WORKING PAPERS IN ECONOMICS No 425

The relationship between economic inequality and HIV infection among young Malawian women is estimated with multi-level logit models of the individual probability of being infected. Two community levels are considered: the immediate neighbourhood, and Malawi’s districts. We find a strong positive association between communal inequality and the risk of HIV infection. The relationship between economic status and HIV status, at communal and individual levels, is less clear-cut, but individual absolute poverty does not increase the risk of HIV infection. Further analysis shows that the inequality-HIV relationship is related to riskier sexual behavior, gender violence, and close links to urban areas, measured by return migration. It does not seem to be related to worse overall health, nor to gender gaps in education or women’s market work. JEL: I12