On the Association between Prostitution Regulation and Rape

Abstract

This paper proposes a theoretical model that connects rape and prostitution taking into account the substitutive relationship between the two recently documented in the economic literature. First, it provides a theoretical underpinning of the close connection between rape and the prostitution market (i.e. supply and demand). Second, it studies the effects of the most popular prostitution regulations on rape. Using legalized prostitution as a benchmark, this paper finds that both the Nordic and Dutch model increase rape, being the effect of the former larger than that of the latter. Estimated correlations using a panel data of European countries offer suggestive evidence in favor of these findings.

This paper proposes a theoretical model that connects rape and prostitution taking into account the substitutive relationship between the two recently documented in the economic literature. First, it provides a theoretical underpinning of the close connection between rape and the prostitution market (i.e. supply and demand). Second, it studies the effects of the most popular prostitution regulations on rape. Using legalized prostitution as a benchmark, this paper finds that both the Nordic and Dutch model increase rape, being the effect of the former larger than that of the latter. Estimated correlations using a panel data of European countries offer suggestive evidence in favor of these findings.