From Ties to Gains? Evidence on Connectedness and Human Capital Acquisition

This paper uses micro-level data on social networks in middle and secondary schools to estimate effects of connectedness on education attainment outcomes. The analysis addresses concerns about unobserved neighborhood and school-level heterogeneity by using within-school variation between grade cohorts to identify effects of connectedness. Main findings include that being part of a more connected cohort within a given secondary or middle school is associated with significantly higher years of schooling attained and higher probability of having attended college, 7 years later