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Sex and the mission: the conflicting effects of early Christian missions on HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

Cag�, Julia; Rueda, Valeria

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Authors

Julia Cag�



Abstract

This article investigates the long-term impact of historical missionary activity on HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. On the one hand, missionaries were the first to invest in modern medicine in the region. On the other hand, Christianity influenced sexual beliefs and behaviors that affect the risk of contagion. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant and Catholic missions in the early 20th century, as well as the health facilities they invested in, that we combine with individual-level DHS data. With these data, we can address separately these two channels , within regions close to historical missionary settlements. First, we show that proximity to historical missionary health facilities decreases the likelihood of HIV; persistence in healthcare provision and safer sexual behaviors in the region explain this result. Second, we show that regions close to historical missionary settlements exhibit higher likelihood of HIV. This effect is driven by the Christian population in our sample. This suggests conversion to Christianity as a possible explanatory channel. Our findings are robust to alternative specifications addressing selection.

Citation

Cagé, J., & Rueda, V. (2020). Sex and the mission: the conflicting effects of early Christian missions on HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Demographic Economics, 86(3), 213-257. https://doi.org/10.1017/dem.2019.16

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 24, 2019
Online Publication Date Sep 22, 2020
Publication Date 2020-09
Deposit Date Sep 27, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Demographic Economics
Print ISSN 2054-0892
Electronic ISSN 2054-0906
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 86
Issue 3
Pages 213-257
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/dem.2019.16
Keywords Africa; Christianity; Historical persistence; Missions; Healthcare infrastructure; HIV/AIDS; Sexual behaviors JEL No: D72; N37; N77; 033; Z12; Z13 * We gratefully acknowledge the many helpful comments and suggestions from † Sciences Po Paris julia [dot]
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2693605
Publisher URL https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-demographic-economics/article/sex-and-the-mission-the-conflicting-effects-of-early-christian-missions-on-hiv-in-subsaharan-africa/92D19923A52263903535C96F04984DEB

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