A Cargo of Exploitable Souls Understanding The Market for Human Trafficking

 

Demand for Human Trafficking (Wheaton et al. 2009)

Demand for victims of human trafficking has a negative relationship with the price of victims set by the seller (traffickers). The employer's action in buying victims is an illegal step by the company to keep costs as low as possible and obtain maximum profit. The wages for workers is a cost component that significantly affects the whole business. For example, The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that 56.5% of the United States' GDP in 2006 was a form of compensation for workers. 

 

The lower the traffickers put the victim price, the more demand increases. At the level PHIGH, the price of victims is at a level equivalent to that of legal workers, so there is no advantage for employers to employ victims of human trafficking. Therefore, the accepted price level in the demand model is the point below the level PHIGH. 

 

Employers also face other costs as a result of using illegal workers. These costs include: lodging, clothing, food, and additional charges such as payments to police or other law enforcement officials to cover their illicit practices. In addition, there are non-monetary costs, namely physical, psychological, and criminal costs (Wheaton, 2009). If the company is known to the public to use trafficked labor, it will lose its social status. Companies must also be prepared for the possibility of prosecution from the authorities. Although, the risk is relatively small due to the lack of law and law enforcement (UNICEF USA, n.d.) and human trafficking activities that are difficult to track (Wheaton, 2009). 

 

Supply 

Rational-choice in crime is described by Beckers (1995) as a decision-making process by comparing the benefits and costs of committing a crime. Individuals will decide to enter the criminal world if the benefits outweigh the costs. Furthermore, Beckers identifies illegal income and physical gain as indicators of profit. 

Traffickers face variable and fixed costs in running their operations. Variable costs in human trafficking are transporting individuals through different travel routes. The more victims, the higher the cost of transportation accommodation to move victims. Meanwhile, the fixed costs that traffickers must pay are pretty high. Traffickers must pay to establish stable and secure routes, pay bribes in layers, and falsify travel documents (Wheaton, 2009). 

Becker (1968), in "Crime and punishment: an economic approach," explains the costs associated with the decision to commit a crime. Among them are spiritual costs, opportunity costs, and costs expected punishment. Spiritual costs include guilt, anxiety, fear, aversion to risk, or other emotions associated with committing a crime. Opportunity costs consist of the net benefits of legal activities lost in planning, committing, and concealing a crime. Expected punishment consists of all costs of formal and informal sanctions and costs arising from the litigation process.