arXiv 6 Feb 2026 · Econometrics
arXiv:2602.06885 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text
Homophily based on observables is widespread in networks. Therefore, homophily based on unobservables (fixed effects) is also likely to be an important determinant of the interaction outcomes. Failing to properly account for latent homophily (and other complex forms of unobserved heterogeneity) can result in inconsistent estimators and misleading policy implications. To address this concern, we consider a network model with nonparametric unobserved heterogeneity, leaving the role of the fixed effects unspecified. We argue that the interaction outcomes can be used to identify agents with the same values of the fixed effects. The variation in the observed characteristics of such agents allows us to identify the effects of the covariates, while controlling for the fixed effects. Building on these ideas, we construct several estimators of the parameters of interest and characterize their large sample properties. Numerical experiments illustrate the usefulness of the suggested approaches and support the asymptotic theory.
appendix boundary found by appendix_command · 57% of the source is main text. Read the extracted text to check this.
The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.
| Reference | Intensity | Mentions | Sections | Main text | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhang2017 | unmatched citation key Zhang2017 | 1.000 | 14 | 4 | 100% |
| beyhum2024inference | unmatched citation key beyhum2024inference | 1.000 | 10 | 3 | 100% |
| Graham2017 | unmatched citation key Graham2017 | 1.000 | 7 | 3 | 100% |
| Chatterjee2015 | unmatched citation key Chatterjee2015 | 1.000 | 6 | 5 | 100% |
| Klopp2017 | unmatched citation key Klopp2017 | 1.000 | 5 | 4 | 100% |
| Gao2015 | unmatched citation key Gao2015 | 1.000 | 5 | 3 | 100% |
| li2019nearest | unmatched citation key li2019nearest | 0.928 | 4 | 4 | 100% |
| freeman2023linear | unmatched citation key freeman2023linear | 0.928 | 4 | 3 | 100% |
| gao2020nonparametric | unmatched citation key gao2020nonparametric | 0.928 | 4 | 3 | 100% |
| bonhomme2022discretizing | unmatched citation key bonhomme2022discretizing | 0.874 | 8 | 2 | 100% |
Showing the top 10 of 66 scored citations. 10 of these could not be matched to a bibliography entry, so only the citation key is shown.
arXiv econ.EM papers that cite this one, ranked by how heavily they lean on it.