Room: Upson 117
Time: Mon 13:15 PM-14:45 PM

Economics of Prostitution and Sex Exchange

Chair: Ted Joyce (City University of New York)

Session Description

Prostitution and sex exchange markets more generally are relevant
determinants of public and private health outcomes. Prostitutes and other
types of participants in sex exchange can serve as conduits in the spread
of sexually transmitted infections and are believed to be widely a part of
coerced labor networks. Radical changes in information technologies are
also creating new markets for these transactions. In this panel, three
groups of researchers present new insights into the nature of these
transactions and markets. In Cawley, Cunningham and Kendall, the
authors study the connection between physical appearance and
prostitution labor supply and equilibrium outcomes, finding that as in other
labor markets, obesity and beauty have profound effects on the earnings of
escorts. In Arunachalam and Shah, the authors investigate the connection
between the overall STI prevalence in an area and local compensating
differential prices for higher risk sexual exchanges between prostitutes and
clients. Using a panel of sex worker transactions from Central and South
America, they find that the compensating differential both exists for higher
risk sex acts, and is increasing in the local prevalence of STI, thus
providing some evidence that STI epidemics which depend on the
prostitution vector for transmission may have self-limiting dynamics
whereby the role of prostitution diminishes at higher STI levels of
prevalence. Finally, Sarah Baird and Berk Ozler examine the informal sex
exchange networks in Malawi in which older men provide both monetary
and non-monetary gifts in exchange for companionship and sexual
intimacy.

Key Terms None Listed

Session Organizer: Scott Cunningham (Baylor University)

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Presentations

1. Examining the Returns to Appearance and Body Type in the Market for Commercial Sex

   Presenter: A. Scott Cunningham (Baylor University)

   Discussant: Joseph Sabia (American University)

2. Compensated for Life: Sex Work and Disease Risk in Ecuador

   Presenter: Manisha Shah (University of California, Irvine)

   Discussant: Emily Owens (Cornell University)

3. Young Women, Richer Men and STI Risk

   Presenter: Berk Ozler (World Bank)

   Discussant: Angela Fertig (University of Georgia)