The Economics Of Prostitution, Analyzed

Researchers Study Chicago Prostitutes; Social Workers Dispute Preliminary Findings

(CBS/AP)  Researchers have concluded in a yet to be published study of the economics of prostitution in Chicago that the women were forced to service police officers, worked more on holidays and varied pricing based on race.

University of Chicago professor and "Freakonomics" author Steven D. Levitt and sociology professor Sudhir Venkatesh of Columbia University are the authors of the two-year study of street-level prostitution in Chicago's Roseland, Washington Park and Pullman neighborhoods.

The study has been seen by Chicago aid workers, some of whom dispute its findings.

"It's a classic example of an economist trying to tackle a very complicated problem just by looking at numbers," Samir Goswami, associate director of policy at the Chicago Homeless Coalition, told the Chicago Tribune. "It's flawed because the numbers do not explain the social situation these women are in. It's not just a business transaction."

A draft report of the study was presented last week at an economics conference in New Orleans.

Prostitutes taking part in the study - who were paid $150 a week - reported that about 3 percent of the sex acts they performed were "freebies" given to Chicago police officers to avoid arrest.

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond did not respond to requests for comment on the study's finding.

The study found full-time prostitutes made on average less than $20,000 a year. If they had a pimp, the women made a little more, even after giving up a 25 percent cut of their earnings. The women reported being beaten about once a month on average.

According to the study, Fridays were the sex trade's busiest days; Mondays the slowest.

The study also found white and Hispanic men were charged more, while blacks and repeat customers paid less. Seasonal spikes in demand drove up prices. The study found prices increased 30 percent in Washington Park over the July 4 weekend brought more women into the market. Markets in Roseland and Pullman operated differently, the study found. In Pullman, prostitutes worked with one of four pimps, while in Roseland prostitutes worked the streets on their own.

The study found that condoms were used in just 25 percent or fewer acts -- unprotected sex seemed to be the starting point for negotiations -- and there was a small price increase for unprotected sex, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Levitt, whose best-selling book "Freakonomics" made him a nationally known economist, and Venkatesh are refusing to comment on study and asked its findings not be published because it was still preliminary and incomplete.

The full draft of the paper is on the University of Chicago's Web site, marked "extremely preliminary and incomplete." A university spokesman said a final version of the paper is expected to be released in April.

[tbweb]

The most powerful weapon on the face of the Earth, in any nation, a hot, sexually attractive female willing to give it up for the right price! These street Prostitutes are the low end of the scale, not very bright. The high end Prostitutes, the ones with brains are the most dangerous of all, the ones who don''t even look or act like Prostitutes, the ones who work in the corporate world, you know them, the ones everybody hate or envy, the ones who can get any man they want, any job they want and almost any trip or anything they want, the ones who will get you fired if you go anywhere near them, yep them! In some cases its not their fault, they exploit the opportunities available, men are weak and they know how to exploit that weakness, very well I might add! LOL

[michellem99-2009]

The oldest job..selling yer body..

[tucano2]

Of course it''s ONLY ECONOMICS. The "social workers" as always have it wrong.

[kennergirl]

I guess I shouldn''t be shocked that police get freebies. My mother always told me not to marry a cop (which I didn''t) and that was her reason. I guess she knew what she was talking about. Cops do that with the drug dealers too. They go to a house and arrest some guy and confiscate his 100,000.00 and a few pounds of name drug and by the time he gets locked up his money shrunk to 50.000.00 and 1/2 pound or so of name drug.

[slim1h2o]

This will be a good handbook to read, when the depression hits, next, or this year.

We''ll need to prostitute ourselves, just to be able to feed our selves.

[gunownerdan]

Prohibition of prostitution will never end prostitution.
Prohibition of alcohol did not end the use of alcohol.
Prohibition of drugs will never end the use of drugs.
Prohibition tends to cause more harm than good.
REGULATION is the key.

[gopack443]

What percent of freebies went to researchers?

[rushlimpdrug]

". . . that about 3 percent of the *** acts they performed were "freebies" given to Chicago police officers to avoid arrest."

Wow
THAT is VERY interesting considering 3 percent is probably about the percent of the population that are cops. That means that nearly 100 percent of cops are getting freebies.
Of course 100 percent of them will deny it- simply because that''s what cops do (deny and skrew).