Good Intentions and Unintended Evil? Adverse Effects of Criminalizing Clients in Paid Sex Markets

Georg Stadtmann and Hendrik Sonnabend

Feminist Economics, 2019, vol. 25, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Internationally, there is no consensus concerning the legal and moral judgment of sex work. Nevertheless, there is an overwhelming agreement on the need to fight against forced sex work. This paper uses a formal economic model in order to analyze how a law – introduced to punish clients of commercial sex services – affects market outcomes. More specifically, it examines how the so-called “neo-abolitionism” or “Nordic” prostitution regime impacts forced sex work. The theoretical analysis reveals that this effect is ambiguous and crucially depends on the size of the deterrence effect and on local properties of the market demand. In addition, it highlights the conditions under which the composition of clients changes toward more risk-seeking individuals. Policy implications that arise are identified and discussed.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2019.1644454

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