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Internet's Dirty Secret: Assessing the Impact of Online Intermediaries on the Outbreak of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Author

Listed:
  • Jason Chan

    (Department of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences (IOMS), NYU Stern Business School)

  • Anindya Ghose

    (Department of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences (IOMS), NYU Stern Business School)

Abstract
We investigate how the expansion of Craigslist into different states over a 11 year period in the United States affected the incidence of HIV. Using a natural experiment setup, we identify the effects of Craigslist's entry on HIV trends by exploiting the variations across states and time. After controlling for extraneous factors, our results show that Craigslist's entry leads to a 19.8 percent increase in HIV cases, which maps out to an average of 158.7 cases for a state in a year. The analyses further suggest that non-market related casual sex serves as the underlying mechanism driving the increase in HIV cases, while paid transactions (e.g., escort services and prostitution) solicited on the site do not influence HIV trends. The increases in HIV cases as a result of Craigslist entry are estimated to impose treatment costs of over $118 million annually on the U.S. healthcare system. Study implications and limitations are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason Chan & Anindya Ghose, 2012. "Internet's Dirty Secret: Assessing the Impact of Online Intermediaries on the Outbreak of Sexually Transmitted Diseases," Working Papers 12-07, NET Institute, revised Sep 2012.
    • Handle: RePEc:net:wpaper:1207
    as

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    File URL: http://www.NETinst.org/Chan_12-07.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    7. Amalia R. Miller & Catherine E. Tucker, 2011. "Can Health Care Information Technology Save Babies?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(2), pages 289-324.
    8. Lena Edlund & Evelyn Korn, 2002. "A Theory of Prostitution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(1), pages 181-214, February.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Chencheng Fang & Jiantong Zhang & Wei Qiu, 2017. "Online classified advertising: a review and bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(3), pages 1481-1511, December.
    2. Pénard, Thierry & Poussing, Nicolas & Suire, Raphaël, 2013. "Does the Internet make people happier?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 105-116.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV; Entry; Online Platforms; Public Health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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