The economics of human trafficking and labour migration: Micro-evidence from Eastern Europe

Journal of Comparative Economics

Volumn 38, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 173-188

  Omar Mahmoud, Toman ^a,b   Trebesch, Christoph ^c,d  

^a KIEL INSTITUTE FOR THE WORLD ECONOMY   (Germany)

^b GIGA GERMAN INSTITUTE OF GLOBAL AND AREA STUDIES   (Germany)

^c FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN   (Germany)

^d HERTIE SCHOOL OF GOVERNANCE   (Germany)

Author keywords

Eastern Europe; Human trafficking; Illegal migration; Migrant exploitation; Migration networks

Indexed keywords

EID: 77953107665     PISSN: 01475967     EISSN: 10957227     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2010.02.001     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. Adams Richard H. Remittances, poverty, and investment in Guatemala. International Migration, Remittances, and the Brain Drain 2005, World Bank/Palgrave Macmillan, Washington, DC. M. Schiff, T. Özden (Eds.).
2. Ai Chunrong, Norton Edward C. Interaction term in logit and probit models. Economic Letters 2003, 80:123-129.
3. Akee, Randall, Basu, Arnab K., Bedi, Arjun S., Chau, Nancy, 2007. Determinants of Trafficking in Women and Children: Cross-National Evidence, Theory and Policy Implications. Mimeo.
4. Amin, Mohammad, Mattoo, Aaditya, 2006. Can Guest Worker Schemes Reduce Illegal Migration? Policy Research Working Paper Series 3828. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
5. Aronowitz Alexis A. Smuggling and trafficking in human beings: the phenomenon, the markets that drive it and the organizations that promote it. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 2001, 9:163-195.
6. Bales Kevin Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy 1999, University of California Press, Berkeley.
7. Basu Arnab K., Chau Nancy Targeting child labor in debt bondage: evidence theory and policy prescriptions. World Bank Economic Review 2003, 17:255-281.
8. Bauer, Thomas, Zimmermann, Klaus, 1999. Assessment of possible migration pressure and its labour market impact following EU enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe. IZA Research Reports 3, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
9. Bauer Thomas, Epstein Gill, Gang Ira N. The influence of stocks and flows on migrants' location choices. Research in Labor Economics 2007, 26:199-229.
10. Beine, Michel, Docquier, Frédéric, Özden, Çaĝlar, forthcoming. Diasporas. Journal of Development Economics.
11. Bhabha, Jacqueline, 2005. Trafficking, smuggling, and human rights. Migration Information Source: Special Issue on Migration and Human Rights.
12. Blum Jerome The rise of serfdom in Eastern Europe. American Historical Review 1957, 62:807-836.
13. Borjas George J. Self-selection and the earnings of immigrants. American Economic Review 1987, 77:531-553.
14. Bruckert, Christine, Parent, Colette, 2002. Trafficking in Human Beings and Organized Crime: A Literature Review. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Mimeo.
15. Carrington William J., Detragiache Enrica, Vishwanath Tara Migration with endogenous moving costs. American Economic Review 1996, 86(4):909-930.
16. Chand Satish Economics of Human Trafficking: A Survey 2008, The Australian National University, Mimeo.
17. Chiquiar Daniel, Hanson Gordon H. International migration, self-selection, and the distribution of wages: evidence from Mexico and the United States. Journal of Political Economy 2005, 113:239-281.
18. Clemens, Michael, Montenegro, Claudio, Pritchett, Lant, 2008. The Place Premium: Wage Differences for Identical Workers across the US Border. Policy Research Working Paper Series 4671. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
19. Collier Paul, Hoeffler Anke Greed and grievance in civil war. Oxford Economic Papers 2004, 56:563-595.
20. Coomaraswamy, Radhika, 2001. United Nations Addendum Report to the Human Rights Commission regarding Mission to Bangladesh, Nepal and India on the issue of trafficking of women and children.
21. Cranford Cynthia J. Networks of exploitation: immigrant labor and the restructuring of the Los Angeles janitorial industry. Social Problems 2005, 52:379-397.
22. Dessy Stéphane, Pallage Sylvain Some surprising effects of better law enforcement against child trafficking. Journal of African Development 2006, 8:115-132.
23. Domar Evsey The causes of slavery or serfdom: a hypothesis. Economic History Review 1970, 30:18-32.
24. Fearon James D., Laitin David D. Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war. American Political Science Review 2003, 97:75-90.
25. Fiorentini Gianluca, Peltzman Sam The Economics of Organised Crime 1995, Cambridge University Press.
26. Freeman Scott, Grogger Jeffrey, Sonstelie Jon The spatial concentration of crime. Journal of Urban Economics 1996, 40:216-231.
27. Freeman Richard J. The Economics of Crime. Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3C 1999, 3529-3571. Amsterdam, North Holland. O. Ashenfelter, D. Card (Eds.).
28. Friebel Guido, Guriev Sergei Smuggling humans: a theory of dept-financed migration. Journal of the European Economic Association 2006, 4:1085-1111.
29. Gathmann Christina Effects of enforcement on illegal markets: evidence from migrant smuggling along the south-western border. Journal of Public Economics 2008, 92:1926-1941.
30. Glaeser Edward L., Sacerdote Bruce Why is there more crime in cities?. Journal of Political Economy 1999, 107:225-229.
31. Görlich, Dennis, Toman Omar Mahmoud, Christoph Trebesch, 2007. Explaining Labour Market Inactivity in Migrant-Sending Families. Working Paper 1391, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
32. Görlich Dennis, Trebesch Christoph Seasonal migration and networks - evidence on Moldova's labour exodus. Review of World Economics 2008, 144:107-133.
33. Gozdziak Elizbieta E., Collett Elizabeth A. Research on human trafficking in North America: a review of literature. International Migration 2005, 43:99-128.
34. Harff Barbara No lessons learned from the holocaust: assessing risks of genocide and political mass murder since 1955. American Political Science Review 2003, 97:57-74.
35. Hausmann Ricardo, Pritchett Lant, Rodrik Dani Growth accelerations. Journal of Economic Growth 2005, 10:303-329.
36. ILO, 2005. A Global Alliance against Forced Labour. ILO, Geneva.
37. IOM, 2006. Human Trafficking Survey: Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. December 2006. IOM Kyiv, Ukraine.
38. King Gary, Zeng Langche Logistic regression in rare events data. Political Analysis 2001, 9:137-163.
39. Kraler Albert, Iglicka Krystyna Labour migration in Central and Eastern European countries. New Challenges for Migration Policy in Central and Eastern Europe 2002, 27-58. Asser Press, The Hague. F. Laczko, I. Stacher, A. Klekowski von Koppenfels (Eds.).
40. Lackso Frank, Gramegna Marco A. Developing better indicators of human trafficking. Brown Journal of World Affairs 2003, 10:179-194.
41. Laczko Frank Data and research on human trafficking. International Migration 2005, 43:5-16.
42. Langberg Laura A review of recent OAS research on human trafficking in the Latin American and Caribbean region. International Migration 2005, 43:129-139.
43. Leblang David, Satyanath Shanker Politically generated uncertainty and currency crises: theory, tests, and forecasts. Journal of International Money and Finance 2008, 27:480-497.
44. Leman Johan, Janssens Stefan Travel agencies as a linking element for human smuggling and trafficking from Eastern Europe. Migration Studies 2007, 166:443-459.
45. LexisNexis, 2008. LexisNexis Global Survey of Human Trafficking Laws. July 2008. <>. http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/pdf/20081218105838_large.pdf.
46. Lücke, Matthias, Mahmoud, Toman Omar, Steinmayr, Andreas, 2009. Labor Migration and Remittances in Moldova: Is the Boom Over? IOM, Chisinau.
47. Mansoor Ali, Quillin Brice Migration and Remittances: Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union 2006, The World Bank, Washington, DC.
48. Martin Nina, Morales Sandra, Theodore Nik Migrant worker centers: contending with downgrading in the low-wage labor market. GeoJournal 2007, 68:155-165.
49. McKenzie, David, Rapoport, Hillel, forthcoming. Self-selection patterns in Mexico-US migration: the role of migration networks. Review of Economics and Statistics.
50. Mora Jorge, Taylor J.Edward Determinants of migration, destination, and sector choice: disentangling individual, household, and community effects. International Migration, Remittances, and the Brain Drain 2005, World Bank/Palgrave Macmillan, Washington, DC. T. Özden, M. Schiff (Eds.).
51. Munshi Kaivan Networks in the modern economy: Mexican migrants in the US labor market. Quarterly Journal of Economics 2003, 118:549-599.
52. Naim Moses Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats Are Hijacking the Global Economy 2005, Doubleday.
53. Obuah Emmanuel Combating global trafficking in persons: the role of the United States post-september 2001. International Politics 2006, 43:241-265.
54. Omar Mahmoud Toman, Trebesch Christoph Emigration and Skills Shortages in Moldova. Background Paper for Country Economic Memorandum 2009, The World Bank, Washington, DC.
55. Orrenius, Pia, 1999. The Role of Family Networks, Coyote Prices and the Rural Economy in Migration from Western Mexico: 1965-1994. Working Paper 99-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
56. Orrenius Pia, Zavodny Madeline Self-selection among undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Journal of Development Economics 2005, 78:215-240.
57. Piper Nicola A problem by a different name? A review of the research on trafficking in South-East Asia and Oceania. Data and Research on Human Trafficking: a Global Survey 2005, 202-233. IOM, Geneva. F. Laczko, E. Gozdziak (Eds.).
58. Ruggiero Vincenzo Trafficking in human beings: slaves in contemporary Europe. International Journal of the Sociology of Law 1997, 25:231-244.
59. Salt John, Stein Jeremy Migration as business: the case of trafficking. International Migration 1997, 35:467-494.
60. Schloenhardt Andreas Organized crime and the business of migrant trafficking. Crime, Law and Social Change 1999, 32:203-233.
61. Stalker Peter Workers without Frontiers: The Impact of Globalisation on International Migration 2000, ILO, Geneva.
62. Surtees Rebecca Second Annual Report on Victims of Trafficking in South-Eastern Europe 2005, IOM, Geneva.
63. Tamura, Yuji 2007. Migrant Smuggling. Warwick Economics Research Paper Series 791. University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
64. Tyldum Guri, Brunovskis Anette Describing the unobserved: methodological challenges in empirical studies on human trafficking. International Migration 2005, 43:17-34.
65. Tyuryukanova Elena Forced Labour in the Russian Federation Today 2005, ILO, Geneva.
66. UN, 2000a. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. United Nations, New York.
67. UN, 2000b. Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. United Nations, New York.
68. UNODC, 2006. Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
69. US State Department, 2008. Trafficking in Persons Report. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
70. Väyrynen Raimo Illegal immigration, human trafficking and organized crime. Poverty, International Migration and Asylum 2005, 143-170. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. G. Borjas, J. Crisp (Eds.).
71. Winters Paul, de Janvry Alain, Sadoulet Elisabeth Family and community networks in Mexico-US migration. Journal of Human Resources 2001, 36:159-184.
72. World Bank, 2005. Global Economic Prospects 2006: Economic Implications of Remittances and Migration. Washington, DC.
73. Zenou Yves The spatial aspects of crime. Journal of the European Economic Association 2003, 1:459-467.
74. Zhang Sheldon, Chin Ko-Lin Enter the dragon: inside Chinese human smuggling organizations. Criminology 2002, 40(4):737-767.