HIV Testing, HIV/AIDS Knowledge, and Sexual Behavior: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Ethiopia

Using data from a randomized controlled trial involving HIV education, home-based HIV counseling and testing (VCT), and conditional cash transfer (CCT) for facility-based VCT, we find home-based VCT and CCT to facility-based VCT significantly increase HIV test take-up, with the former being more effective in detecting HIV-positive cases. We also find updating of infection expectation among testers and an increase in the demand for condom among HIVpositive testers, but both effects dissipate over time, in six months. (JEL: I10, C93, D80) ∗Kim: Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, [email protected]; Haile: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), [email protected]; Lee: College of Nursing, Yonsei University, [email protected]. The authors would like to thank Booyuel Kim, Eric McDermott, Cristian Pop-Eleches, Eric Verhoogen, and Leigh Linden, and seminar participants in Columbia University, Cornell University, and Myoungsung Christian Medical School in Ethiopia. We acknowledge financial support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Program for Economic Research at Columbia University, the Center for the Study of Development Strategies, the Applied Statistics Center, and Yonsei University College of Nursing. We acknowledge technical and material support from Arsi Zone and Hetosa District Heath Bureaus, Adama University Department of Public Health, Ethiopian AIDS Resource Center, and Population Services International in Ethiopia. We thank Kyuk Suk Chang, Senait Assefa, and Kassahun Mengistie for their excellent research assistance. All errors and omissions are our own.