Connected to Crime: An Exploration of the Nesting of Labour Trafficking and Exploitation in Legitimate Markets

Abstract This article explores corporate involvement in labour trafficking and labour exploitation based on a content analysis of US court records. Social and economic network concepts guided the qualitative inquiry that seeks to address the nesting of labour trafficking and exploitation in legitimate markets in a more comprehensive way than prior studies have accounted for. The findings are presented in two typologies that describe different roles of corporate firms and categorize situations of labour trafficking and exploitation by differences in the nature and extent of corporate involvement. These typologies provide a new analytical framework upon which future research can evaluate the role of legitimate markets in labour trafficking and exploitation. Altogether, the findings illustrate how a relational approach creates a more comprehensive angle to address corporate involvement in crime.