Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace

This article focuses on the capabilities of women in sex work--a sector in which a substantial number of women in developing countries find themselves. Sex workers confront important unfreedoms-violence and disease--on a daily basis. How well sex workers can manage these threats has implications not...

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Main Author:	Willman, Alys
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Subjects:	Health Production I120 Economics of Gender Non-labor Discrimination J160 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5021

id	okr-10986-5021
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-50212021-04-23T14:02:20Z Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace Willman, Alys Health Production I120 Economics of Gender Non-labor Discrimination J160 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 This article focuses on the capabilities of women in sex work--a sector in which a substantial number of women in developing countries find themselves. Sex workers confront important unfreedoms-violence and disease--on a daily basis. How well sex workers can manage these threats has implications not only for the workers themselves but also their families and communities, and thus is an important concern in development policy. Using original data from Managua, Nicaragua, I show how workplace conditions determine women's autonomy to manage risks of disease and violence, including their capacity to negotiate appropriate risk compensation. I present a model of a segmented labor market, and describe how women's autonomy in choosing a particular segment is constrained by access to networks and human capital. Next, I estimate the compensation to different risks by market segment. I find that sex workers in higher-end segments are less likely than women in other segments to take risks to their health or safety, and more able to charge a high-risk premium when they do. In addition, women who enjoy more autonomy in decision-making take risks less often than those whose decisions are constrained either by a manager or by low earnings. These findings indicate the need to consider differences in workplace conditions in designing policy to expand the capabilities of women in sex work. 2012-03-30T07:30:53Z 2012-03-30T07:30:53Z 2010 Journal Article Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 19452829 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5021 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Nicaragua
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
topic	Health Production I120 Economics of Gender Non-labor Discrimination J160 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150
spellingShingle	Health Production I120 Economics of Gender Non-labor Discrimination J160 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Willman, Alys Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace
geographic_facet	Nicaragua
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	This article focuses on the capabilities of women in sex work--a sector in which a substantial number of women in developing countries find themselves. Sex workers confront important unfreedoms-violence and disease--on a daily basis. How well sex workers can manage these threats has implications not only for the workers themselves but also their families and communities, and thus is an important concern in development policy. Using original data from Managua, Nicaragua, I show how workplace conditions determine women's autonomy to manage risks of disease and violence, including their capacity to negotiate appropriate risk compensation. I present a model of a segmented labor market, and describe how women's autonomy in choosing a particular segment is constrained by access to networks and human capital. Next, I estimate the compensation to different risks by market segment. I find that sex workers in higher-end segments are less likely than women in other segments to take risks to their health or safety, and more able to charge a high-risk premium when they do. In addition, women who enjoy more autonomy in decision-making take risks less often than those whose decisions are constrained either by a manager or by low earnings. These findings indicate the need to consider differences in workplace conditions in designing policy to expand the capabilities of women in sex work.
format	Journal Article
author	Willman, Alys
author_facet	Willman, Alys
author_sort	Willman, Alys
title	Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace
title_short	Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace
title_full	Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace
title_fullStr	Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace
title_full_unstemmed	Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace
title_sort	risk and reward in managua's commercial sex market: the importance of workplace
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5021
_version_	1764393630713249792

Risk and Reward in Managua's Commercial Sex Market: The Importance of Workplace

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