Abstract

Young people in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly at high risk of sexually transmitted infections. Little is known about their economic preferences and even less about their association with risky sexual behaviour. We conducted incentivized economic experiments to measure risk, time and prosocial preferences in Zimbabwe. Preferences measured at baseline predict biomarker and self-reported measures of risky sexual behaviour gathered 12 months later. We find robust evidence that individuals more altruistic at baseline are more likely to be Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 (HSV-2) positive 12 months later. Analysis by sex shows this association is driven by our sample of women. Having more sexual partners is associated with greater risk tolerance amongst men and greater impatience amongst women. Results highlight heterogeneity in the association between preferences and risky sexual behaviour. Furthermore, in a randomised field experiment evaluating the impact of a feedback-based relative risk information on HIV together with a soft commitment device, take-up of a free HIV prevention method is primarily amongst young women with time-consistent preferences.

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