The Digital Sin City: An Empirical Study of Craigslist’s Impact on Prostitution Trends

Abstract

Do solicitation sites lead to an increase in prostitution trends in United States? We shed light on this issue by examining the impact that Craigslist (via its Erotic Service section) has on prostitution incidence using a data set consisting of 1,796 U.S. counties from 1999 to 2008. Our analysis shows that prostitution levels increased by about 17% on average upon the introduction of the Craigslist. We find that the Craigslist has led to the increase in both independent sex workers and workers operating under commercial vice groups. However, it is the latter that is growing at a greater rate, which bears important implications for policies concerning sex trafficking. Craigslist’s entry increases prostitution in both counties that have existing prostitution trends and those that do not, although the former set of counties experience a larger growth relative to the latter. Finally, we also found evidence suggesting that efforts in utilizing Craigslist for prostitution arrests are not catching up with the growth in prostitution trends induced by the site. In sum, online platforms can be utilized in unintended manners that facilitate illegal activities. Policy makers and website owners need to be aware of such impacts to implement the proper guidelines.