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Human Trafficking and Natural Disasters: An Empirical Analysis

Thesis advisor: S Anukriti / Thesis advisor: Robert Murphy / It is widely believed that natural disasters increase human trafficking from the affected region or country; however, credible analyses of the causal relationship are lacking. This paper estimates the causal effect of natural disaster occurrence on economic factors and the probability of human trafficking. I find that there is a significant, positive effect of disasters—as measured by an indicator for occurrence as well as disaster intensity—on human trafficking. Moreover, disasters negatively impact economic outcomes, suggesting a potential mechanism through which disasters indirectly affect trafficking. These findings are policy-relevant for anti-human trafficking and disaster relief organizations as they provide empirical evidence for a previously hypothesized relationship and may help prioritize the underemphasized rise in trafficking during times of inevitable chaos. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Arts and Sciences Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_106784
Date January 2016
CreatorsBoria, Maria Gabriella
PublisherBoston College
Source SetsBoston College
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, thesis
Formatelectronic, application/pdf
RightsCopyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

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