Code for: Human Trafficking and Regulating Prostitution

Code accompanying article with the following abstract: Certain markets are illicit because part of the supply is coerced, but little is known about the optimal regulation of such markets. We model a prostitution market with voluntary and coerced prostitutes and askwhat regulation can restore the benchmark outcome that would arise under laissez-faire absent coercion. Whereas current policies -- decriminalization, criminalization of the buy or sell sides, and licensing -- are ineffective against trafficking or harm voluntary suppliers, we show that an alternative policy can restore the benchmark outcome. Our results are relevant to the ongoing debate about decriminalizing prostitution and provide guidance for empirical work on prostitution regulation.<br>

本代码所配套的论文摘要如下：部分市场因供应环节存在强迫行为而沦为非法市场，但目前学界对这类市场的最优监管方案仍知之甚少。我们构建了涵盖自愿性与被强迫性性工作者的卖淫市场模型，旨在探究何种监管政策能够还原无强迫情形下自由放任（laissez-faire）模式下的基准结果。当前主流监管政策包括除罪化、买卖双方刑事化规制以及许可制度，均无法有效打击人口贩运，反而可能损害自愿性性工作者的权益；我们的研究表明，另有一类替代性监管政策可实现基准结果的还原。本研究结论与当前卖淫除罪化的持续辩论密切相关，同时可为卖淫市场监管的实证研究提供参考方向。