ECN 340 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Sexually Transmitted Infection, John List, Tonic Water
27 Jan 2017
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Parents, brace yourself with these words oprah winfrey introduced america to the shocking news of the teenage oral sex craze . Economists claim that: rational people respond to trade-offs and incentives (and disincentives). When the costs or benefits of a course of action change, people change their behaviour as they maximize satisfaction. Rational people think not always consciously about the future as well as the present as they try to anticipate likely consequences of their actions in an uncertain world. With this definition, the kids must be responding to incentives: the potential cost of oral sex must be lower than regular sex, thus they substitute, as they would switch to pepsi if the price of coca cola rises. Other studies confirm that as costs rise, young people behaviour changes. The only explanation for this would seem to be that an abortion notification law significantly raises the risk of unprotected sex, and that the teenagers rationally respond to that risk.
