Measurement challenges Using only observational data, a researcher may find it impossible to disentangle social interactions within a group from other types of similarities within a group. This challenge to the identifiability of social multiplier effects was termed the "reflection problem" in econometrics following an influential 1993 paper by Charles F. Manski. Manski considers three types of hypotheses to explain why members of a group might behave similarly to each other: endogenous effects, or social multiplier effects, in which group behavior affects individual behavior directly; exogenous effects or contextual effects, in which exogenously determined characteristics of the group affect individual behavior; correlated effects, in which group members only behave similarly because they have individual characteristics in common. Social multipliers only arise from endogenous effects . Though Manski wrote that the reflection problem can only be overcome if the researcher has information on how individuals enter into groups,  more recent work has highlighted alternative ways of overcoming the problem  .
Measurement challenges Using only observational data, a researcher may find it impossible to disentangle social interactions within a group from other types of similarities within a group. This challenge to the identifiability of social multiplier effects is known in econometrics as the "reflection problem" , following an influential 1993 paper by Charles F. Manski. Manski considers three types of hypotheses to explain why members of a group might behave similarly to each other: endogenous effects, in which group behavior affects individual behavior directly; exogenous effects or contextual effects, in which exogenously determined characteristics of the group affect individual behavior; correlated effects, in which group members only behave similarly because they have individual characteristics in common. The three effects cannot be distinguished if the researcher does not know how groups are constructed, but only endogenous effects can produce social multipliers . Though Manski wrote that the reflection problem can only be overcome if the researcher has information on how individuals enter into groups, such as in an experimental setting, more recent work has highlighted alternative ways of overcoming the problem in common settings .
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was termed
is known in econometrics as
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in econometrics
,
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or social multiplier effects,
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Social multipliers only arise from endogenous effects
The three effects cannot be distinguished if the researcher does not know how groups are constructed, but only endogenous effects can produce social multipliers
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such as in an experimental setting,
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in common settings