Human Organs Trafficking and Missing Persons in China

Abstract

Human organs supply shortage has long been severe in China, and the primary source of human organs has been executed criminals since 1983. In 2015, China abolished the use of executed criminals’ organs for transplant operations. Consequently, human organs supply shortage became even more severe, and we observe that missing persons in the country also increased significantly thereafter. The DID and DDD estimates show that compared with other missing types (e.g., children and young women), missing persons that might be related to human organs trafficking increased significantly after 2015, and such effects are more pronounced for men aged 21-60 and more significant in regions with hospitals qualified for human organs transplant operations.

Keywords: human organs trafficking, missing persons, executed criminals

JEL Classification: J01