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Forsaking All Others? The Effects of "Gay Marriage" on Risky Sex

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Author Info
Thomas S. Dee
Abstract

One of the conjectured benefits of establishing the legal recognition of samesex partnerships is that it would promote a culture of responsibility and commitment among homosexuals. A specific implication of this claim is that "gay marriage" will reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI). In this study, I present a simple 2-period model, which provides a framework for discussing the ways in which gay marriage might reduce (or increase) the prevalence of STI. Then, I present reduced-form empirical evidence on whether gay marriage has actually reduced STI rates. These evaluations are based on country-level panel data from Europe, where nations began introducing national recognition of same-sex partnerships in 1989. The results suggest that these gay-marriage laws led to statistically significant reductions in syphilis rates. However, these effects were smaller and statistically imprecise with respect to gonorrhea and HIV.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 11327.

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Date of creation: May 2005
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11327

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I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

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  1. Michael Grossman & Robert Kaestner & Sara Markowitz, 2004. "An Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol Policies on Youth STDs," NBER Working Papers 10949, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Jerry A. Hausman & Bronwyn H. Hall & Zvi Griliches, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," NBER Technical Working Papers 0017, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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