Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/229998 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods No. 2020/12
Publisher: 
Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper studies how peers in school affect students' mental health. Guided by a theoretical framework, we find that increasing students' relative ranks in their cohorts by one standard deviation improves their mental health by 6% of a standard deviation conditional on own ability. These effects are more pronounced for low-ability students, persistent for at least 14 years, and carry over to economic long-run outcomes. Moreover, we document a strong asymmetry: Students who receive negative rather than positive shocks react more strongly. Our findings therefore provide evidence on how the school environment can have long-lasting consequences for the well-being of individuals.
Subjects: 
Peer Effects
Mental Health
Depression
Rank Effects
JEL: 
I21
I14
J24
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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