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The law and economics of international sex slavery: prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation

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  • Niklas Jakobsson
  • Andreas Kotsadam

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Abstract

International trafficking in humans for sexual exploitation is an economic activity driven by profit motives. Laws regarding commercial sex influence the profitability of trafficking and may thus affect the inflow of trafficking to a country. Using two recent sources of European cross country data we show that trafficking of persons for commercial sexual exploitation (as proxied by the data sets we are using) is least prevalent in countries where prostitution is illegal, most prevalent in countries where prostitution is legalized, and in between in those countries where prostitution is legal but procuring illegal. Case studies of two countries (Norway and Sweden) that have criminalized buying sex support the possibility of a causal link from harsher prostitution laws to reduced trafficking. Although the data do not allow us to infer robust causal inference, the results suggest that criminalizing procuring, or going further and criminalizing buying and/or selling sex, may reduce the amount of trafficking to a country. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:35:y:2013:i:1:p:87-107
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-011-9232-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandra Rudolph & Friedrich Schneider, 2017. "International Human Trafficking: Measuring Clandestinity by the Structural Equation Approach," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(2), pages 39-58.
    2. Rauscher, Michael & Willert, Bianca, 2020. "Modern slavery, corruption, and hysteresis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Seo-Young Cho, 2015. "Does Prostitution Constrain Sex Crimes? Micro-evidence from Korea," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201521, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    4. Cho, Seo-Young & Dreher, Axel & Neumayer, Eric, 2013. "Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 67-82.
    5. Masahiro Shoji & Kenmei Tsubota, 2018. "Sexual Exploitation of Trafficked Children: Evidence from Bangladesh," Working Papers 175, JICA Research Institute.
    6. Philippe Adair & Oksana Nezhyvenko, 2016. "Sex Work Vs. Sexual Exploitation: Assessing Guesstimates For Prostitution In The European Union," Post-Print hal-01672874, HAL.
    7. 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.
    8. Willert, Bianca, 2018. "Masters and slaves: A matching approach with heterogeneous workers," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 159, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    9. Melgar, Patricia & Merodio, Guiomar & Duque, Elena & Ramis-Salas, Mimar, 2021. "“Petites Bonnes” minors sex trafficked in Morocco and Spain," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Michael Rauscher & Bianca Willert, 2019. "Slavery, Corruption, and Institutions," CESifo Working Paper Series 7944, CESifo.
    11. Oksana Nezhyvenko, 2018. "Informal Employment in Ukraine and European Union Transition Countries," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph18-03 edited by Philippe Adair, November.
    12. Seo-Young Cho, 2012. "Modeling for Determinants of Human Trafficking," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 216, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Jakobsson, Niklas & Kotsadam, Andreas, 2015. "The Economics of Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation," Memorandum 07/2015, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    14. Sonnabend, Hendrik, 2015. "Good Intentions and Unintended Evil? Clients’ Punishment in the Market for Sex Services with Voluntary and Involuntary Providers," EconStor Preprints 110682, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    15. Seo-Young Cho, 2016. "Liberal coercion? Prostitution, human trafficking and policy," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 321-348, April.
    16. Seo-Young Cho, 2015. "Human Trafficking, A Shadow of Migration - Evidence from Germany," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(7), pages 905-921, July.
    17. Seo-Young Cho, 2015. "Modeling for Determinants of Human Trafficking: An Empirical Analysis," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(1), pages 2-21.
    18. Hernandez, Diego & Rudolph, Alexandra, 2011. "Modern Day Slavery: What Drives Human Trafficking in Europe?," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 83, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    19. Perrotta Berlin, Maria & Spagnolo, Giancarlo & Immordino, Giovanni & F. Russo, Francesco, 2019. "Prostitution and Violence: Evidence from Sweden," SITE Working Paper Series 52, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, revised 25 Jun 2020.
    20. Hernandez, Diego & Rudolph, Alexandra, 2015. "Modern day slavery: What drives human trafficking in Europe?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 118-139.
    21. Sonnabend, Hendrik & Stadtmann, Georg, 2018. "Good intentions and unintended evil? Adverse effects of criminalizing clients in paid sex markets with voluntary and involuntary prostitution," Discussion Papers 400, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Department of Business Administration and Economics.
    22. Rauscher, Michael & Willert, Bianca, 2019. "Slavery, corruption, and institutions," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 164, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    23. Seo-Young Cho, 2012. "Integrating Equality: Globalization, Women's Rights, and Human Trafficking," Economics of Security Working Paper Series 69, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    24. Philippe Adair & Oksana Nezhyvenko, 2019. "Assessing Key Figures of Prostitution in France and the European Union," Erudite Working Paper 2019-03, Erudite.
    25. Anuj Gurung & Amanda D Clark, 2018. "The perfect storm: The impact of disaster severity on internal human trafficking," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 21(4), pages 302-322, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Law and economics; Prostitution; Sexual exploitation; Sex slavery; Trafficking; F22; K14;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law

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