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Department of Yikes
Overall, 74 percent [of men visiting streetwalkers] reported that they always wear a condom (men with stable relationships were less likely to use protection, at least with prostitutes).
It's not so hard to write down the underlying utility function here, is it?
That is from the September 2007 issue of Atlantic Monthly, citing research by economist Marina della Giusta and others, published in Applied Economics. The working paper seems to be here.
In another development at Atlantic Monthly, but unrelated to the above factoid, or to the more general idea of yikes, the new Megan McArdle blog is now up and running. Here is Megan's post on what old people deserve.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 22, 2007 at 07:15 AM in Data Source | Permalink
Comments
When you say "factoid" do you mean "an invented fact that appears to be true" (the correct definition) or just a "small fact"?
Posted by: Grammar Nazi at Aug 22, 2007 7:51:14 AM
Hypertext Webster Gateway: "factoid"
From WordNet (r) 2.0 (wn)
factoid n 1: something resembling a fact; unverified (often invented) information that is given credibility because it appeared in print 2: a brief (usually one sentence and usually trivial) news item
Posted by: jens fiederer at Aug 22, 2007 11:01:55 AM
I'm not entirely sure I follow - they're *less* likely to wear condoms when they're in a stable relationship? So they worry less about infecting and alienating an existing partner, and worry more about attracting an unknown future partner?
Posted by: Michael Stack at Aug 22, 2007 12:17:53 PM
presumably men in a "stable" relationship are in a relationship where there is a stable lack of sex. So why bother with a rubber? If they're not having sex at home, they're not going to infect anyone. Compare to a john just looking to get his rocks off in between relationships--higher cost to acquiring a disease.
Posted by: ah at Aug 22, 2007 2:30:54 PM
I would guess that it has more to do with habit than utility.
Posted by: Doug at Aug 22, 2007 3:00:01 PM
My thought was that married men don't feel they have to stay "clean" to attract women in the future...
Posted by: Tyler Cowen at Aug 22, 2007 5:57:41 PM
Regarding your parenthetical comment about Megan's new site...
DAMN! Have you read the comments sections? I wonder if she considered what she was getting into by stepping into that collectivist swamp?
Posted by: M. Hodak at Aug 23, 2007 12:07:48 AM
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