Consistent partnership formation: application to a sexually transmitted disease model

We apply a consistent sexual partnership formation model which hinges on the assumption that one gender's choices drives the process (male or female dominant model). The other gender's behavior is imputed. The model is fitted to UK sexual behavior data and applied to a simple incidence model of HSV-2. With a male dominant model (which assumes accurate male reports on numbers of partners) the modeled incidences of HSV-2 are 77% higher for men and 50% higher for women than with a female dominant model (which assumes accurate female reports). Although highly stylized, our simple incidence model sheds light on the inconsistent results one can obtain with misreported data on sexual activity and age preferences.