Does Prostitution Constrain Sex Crimes? Micro-evidence from Korea

Seo-Young Cho

MAGKS Papers on Economics from Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung)

Abstract: This paper investigates empirically whether prostitution reduces sex crimes. Theoretical predictions suggest two contradicting effects: substituting or complementing. By using survey data of sex offenders in Korea, I find that prostitution increases the probability of one committing sex crimes. Also, the experience of buying sex with a minor exacerbates the severity of sex crimes. These results indicate that prostitution intensifies one’s propensities for more violent sexual behaviors, suggesting a complementary relationship between prostitution and sex crimes. The main findings do not alter after accounting for the endogeneity of the model.

Keywords: sex crime; prostitution; complementary effects; substitution effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D62 J16 K14 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mar:magkse:201521

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