The Journal of Human Resources · 2013 · 38 citations · 37 references
Public HealthDemographyInfectious Disease ControlEpidemiologyHiv PreventionSpatial EpidemiologyHiv EpidemiologySexual HealthSexual Health PreventionSexually Transmitted Infection EpidemiologySexually Transmitted Infection PreventionSexually Transmitted InfectionsCondom Use Among Sex WorkersDisease Incidence RateMarket ForcesSex Work EpidemiologySexual Risk PreventionSexually Transmitted Infection DisparitiesTransaction-level ModelingUnprotected Sex
Sex workers draw a premium for engaging in unprotected sex. We theoretically motivate a test of whether this premium represents a compensating differential for disease, thereby mitigating sex workers’ propensity to use condoms. Using transaction-level data and biological STI markers from sex workers in Ecuador, we exploit within-worker variation across local disease environments. We find that locations with low disease prevalence exhibit a very low, insignificant premium for unprotected sex. A one percentage point increase in the local disease rate increases the premium for noncondom sex by 33 percent. Market forces may curb the self-limiting nature of STI epidemics.
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