Abstract 
Survey measures of risk attitudes are primarily used in the health literature, although incentivized measures of risk preferences are being increasingly used in other fields. We exploit the unique setting of commercial female sex workers in Bangladesh to investigate whether incentivized measures of risk preferences or non-incentivized survey measures of risk preferences best identify the risky commercial sex decisions that they make. The study uses survey data collected during February–April 2016 and October–November 2016 from eight brothels in Bangladesh. Wave 1 includes 1,332 female sex workers, Wave 2 includes 1,185 female sex workers. Our findings suggest that researchers can reliably use survey measures to elicit risk preferences on health.
Authors: Asad Islam, Russell Smyth, HongQi Alexis Tan, and Liang C. Wang
Type: Journal Article
Year: 2019
Key Results
- Incentivized measures of risk preferences are more reliable than non-incentivized survey measures in identifying the risky commercial sex decisions made by female sex workers in Bangladesh.
- Survey measures of risk attitudes can be used to elicit risk preferences on health reliably.
- The study provides evidence that incentivized measures of risk preferences are more effective than survey measures in identifying risky sexual transactions.