A Lifetime Portfolio of Risky and Risk-Free Sexual Behaviour and the Prevalence of AIDS

A lifetime portfolio of risky and risk-free sexual activities is conceptually constructed in this paper. People’s time allocation between risky and riskfree sexual activities affects, and is affected by, the prevalence of AIDS. A small satisfaction differential between risky sex and risk-free sex can lead to a significant prevalence of AIDS. Numerical simulations suggest that the reduction in the prevalence of AIDS generated by a one percent improvement in the sensual quality of freely distributed condoms can be 0.855 percent when the initial satisfaction differential between risky sex and risk-free sex is 50 percent, or 0.464 percent when the initial satisfaction differential is 100 percent. (JEL I19, J17, D91)