Robinson, JonathanYeh, Ethan2012-03-192012-03-192009-03-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4053Formal and informal commercial sex work is a way of life for many poor women in developing countries. Though sex workers have long been identified as crucial in affecting the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the nature of sex-for-money transactions remains poorly understood. Using a unique panel dataset constructed from 192 self-reported sex worker diaries which include detailed information on sexual behavior, labor supply, and health shocks, the authors find that sex workers adjust their supply of risky, better compensated sex to cope with unexpected health shocks, exposing themselves to increased risk of HIV infection. In particular, women are 3.1 percent more likely to see a client, 21.2 percent more likely to have anal sex, and 19.1 percent more likely to have unprotected sex on days in which a household member falls ill. Women also increase their supply of risky sex on days after missing work due to symptoms from a sexually transmitted infection. Given that HIV prevalence has been estimated at 9.8 percent in this part of Kenya, these behavioral responses entail significant health risks for sex workers and their partners, and suggest that sex workers are unable to cope with risk through other formal or informal consumption smoothing mechanisms.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICESADOLESCENTADOLESCENT GIRLSAGEDAIDS EPIDEMICALCOHOLANAL INTERCOURSEANAL SEXBEHAVIOR CHANGEBURNSCHILDHOODCLEANLINESSCOMMERCIAL SEXCOMMERCIAL SEX MARKETCOMMERCIAL SEX WORKCOMMERCIAL SEX WORKERSCONDOMCONDOM DISTRIBUTIONCONDOM USECONDOMSCSCULTURAL CHANGECULTURAL SENSITIVITYDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDIARRHEAEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMOTIONAL SUPPORTENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONEPIDEMICEPIDEMIOLOGYFACT SHEETFAMILIESFAMILY BACKGROUNDFAMILY MEMBERSFAMILY PLANNINGFEMALEFEMALE SEX WORKERSFEVERFEWER WOMENFOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONSHEALTH CONSEQUENCESHEALTH INTERVENTIONSHEALTH RISKSHETEROSEXUAL TRANSMISSIONHIGH-RISKHIVHIV EDUCATIONHIV INFECTIONHIV POSITIVEHIV PREVENTIONHIV TRANSMISSIONHIV/AIDSHOUSEHOLD NUMBERHUMAN CAPITALILLITERATE WOMANILLITERATE WOMENILLNESSILLNESSESINCOME SECURITYINFECTIONSINFECTIOUS DISEASEINFECTIOUS DISEASESINJURIESINTERCOURSEINTERVENTIONLABOR SUPPLYLEADING CAUSE OF DEATHLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMALARIAMARITAL STATUSMARRIED WOMENMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGYMEDICINEMIGRATIONMINISTRY OF HEALTHMORBIDITYMORTALITYMULTIPLE PARTNERSNATIONAL AIDSNATIONAL AIDS CONTROLNEGATIVE HEALTH CONSEQUENCESNUMBER OF WOMENNURSEORAL SEXPEER EDUCATORPEER EDUCATORSPEER GROUPPEER GROUPSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOOR WOMENPOORER WOMENPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULATION CENSUSPREGNANCYPREVALENCEPRIMARY SCHOOLPROGRESSPROSTITUTESPROSTITUTIONPSYCHIATRYPUBLIC HEALTHQUALITY OF LIFERESPECTRESTAURANTSRISK FACTORSRISK OF INFECTIONRISK REDUCTIONRISKY BEHAVIORRISKY SEXRISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIORRURAL AREASRURAL POPULATIONSAFE SEXSEXSEX FOR MONEYSEX INDUSTRYSEX PARTNERSSEX WORKERSEX WORKERSSEXUAL ACTIVITIESSEXUAL BEHAVIORSEXUAL ENCOUNTERSSEXUAL PARTNERSSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPSSEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASESSEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONSEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONSSOCIAL SCIENCESTDSTISSYMPTOMSTEENAGE PREGNANCYTVTYPHOIDUNPROTECTED SEXUNPROTECTED SEX ACTSVAGINAL SEXVIOLENCEVULNERABILITYWOMANWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4857