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The Economic Impact of AIDS Treatment: Labor Supply in Western Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Harsha Thirumurthy

    () (Center for Global Development)

  • Joshua Graff Zivin

    () (Columbia University)

  • Markus Goldstein

    () (World Bank)

Abstract

Using longitudinal survey data from western Kenya, this paper estimates the economic impacts of antiretroviral treatment. The responses in two important outcomes are studied: (1) labor supply of adult AIDS patients receiving treatment; and (2) labor supply of patients’ household members. We find that within six months after treatment initiation, there is a 20 percent increase in patients’ likelihood of participating in the labor force and a 35 percent increase in weekly hours worked. Since patient health would continue to decline without treatment, these labor supply responses are underestimates of the impact of treatment on the treated. The upper bound of the treatment impact, based on plausible assumptions about the counterfactual, is considerably larger. The responses in household members’labor supply are heterogeneous, with young boys and women work significiantly less after initiation of treatment. The effects on child labor are important since they suggest potential schooling impacts from treatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Harsha Thirumurthy & Joshua Graff Zivin & Markus Goldstein, 2006. "The Economic Impact of AIDS Treatment: Labor Supply in Western Kenya," Working Papers 947, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    • Handle: RePEc:egc:wpaper:947
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yamano, Takashi & Jayne, T. S., 2004. "Measuring the Impacts of Working-Age Adult Mortality on Small-Scale Farm Households in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 91-119, January.
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    8. Harsha Thirumurthy & Joshua Graff Zivin & Markus Goldstein, 2008. "The Economic Impact of AIDS Treatment: Labor Supply in Western Kenya," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(3), pages 511-552.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV/AIDS; ARV Treatment; Labor Supply; Child Labor;

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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