Bias, Not Error: Assessments of the Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS Using Evidence from Micro Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa

Deborah Johnston

Feminist Economics, 2008, vol. 14, issue 4, 87-115

Abstract: Economists struggle to understand the macroeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS. To this end, they have constructed macro models that utilize simplified pictures of the working of the economy and then factor in channels by which HIV/AIDS will have an effect. These models have considerable influence on HIV/AIDS policy; however, they do have their critics. Criticisms in the literature have focused on the simplifications in the construction of the economy that seem most misleading. Using micro studies of sub-Saharan Africa as examples, this contribution argues that there are other important simplifications used by models that need to be reconsidered. Rather than a series of unconnected errors in the modeling process, the approaches show pervasive gender bias, which means that many of the impacts of greater female mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa are ignored. Gender-aware modeling is crucial to improving assessment of the aggregate impact of the pandemic both in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.

Keywords: Gender economics; growth; HIV/AIDS; macroeconomics; reproduction; JEL Codes: E27; I10; O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1080/13545700802262915

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