The Gift of the Dying: The Tragedy of AIDS and the Welfare of Future African Generations / Alwyn Young.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Young, Alwyn.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w10991.

NBER working paper series no. w10991

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

The Gift of the Dying

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2004.

Summary:

This paper simulates the impact of the AIDS epidemic on future living standards in South Africa. I emphasize two competing effects. On the one hand, the epidemic is likely to have a detrimental impact on the human capital accumulation of orphaned children. On the other hand, widespread community infection lowers fertility, both directly, through a reduction in the willingness to engage in unprotected sexual activity, and indirectly, by increasing the scarcity of labour and the value of a woman's time. I find that even with the most pessimistic assumptions concerning reductions in educational attainment, the fertility effect dominates. The AIDS epidemic, on net, enhances the future per capita consumption possibilities of the South African economy.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2004.