Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep;32(9):2047-2079.
doi: 10.1002/hec.4712. Epub 2023 Jun 9.

Information shocks and celebrity exposure: The effect of "Magic" Johnson on AIDS diagnoses and mortality in the U.S

Alexander Cardazzi  1 , Joshua C Martin  2 , Zachary Rodriguez  3
Affiliations

Information shocks and celebrity exposure: The effect of "Magic" Johnson on AIDS diagnoses and mortality in the U.S

Alexander Cardazzi et al. Health Econ. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

We present evidence that Earvin "Magic" Johnson's announcement that he contracted HIV served as a public-health catalyst for rapidly correcting the public's understanding of who was at risk of infection. Using a novel identification strategy, we present evidence that there was a large but temporary increase in the number of AIDS diagnoses for heterosexual men following the announcement. This effect was concentrated in areas with greater prior exposure to Johnson. We show that these men were both more likely to have been diagnosed via a formal blood test and less likely to die within 1 decade of their initial diagnosis-suggesting that Johnson's announcement caused an intertemporal substitution in testing which prolonged patients' lifespans as a result of earlier access to medical care. We estimate that Johnson's announcement caused approximately 800 additional heterosexual males in the United States in metropolitan statistical areas with National Basketball Association franchises men to discover their underlying AIDS diagnosis and, of whom, were more likely to live at least 1 decade beyond their initial diagnosis date.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS; basketball; risky behavior; sexuality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

REFERENCES

    1. Alpert, A., Powell, D., & Pacula, R. L. (2018). Supply-side drug policy in the presence of substitutes: Evidence from the introduction of abuse-deterrent opioids. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 10(4), 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20170082
    1. Alrababah, A., Marble, W., Mousa, S., & Siegel, A. (2021). Can exposure to celebrities reduce prejudice? The effect of Mohamed Salah on Islamophobic behaviors and attitudes. American Political Science Review, 115(4), 1111-1128. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055421000423
    1. Andrews, M. (2020). Magic Johnson sees overlap between coronavirus, AIDS crises. ESPN.
    1. Beaman, L., Chattopadhyay, R., Duflo, E., Pande, R., & Topalova, P. (2009). Powerful women: Does exposure reduce bias? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(4), 1497-1540. https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.2009.124.4.1497
    1. Boisjoly, J., Duncan, G. J., Kremer, M., Levy, D. M., & Eccles, J. (2006). Empathy or antipathy? The impact of diversity. The American Economic Review, 96(5), 1890-1905. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.96.5.1890

LinkOut - more resources