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Human Trafficking and Regulating Prostitution

Author

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  • Lee, Samuel

    (New York University)

  • Persson, Petra

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

We study sex trafficking in a marriage market model of prostitution. When traffickers can coerce women to sell sex, trafficked prostitutes constitute a non-zero share of supply in any unregulated market for sex. We ask if regulation can eradicate trafficking and restore the equilibrium that would arise in an unregulated market without traffickers. While all existing approaches – criminalization of prostitutes (“the traditional model”), licensed prostitution (“the Dutch model”), and criminalization of johns (“the Swedish model”) – fail to accomplish this goal, we show that there exists an alternative regulatory model that does. Political support for regulation hinges on the level of gender income inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Samuel & Persson, Petra, 2013. "Human Trafficking and Regulating Prostitution," Working Paper Series 996, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0996
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raj Arunachalam & Manisha Shah, 2008. "Prostitutes and Brides?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 516-522, May.
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    7. Kotsadam, Andreas & Jakobsson, Niklas, 2011. "Do laws affect attitudes? An assessment of the Norwegian prostitution law using longitudinal data," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 103-115, June.
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    9. Paul J. Gertler & Manisha Shah, 2011. "Sex Work and Infection: What's Law Enforcement Got to Do with It?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 811-840.
    10. Samuel Cameron & Alan Collins, 2003. "Estimates of a Model of Male Participation in the Market for Female Heterosexual Prostitution Services," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 271-288, November.
    11. Paul Gertler & Manisha Shah & Stefano M. Bertozzi, 2005. "Risky Business: The Market for Unprotected Commercial Sex," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(3), pages 518-550, June.
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    13. Alan Collins & Guy Judge, 2010. "Differential enforcement across police jurisdictions and client demand in paid sex markets," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 43-55, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Bisschop & Stephen Kastoryano & Bas van der Klaauw, 2017. "Street Prostitution Zones and Crime," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 28-63, November.
    2. John N. Mordeson & Michel Mallenby & Sunil Mathew & Santanu Acharjee, 2017. "Human Trafficking: Policy Intervention," New Mathematics and Natural Computation (NMNC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(03), pages 341-358, November.
    3. Philippe Adair & Oksana Nezhyvenko, 2016. "Sex Work Vs. Sexual Exploitation: Assessing Guesstimates For Prostitution In The European Union," Post-Print hal-01672874, HAL.
    4. Abel Brodeur & Warn N Lekfuangfu & Yanos Zylberberg, 2018. "War, Migration and the Origins of the Thai Sex Industry," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(5), pages 1540-1576.
    5. Jakobsson, Niklas & Kotsadam, Andreas, 2015. "The Economics of Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation," Memorandum 07/2015, Oslo University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Prostitution; Trafficking; Contemporary slavery; Marriage; Illegal goods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J47 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Coercive Labor Markets
    • J49 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Other
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law

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