Overview for michaelcurzi - Less Wrong

michaelcurzi on Seeking reliable evidence - claim that closing sweatshops leads to child prostitution

2013-05-05T04:00:11.133390+10:00

Nice! Thanks a lot, that is just what I was looking for.

michaelcurzi on Seeking reliable evidence - claim that closing sweatshops leads to child prostitution

2013-05-04T14:19:16.000478+10:00

That's right - I was hoping to find other relevant work by the guy, in case this was an area of expertise.

Seeking reliable evidence - claim that closing sweatshops leads to child prostitution

Sat, 04 May 2013 12:51:15 +1000

Submitted by michaelcurzi • 10 votes • 24 comments

I've been looking for reliable evidence of a claim I've heard a few times. The claim is that the closing of sweatshops (by anti-globalization activists) has resulted in many of the child workers becoming prostitutes. The idea is frequently proffered as an example of do-gooder foolishness ignoring basic economics and screwing people over.

However, despite searching for a while, I can't find anything to indicate that this actually happened.

Some guy at the Library of Economics and Liberty mentions it here:

In one famous 1993 case U.S. senator Tom Harkin proposed banning imports from countries that employed children in sweatshops. In response a factory in Bangladesh laid off 50,000 children. What was their next best alternative? According to the British charity Oxfam a large number of them became prostitutes.

But in the article, Paul Krugman mentions the Oxfam study without citation:

In 1993, child workers in Bangladesh were found to be producing clothing for Wal-Mart, and Senator Tom Harkin proposed legislation banning imports from countries employing underage workers. The direct result was that Bangladeshi textile factories stopped employing children. But did the children go back to school? Did they return to happy homes? Not according to Oxfam, which found that the displaced child workers ended up in even worse jobs, or on the streets -- and that a significant number were forced into prostitution.

I looked at some Oxfam stuff, but couldn't find the study.

A similar claim is made in The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization by Tomas Larsson (go here and use the search tool for the word 'prostitution'), but doesn't mention the Oxfam study:

Keith E. Maskus, an economist at the University of Colorado, has studied the issue... He concludes that... "The celebrated French ban of soccer balls sewn in Pakistan for the World Cup in 1998 resulted in significant dislocation of children from employment. Those who tracked them found that a large proportion ended up begging and/or in prostitution,"

I looked for a paper or something by Maskus but came up empty.

I was taught this fact at a Poli Sci class in college, but I'm starting to think it's more likely to be an information cascade. Can anyone do a better job than me?

Thanks in advance.

24 comments

michaelcurzi on January 2013 Media Thread

2013-01-10T05:20:35.233029+11:00

I'd play in Spanish. I studied for several years but could use a refresher.

michaelcurzi on January 2013 Media Thread

2013-01-09T18:17:04.099906+11:00

Holy crap, I never thought of that. Considering replaying Uncharted 3...

michaelcurzi on My workflow

2012-12-10T19:28:53.785842+11:00

Amusingly, I use every single one of these, except Beeminder. I think I should try Beeminder.

michaelcurzi on [LINK] AmA by computational neuroscientists behind 'the world's largest functional brain model'

2012-12-05T05:47:10.678584+11:00

It looks like we only have one question - still I think a lot of people (me included) would like to see it answered. Would you mind contacting your friend?

michaelcurzi on What are you working on? December 2012

2012-12-05T05:42:46.127765+11:00

Cool, PM me your email address and I'll make a couple connections. (Might be helpful to know your first name as well).

michaelcurzi on What are you working on? December 2012

2012-12-04T09:47:25.413038+11:00

What kind of jobs are you looking for, and what skills do you have (if you don't mind me asking)? If I know of a good match I can try to make a connection.

michaelcurzi on [LINK] AmA by computational neuroscientists behind 'the world's largest functional brain model'

2012-12-04T08:54:54.888505+11:00

This seems like a great idea - if we put together a concrete list of questions to ask, it could be worth his time to come over.

If anyone wants to ask any questions, leave a comment and maybe we can get some direct answers. (But make sure your question isn't in the AmA, first!)