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Incentivizing Safer Sexual Behavior: Evidence from a Lottery Experiment on HIV Prevention

Author

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  • Martina Björkman Nyqvist
  • Lucia Corno
  • Damien de Walque
  • Jakob Svensson

Abstract

We investigate the effect of a financial lottery program in Lesotho with relatively low expected payments but a chance to win a high prize conditional on negative test results for sexually transmitted infections. The intervention resulted in a 21.4 percent reduction in HIV incidence over two years. Lottery incentives appear to be particularly effective in targeting individuals with ex ante risky sexual behavior, consistent with the hypothesis that lotteries are more valued by individuals willing to take risks.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Björkman Nyqvist & Lucia Corno & Damien de Walque & Jakob Svensson, 2018. "Incentivizing Safer Sexual Behavior: Evidence from a Lottery Experiment on HIV Prevention," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 287-314, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:287-314
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20160469
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Sam Watson’s journal round-up for Monday 20th August 2018
      by Sam Watson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2018-08-20 12:00:54

    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    3. Abhijit Banerjee & Eliana La Ferrara & Victor H. Orozco-Olvera, 2019. "The Entertaining Way to Behavioral Change: Fighting HIV with MTV," NBER Working Papers 26096, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Elice, Paola & Martínez Flores, Fernanda & Reichert, Arndt R., 2023. "Religious terrorism, forced migration, and women's empowerment: Evidence from the Boko Haram insurgency," Ruhr Economic Papers 1044, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    5. Allen, James & Mahumane, Arlete & Riddell, James & Rosenblat, Tanya & Yang, Dean & Yu, Hang, 2022. "Teaching and incentives: Substitutes or complements?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Friedman, Willa & Wilson, Nicholas, 2022. "Can nudging overcome procrastinating on preventive health investments?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    7. Aaron Richterman & Harsha Thirumurthy, 2022. "The effects of cash transfer programmes on HIV-related outcomes in 42 countries from 1996 to 2019," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1362-1371, October.
    8. de Walque, Damien & Chukwuma, Adanna & Ayivi-Guedehoussou, Nono & Koshkakaryan, Marianna, 2022. "Invitations, incentives, and conditions: A randomized evaluation of demand-side interventions for health screenings," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    9. Lépine, Aurélia & Treibich, Carole, 2020. "Risk aversion and HIV/AIDS: Evidence from Senegalese female sex workers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    10. Ben S. Meiselman & Collin Weigel & Paul J. Ferraro & Mark Masters & Kent D. Messer & Olesya M. Savchenko & Jordan F. Suter, 2022. "Lottery Incentives and Resource Management: Evidence from the Agricultural Data Reporting Incentive Program (AgDRIP)," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(4), pages 847-867, August.
    11. Kelly Kilburn & Lucia Ferrone & Audrey Pettifor & Ryan Wagner & F. Xavier Gómez-Olivé & Kathy Kahn, 2020. "The Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer on Multidimensional Deprivation of Young Women: Evidence from South Africa’s HTPN 068," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 865-895, October.
    12. Galárraga, Omar & Kuo, Caroline & Mtukushe, Bulelwa & Maughan-Brown, Brendan & Harrison, Abigail & Hoare, Jackie, 2020. "iSAY (incentives for South African youth): Stated preferences of young people living with HIV," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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