An interesting paper by Pascaline Dupas looks at information provision and their impacts on HIV-related risk behaviors among youngsters and has something to say about what works and what doesn't (here is a non-gated version):
I use a randomized experiment to test whether information can change sexual behavior among teenagers in Kenya. Providing information on the relative risk of HIV infection by partner's age led to a 28% decrease in teen pregnancy, an objective proxy for the incidence of unprotected sex. Self-reported sexual behavior data suggests substitution away from older (riskier) partners and towards protected sex with same-age partners. In contrast, the national abstinence-only HIV education curriculum had no impact on teen pregnancy. These results suggest that teenagers are responsive to risk information but their sexual behavior is more elastic on the intensive than on the extensive margin.
That information might be more useful in making existing behaviors less risky but not eliminating them altogether was a point critics of PEPFAR made most vociferously. Indeed, this is a finding that is probably in line with most people's priors.
1 comment:
I really like this paper. And remember Jody and Mark saying something along these lines during the first global job talk.
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