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HIV Status and Labor Market Participation in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • James Levinsohn

    (Yale University and NBER)

  • Zoë M. McLaren

    (University of Michigan)

  • Olive Shisana

    (Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa)

  • Khangelani Zuma

    (Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa)

Abstract

We use econometric methods based on the propensity score to estimate the causal effect of HIV status on employment outcomes in South Africa. Relying on rich data from a national survey, which included HIV testing, we control for systematic differences between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. We provide the first nationally representative estimates of the impact of HIV status on employment outcomes for southern Africa. Being HIV positive is associated with an increase of 6 to 7 percentage points in the likelihood of unemployment overall and 10 to 11 percentage points for those who are less educated. This disadvantage reinforces existing inequalities in South Africa. © 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • James Levinsohn & Zoë M. McLaren & Olive Shisana & Khangelani Zuma, 2013. "HIV Status and Labor Market Participation in South Africa," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 98-108, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:95:y:2013:i:1:p:98-108
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    Cited by:

    1. Lucas, Adrienne M. & Chidothe, Margaret & Wilson, Nicholas L., 2019. "Effects of adult health interventions at scale on children’s schooling: Evidence from antiretroviral therapy in Zambia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 107-120.
    2. Chicoine, Luke, 2012. "AIDS mortality and its effect on the labor market: Evidence from South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 256-269.
    3. Leandro De Magalhães & Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis, 2015. "The Consumption, Income, and Wealth of the Poorest: Cross-Sectional Facts of Rural and Urban Sub-Saharan Africa for Macroeconomists," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 15/655, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    4. Luke Chicoine & Emily Lyons & Alexia Sahue, 2021. "The impact of HIV/AIDS on human capital investment in Sub‐Saharan Africa: New evidence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(6), pages 842-852, September.
    5. Bernhard Schmidpeter, 2015. "The Fatal Consequences of Grief," CDL Aging, Health, Labor working papers 2015-07, The Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory Aging, Health, and the Labor Market, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    6. Novak, Lindsey, 2020. "Persistent norms and tipping points: The case of female genital cutting," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 433-474.
    7. Bell, Griffin J. & Ncayiyana, Jabulani & Sholomon, Ari & Goel, Varun & Zuma, Khangelani & Emch, Michael, 2022. "Race, place, and HIV: The legacies of apartheid and racist policy in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    8. Chijioke O. Nwosu, 2016. "The impact of health on the employment and earnings of young South Africans," Working Papers 601, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    9. Aleksandra Jakubowski & Katherine Snyman & Dalsone Kwarisiima & Norton Sang & Rachel Burger & Laura Balzer & Tamara Clark & Gabriel Chamie & Starley Shade & Craig Cohen & Elizabeth Bukusi & Edwin Char, 2018. "High CD4 counts associated with better economic outcomes for HIV-positive adults and their HIV-negative household members in the SEARCH Trial," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, June.
    10. Bernhard Schmidpeter, 2015. "The Fatal Consequences of Grief," Economics working papers 2015-06, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    11. Rodolfo Manuelli & Emircan Yurdagul, 2021. "AIDS, Human Capital and Development," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 42, pages 178-193, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV; employment; labor; South Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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