draining development.pdf - Khazar University

188 Draining Development?demands by narrowing or expanding their size; their organizationalstructures are not so much predesigned as shaped by external social andlegal factors. Certain criminal groups, such as those involved in the constructionor gambling businesses, may require an elaborate hierarchyand a clear division of labor. These are necessary organizational prerequisitesto remaining in the illicit business. In contrast, criminal groupssuch as those involved in pawnshops and the fencing of stolen goodsmust respond rapidly to changing demand in the streets and thereforerequire little or no formal organizational structure. Prostitution, pornographicfilms, the traffic in organs, and the supply of illegal manpowerare often monopolized by criminal organizations. These organizationsrespond to an existing demand, but they also create new demand. Theinnovative capabilities of criminal organizations enable them to convertindividual preferences into commercial demand.Some data confirm that, if human trafficking is a big business, it ismostly a disorganized criminal business that depends on individuals orsmall groups linked on an ad hoc basis. According to Feingold (2005),there is no standard profile of traffickers. They range from truck driversand “village aunties” to labor brokers and police officers. Traffickers areas varied as the circumstances of their victims. Although some traffickingvictims are literally kidnapped, most leave their homes voluntarilyand slip into being trafficked on their journey. By the same token, sometraffickers are as likely to purchase people as they are to transport them.Participation in a criminal organization requires specific talents. Noteveryone can be a smuggler or a flesh-peddler. Not everyone is preparedto risk prison or violence. The talent is therefore uncommon and attractsa price.Smugglers. There is a scholarly consensus that most smugglers are notmembers of a criminal organization. Zhang and Chin (2002) and Zhang,Chin, and Miller (2007) write that Chinese human smuggling is dominatedby ordinary citizens whose family networks and fortuitous socialcontacts have enabled them to pool resources to transport human cargoesaround the world. Orrenius (2001) has studied the illegal immigrationalong the Mexico–United States border and emphasizes the evidencefor easy entry into the trafficking industry. In theory, any migrantwho has undertaken an illegal border crossing can use the experience to