arXiv subjects

Vincent Boucher

Publications and source records attributed to Vincent Boucher.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Estimating Peer Effects Using Partial Network Data

We study the estimation of peer effects through social networks when researchers do not observe the entire network structure. Special cases include sampled networks, censored networks, and misclassified links. We assume that researchers can obtain a consistent estimator of the distribution of the network. We show that this assumption is sufficient for estimating peer effects using a linear-in-means model. We provide an empirical application to the study of peer effects on students' academic achievement using the widely used Add Health database, and show that network data errors have a large downward bias on estimated peer effects.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2018

Optical Follow-up of Planck Cluster Candidates with Small Instruments

We report on the search for optical counterparts of Planck Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) cluster candidates using a 0.6 meter non-professional telescope. Among the observed sources, an unconfirmed candidate, PSZ2 G156.24+22.32, is found to be associated with a region of more than 100 galaxies within a 3 arcminutes radius around the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich maximum signal coordinates. Using 14 hours of cumulated exposure over the Sloan color filters g', r', i', and, z', we estimate the photometric redshift of these galaxies at zphot=0.29 +- 0.08. Using the red-sequence galaxy method gives a photometric redshift of 0.30 +0.03 -0.05. Combined with the Planck SZ proxy mass function, this would favor a cluster of 4.4 x 10^{14} solar masses. This result suggests that a dedicated pool of observatories equipped with such instruments could collectively contribute to optical follow-up programs of massive cluster candidates at moderate redshifts.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2005

A cosmological test for general relativity

The effect of spatial variations of the Newton constant on the cosmic microwave background is studied. Constraints on the strong equivalence principle violation at the recombination time are then obtained with the help of WMAP data and of the standard theory of big-bang nucleosynthesis.

astro-ph↗