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How does public policy impact trafficking victimization?: An exact matching study in the EU

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  • Sienna Nordquist

    (Bocconi University)

Abstract

Trafficking in human beings (THB) is a widespread, transnational issue in the European Union (EU). Member states act as source, transit, and destination countries for intra-EU trafficking, in addition to being a major destination region for external THB victims. This study presents a new dataset of THB victims observed in each EU member state per year and by type of exploitation going back as far as 2001 and employs exact matching methods to test the link between different prostitution policies and Roma secondary education attainment rates on observed THB victimization. The paper also builds off previous literature to compare how different legal prostitution models and THB supply factors are expected to influence various types of THB. The results indicate that legalized prostitution and lower educational attainment among the Roma community increase observed THB victimization, especially THB for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The paper does not find that the Swedish model significantly increases or decreases observed THB victimization. In demonstrating how matching methods can be utilized to uncover policy patterns in THB outcomes, this study provides a blueprint for how other hidden phenomena, such as corruption or migration, can be robustly and empirically tested.

Suggested Citation

  • Sienna Nordquist, 2023. "How does public policy impact trafficking victimization?: An exact matching study in the EU," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 23-68, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:56:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10657-023-09768-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-023-09768-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Seo-Young Cho & Axel Dreher & Eric Neumayer, 2014. "Determinants of Anti-Trafficking Policies: Evidence from a New Index," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 116(2), pages 429-454, April.
    3. Ho, Daniel E. & Imai, Kosuke & King, Gary & Stuart, Elizabeth A., 2007. "Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 199-236, July.
    4. Ho, Daniel & Imai, Kosuke & King, Gary & Stuart, Elizabeth A., 2011. "MatchIt: Nonparametric Preprocessing for Parametric Causal Inference," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 42(i08).
    5. Cho, Seo-Young & Dreher, Axel & Neumayer, Eric, 2013. "Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 67-82.
    6. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human trafficking; The EU; Public policy; Gender employment gap; Roma education; Legalized prostitution; Swedish model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General

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