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Regulating Prostitution: A Comparative Law and Economics Approach

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  • Rocío Albert
  • Fernando Gómez
  • Yanna Gutierrez Franco

Abstract

El mercado de la prostitución ha sido históricamente y es en la actualidad objeto de una amplia y variada gama de tratamientos legales. La literatura económica ha explorado la naturaleza de las decisiones de oferta y demanda en este mercado, tanto desde el punto de vista teórico como empírico. En este artículo, nos centramos en analizar los efectos sobre el bienestar social, en términos de reducción de las externalidades habitualmente asociadas a la prostitución, de las distintas alternativas de regulación que se vienen aplicando. Para ello, examinamos los cuatro modelos principales de regulación: prohibicionismo, abolicionismo, legalización (ya sea sin restricciones o limitada a determinadas zonas), o simple tolerancia (limbo legal). De su examen observamos la muy diversa eficacia de cada uno de estos sistemas en los distintos segmentos del mercado de la prostitución, un mercado nítidamente segmentado debido a diferencias no sólo en precio y calidad del servicio, sino también en cuanto al papel jugado, en su caso, por los intermediarios, a la escala de los operadores, los canales de comunicación o las salvaguardias contractuales existentes. Nuestro estudio concluye que es necesario aplicar una regulación más diversificada que la actualmente aplicada en la mayoría de las legislaciones, precisamente atendiendo a estas diferencias en la actividad, que requieren regímenes también diferenciados.

Suggested Citation

  • Rocío Albert & Fernando Gómez & Yanna Gutierrez Franco, 2007. "Regulating Prostitution: A Comparative Law and Economics Approach," Working Papers 2007-30, FEDEA.
    • Handle: RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2007-30
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Niklas Jakobsson & Andreas Kotsadam, 2013. "The law and economics of international sex slavery: prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 87-107, February.
    2. Andreas Kotsadam & Niklas Jakobsson, 2014. "Shame on you, John! Laws, stigmatization, and the demand for sex," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 393-404, June.

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