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Relative risks and the market for sex: Teenagers, sugar daddies, and hiv in kenya

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  • Pascaline Dupas

Abstract

An information campaign that provided Kenyan teenagers in randomly selected schools with the information that HIV prevalence was much higher among adult men and their partners than among teenage boys led to a 65% decrease in the incidence of pregnancies by adult partners among teenage girls in the treatment group relative to the comparison. This suggests a large reduction in the incidence of unprotected cross-generational sex. The information campaign did not increase pregnancies among teenage couples. These results suggest that the behavioral choices of teenagers are responsive to information on the relative risks of different varieties of a risky activity. Policies that focus only on the elimination of a risky activity and do not address risk reduction strategies may be ignoring a margin on which they can have substantial impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Pascaline Dupas, 2006. "Relative risks and the market for sex: Teenagers, sugar daddies, and hiv in kenya," Natural Field Experiments 00235, The Field Experiments Website.
    • Handle: RePEc:feb:natura:00235
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    Cited by:

    1. Pedro de Araujo & Margaux Miller, 2014. "Women's Health Knowledge, Sexual Empowerment, and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1875-1890.
    2. de Walque, Damien, 2007. "How does the impact of an HIV/AIDS information campaign vary with educational attainment? Evidence from rural Uganda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 686-714, November.
    3. Oster, Emily, 2012. "HIV and sexual behavior change: Why not Africa?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 35-49.
    4. Duflo, Esther & Glennerster, Rachel & Kremer, Michael, 2008. "Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 61, pages 3895-3962, Elsevier.
    5. McGuigan, Martin & McNally, Sandra & Wyness, Gill, 2014. "Student Awareness of Costs and Benefits of Educational Decisions: Effects of an Information Campaign and Media Exposure," IZA Discussion Papers 8596, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Martin McGuigan & Sandra McNally & Gill Wyness, 2016. "Student Awareness of Costs and Benefits of Educational Decisions: Effects of an Information Campaign," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 482-519.
    7. Madajewicz, Malgosia & Pfaff, Alexander & van Geen, Alexander & Graziano, Joseph & Hussein, Iftikhar & Momotaj, Hasina & Sylvi, Roksana & Ahsan, Habibul, 2007. "Can information alone change behavior? Response to arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 731-754, November.
    8. Larrú, José María, 2012. "Evaluar para aprender. Eficiencia en salud y desarrollo [Evaluating for learning. Efficiency in health and development]," MPRA Paper 38788, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Patrick M. Emerson & Bruce McGough, 2018. "Learning About Education," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(1), pages 263-277, January.
    10. Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2009. "In Pursuit of Balance: Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 200-232, October.
    11. Glick, Peter, 2008. "What Policies will Reduce Gender Schooling Gaps in Developing Countries: Evidence and Interpretation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1623-1646, September.

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