Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/190018 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2017/173
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
In high HIV-prevalence contexts, marriage can lead to significant risks through spousal behaviours. Yet, individuals cannot rely on their spouse to reveal their HIV status. Couples' HIV testing and counselling can provide spouses with credible information about each other's HIV status. Using random variation in participation in couples' testing, this study documents that uncertainty about spouses' HIV status contributes to marital dissolutions. Innovations, such as HIV couples' testing and counselling - and, in the future, possibly rapid self-testing - that reduce this uncertainty can thus have profound impacts on marital behaviours and stability.
Subjects: 
HIV prevention
field experiment
subjective beliefs
uncertainty
JEL: 
C93
I12
I30
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9256-399-8
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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