Bullying Among Adolescents: The Role of Skills

19.02.2020 14:15 – 15:45

INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS AND ECONOMETRICS SEMINAR / ABSTRACT


This paper quantifies the medium-term effects of middle school bullying. To do so, we use an empirical framework in which social interactions depend upon latent skills and classroom characteristics. We find that the probability of being victimized is greater in classrooms with relatively high concentration of students that come from violent families. We also find that non-cognitive skills reduce the chances of being bullied during middle school. We estimate average treatment effects of being bullied at age 15 on several outcomes measured at age 18. We show it increases the probability of smoking as well as the likelihood of not being in good health, depressed, stressed and unsatisfied with life. It also reduces college enrollment and increases the dislike of school. We document that differences in non-cognitive and cognitive skill endowments palliate or exacerbate its consequences. Finally, we explore whether investing in non-cognitive skills could reduce the occurrence of bullying. Our findings indicate that the investment in skill development is key in any policy intended to fight this aggressive behavior.

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