Citation

Papageorge NW, Pauley GC, Cohen M, Wilson TE, Hamilton BH, Pollak RA. J. Hum. Resourc. 2021; 56(4): 997-1030.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, University of Wisconsin Press)

DOI

10.3368/jhr.56.4.1115-7543r5

PMID

35321345

PMCID

PMC8939878

Abstract

We treat health as a form of human capital and hypothesize that women with more human capital face stronger incentives to make costly investments with future payoffs, such as avoiding abusive partners and reducing drug use. To test this hypothesis, we exploit the unanticipated introduction of an HIV treatment, HAART, which dramatically improved HIV+ women's health. We find that after the introduction of HAART HIV+ women who experienced increases in expected longevity exhibited a decrease in domestic violence of 15% and in drug use of 1520%. We rule out confounding via secular trends using a control group of healthier women.

Language: en

Keywords

Health; Domestic Violence; Drug Use; HIV/AIDS; Human Capital; I1; J12; J24; Medical Innovation; O39; Risky Behavior