The Economics of Prostitution
A fun book that is a wonderful narrative on rational choice theory. One of the more interesting passages regarding prostitution in central Mexico who charge a 25% premium for sex without a condom:
It's tempting to argue that the prostitutes do not understand the risks. That's patronizing: Even without the efforts of the health and development organizations, prostitutes probably know more about the risks of sexually transmitted infections than anyone who thinks of them as simpleminded victims. In fact, prostitutes know that while the risks are real, they are modest. Only one in eight hundred Mexicans carries HIV, and even among prostitutes it afflicts just one in three hundred. Even if a prostitute is unlucky enough that one of her unprotected jobs is with a man who is HIV-positive, the risk that she will catch it is less than two percent if one of them is carrying some other sexual infection and less than one percent otherwise. None of the prostitutes want to catch HIV, but the risks of catching it because of one instance of unprotected sex are small, while the pay is substantially higher.
The typical Morelian prostitute is acting as though she valued one extra year of healthy life at between fifteen thousand and fifty thousand dollars or up to five years income.
There's a link regarding some other neat stuff over at Marginal Revolution.
It's tempting to argue that the prostitutes do not understand the risks. That's patronizing: Even without the efforts of the health and development organizations, prostitutes probably know more about the risks of sexually transmitted infections than anyone who thinks of them as simpleminded victims. In fact, prostitutes know that while the risks are real, they are modest. Only one in eight hundred Mexicans carries HIV, and even among prostitutes it afflicts just one in three hundred. Even if a prostitute is unlucky enough that one of her unprotected jobs is with a man who is HIV-positive, the risk that she will catch it is less than two percent if one of them is carrying some other sexual infection and less than one percent otherwise. None of the prostitutes want to catch HIV, but the risks of catching it because of one instance of unprotected sex are small, while the pay is substantially higher.
The typical Morelian prostitute is acting as though she valued one extra year of healthy life at between fifteen thousand and fifty thousand dollars or up to five years income.
There's a link regarding some other neat stuff over at Marginal Revolution.