Transnational Trafficking, Law Enforcement, and Victim Protection: A Middleman Trafficker’s Perspective

Authors

Randall AkeeFollow
Arnab K. BasuFollow
Arjun BediFollow
Nancy H. ChauFollow

Start Page

349

Abstract

We explore two hitherto poorly understood characteristics of the human-trafficking market—the cross-border ease of mobility of traffickers and the elasticity of buyers’ demand. In a model of two-way bargaining, the exact configuration of these characteristics is shown to determine whether domestic and foreign crackdowns on illicit employment mutually reinforce or counteract one another in efforts to stem the tide of trafficking. Estimation results from a gravity model of trafficking present evidence consistent with the mutual-reinforcement view, indicating considerable ease of mobility and inelastic demand.

Recommended Citation

Akee, Randall; Basu, Arnab K.; Bedi, Arjun; and Chau, Nancy H. (2014) "Transnational Trafficking, Law Enforcement, and Victim Protection: A Middleman Trafficker’s Perspective," Journal of Law and Economics: Vol. 57: No. 2, Article 3.
Available at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/jle/vol57/iss2/3