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Welfare Payments and the Spread of HIV in the United States
Author(s) -
Ressler Rand W.,
Waters Melissa S.,
Hill R. Carter,
Watson John Keith
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
contemporary economic policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.454
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1465-7287
pISSN - 1074-3529
DOI - 10.1093/cep/byi004
Subject(s) - economics , fertility , welfare , instrumental variable , demographic economics , payment , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , demography , population , econometrics , biology , sociology , virology , finance , market economy
Clarke and Strauss (1998), among others, have determined that the magnitude of financial transfers to unwed mothers is positively related to out‐of‐wedlock fertility rates. Increases in fertility rates must be accompanied by increases in unprotected sex, and unprotected sex allows for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. We hypothesize that states with relatively greater welfare payments under the old Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC) program are associated with higher rates of heterosexually contracted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Using data for 26 reporting states from 1993 to 1996, our weighted instrumental variables estimates with clustered standard errors are consistent with our hypothesis. (JEL D1 , I38 )