Human trafficking and regulating prostitution

Arbeitspapier

We study human trafficking in a marriage market model of prostitution. When trafficking is based on coercion, trafficking victims constitute a non-zero share of supply in any unregulated prostitution market. We ask if regulation can eradicate trafficking and restore the outcome that would arise in an unregulated market without traffickers. 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, but we show that there exists an alternative regulatory model that does. Political support for regulation hinges on the level of gender income inequality.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IFN Working Paper ; No. 996

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Household Behavior: General ; Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination ; Coercive Labor Markets ; Particular Labor Markets: Other ; Criminal Law ; Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
• Subject: Prostitution ; Trafficking ; Contemporary slavery ; Marriage ; Illegal goods

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Lee, Samuel ; Persson, Petra
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
• (where): Stockholm
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/95632
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET