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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2013
  5. Do Sex Workers Respond to Disease? Evidence from the Male Market for Sex

Do Sex Workers Respond to Disease? Evidence from the Male Market for Sex

  • Manisha Shah
American Economic Review
vol. 103, no. 3, May 2013
(pp. 445-50)
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Abstract

Sex markets play a key role in the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS in developing countries. While individuals should substitute away from risky sex as STI prevalence rises, female sex workers draw a premium for engaging in unprotected sex, mitigating their propensity to use condoms. We provide the first evidence of a positive premium for non-condom sex in developing country male sex markets. Testing whether this is a compensating differential for disease risk, we find that a one percentage point increase in the STI rate increases the premium 28 percent. Market forces may curb the self-limiting effect of STI epidemics.

Citation

Shah, Manisha. 2013. "Do Sex Workers Respond to Disease? Evidence from the Male Market for Sex." American Economic Review, 103 (3): 445-50. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.445

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Production
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration