arXiv subjects

Zhongjian Lin

Publications and source records attributed to Zhongjian Lin.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Social Interactions Models with Latent Structures

This paper studies estimation and inference of heterogeneous social interactions featuring group fixed effects and slope heterogeneity under latent structure. Theoretically, in a binary choice model with social interactions we characterize the asymptotic bias of the slope coefficient due to the presence of high dimensional incidental parameters. Computationally, we invoke parametric bootstrap method to debias and establish asymptotic validity. Furthermore, tailored algorithms are employed to explore the latent structures and determine the number of clusters. Monte Carlo simulations confirm strong finite sample performance of our methods. In an application to students' risky behaviors, the algorithm detects two latent clusters and finds that peer effects are significant within one of the clusters, demonstrating the practical applicability in uncovering heterogeneous social interactions.

stat.ME↗

arXiv2024

Endogenous Treatment Models with Social Interactions: An Application to the Impact of Exercise on Self-Esteem

We address the estimation of endogenous treatment models with social interactions in both the treatment and outcome equations. We model the interactions between individuals in an internally consistent manner via a game theoretic approach based on discrete Bayesian games. This introduces a substantial computational burden in estimation which we address through a sequential version of the nested fixed point algorithm. We also provide some relevant treatment effects, and procedures for their estimation, which capture the impact on both the individual and the total sample. Our empirical application examines the impact of an individual's exercise frequency on her level of self-esteem. We find that an individual's exercise frequency is influenced by her expectation of her friends'. We also find that an individual's level of self-esteem is affected by her level of exercise and, at relatively lower levels of self-esteem, by the expectation of her friends' self-esteem.

econ.EM↗

arXiv2016

Estimation of social-influence-dependent peer pressures in a large network game

Research on peer effects in sociology has been focused for long on social influence power to investigate the social foundations for social interactions. This paper extends Xu(2011)'s large--network--based game model by allowing for social-influence-dependent peer effects. In a large network, we use the Katz--Bonacich centrality to measure individuals' social influences. To solve the computational burden when the data come from the equilibrium of a large network, we extend Aguirregabiria and Mira (2007)'s nested pseudo likelihood estimation (NPLE) approach to our large network game model. Using the Add Health dataset, we investigate peer effects on conducting dangerous behaviors of high school students. Our results show that peer effects are statistically significant and positive. Moreover, a student benefits more (statistically significant at the 5% level) from her conformity, or equivalently, pays more for her disobedience, in terms of peer pressures, if friends have higher social-influence status.

stat.ME↗