Using Incentives to Increase HIV/Aids Testing by Sex Workers
Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6089930 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Margaret Boittin (York University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 398-423 |
| Publication date | 2018-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Law & Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0265-8240 • E-ISSN: 1467-9930 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/lapo.12114 |
| OpenAlex | W2980367135 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
Can incentives increase the use of HIV/AIDS testing in criminalized populations? Lawbreakers engaged in activities that place them at heightened risk of HIV/AIDS infection fear that engaging with the state to request an HIV test could increase their likelihood of incurring sanctions for violating the law. This article reports on a randomized field experiment that evaluates whether material incentives can spur lawbreakers to seek state assistance. Sex workers in Beijing, China, were randomly assigned to receive an in‐kind incentive equivalent to $1 (control group) or $15 (treatment group) for getting an HIV test. Fifteen dollars corresponds to the average amount a sex worker in the study might earn for one sexual transaction, and about 3 percent of her monthly earnings. The larger incentive increased HIV/AIDS testing rates by forty‐two percentage points, on average. Both low‐tier sex workers, who solicit on the streets and in brothels, and those in the middle tier, who work in karaoke bars and clubs, responded strongly to the large incentive. In addition, the large incentive was effective regardless of whether or not respondents were aware that prostitution is against the law. These findings suggest that modest incentives can have important effects among criminalized populations in authoritarian settings
Business · Demographic economics · Economics · Family medicine · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Incentive · Political science · Sanctions · Sex work · Sociology · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Demography · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues
Criminal Law, Policing Policy, and HIV Risk in Female Street Sex Workers and Injection Drug Users
Improving immunisation coverage in rural India
Peer support within a health care context
The Demand for, and Impact of, Learning HIV Status
The Illusion of Sustainability
Incentivising safe sex
A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation
Free Distribution or Cost-Sharing? Evidence from a Randomized Malaria Prevention Experiment
HIV testing attitudes, Aids stigma, and voluntary HIV counselling and testing in a black township in Cape Town, South Africa
Use of Unaids tools to evaluate HIV voluntary counselling and testing services for mineworkers in South Africa
HIV Testing Behaviors Among Female Sex Workers in Southwest China
Counting results
Mobile men with money’
Strategizing the Street
Evaluation of a home-based voluntary counselling and testing intervention in rural Uganda
Well child clinics and mass vaccination campaigns
The influence of power, poverty and agency in the negotiation of condom use for female sex workers in mainland China
Incarceration, Social Capital, and Crime
On the Run
New Perspectives from the Oldest Profession
Political Consequences of the Carceral State
Dying for Money
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |