard, Kenneth Title: Doctoral Dissertation Research: Do Social Networks Influence Households' Human Capital Investments? ABSTRACT It is now generally accepted that social networks are import institutions that influence many economic decisions and outcomes. However, analyzing the causal effects of social networks is difficult because of endogenously problems. This doctoral dissertation research will use a unique data set from Uganda to investigate whether social networks impact household investment in human capital. The effect of the Ugandan insurgency on social networks varies with the ways that households were displaced. While some households maintained much of their original networks, others moved with very little of their former network into camps with people from different villages. Since the conditions of displacement was not by choice, this camp setting provides a natural experiment for analyzing the effect of social network quality on household human capital investment. This research will collect data on the variations in household displacement experiences, using household interviews and secondary sources regarding the history of camps and government displacement practices, to instrument for social network quality in analyzing the impact of social networks on human capital investment behavior. The data collection coincides with a randomized trial of a World Food Programme school-based feeding program that begins soon. This program represents an exogenous shock to household income, which households may use to invest in children's nutrition. Comparing preschooler's pre- and post-treatment anthropometric z-scores identifies which households make this human capital investment. The data on variations in social network quality and the data from the nutrition experiment allow the PI to exploit two sources of exogenous variation to identify the effects of social networks on human-capital-investment behavior. Identifying a causal relationship between social networks and economic decision making is difficult because the quality of a household's social network is typically endogenous to household behavior. Moreover, the opportunity to identify household investment in human capital, rather than simply nutritional outcomes (a function of investment, income and genetics, among other things), is equally difficult. Being one of the first to examine how social networks impact nutritional investment behavior rather than simply networks' impact child on nutritional outcomes, this doctoral dissertation research will contribute significantly to economic science. The methodology developed in this research can be applied to the analysis of household investments in many settings where large numbers of families are displaced, as happened with hurricane Katrina. The result of this research also has implication for government displacement practices that aim to preserve social networks to curb long-term negative effects of displacement on household welfare. This project provides evidence of the contributions of social networks to investment behavior. The result of this research has development policy implications generally.