Purpose - The aim of the present study is to explore institutional design strategies that promote compliance by regulating peculiar sorts of agents, namely, human trafficking victims, starting from the point of view that institutions assume addressee virtue, but instead should consider the hypothesis of non-compliance or that the measures adopted reveal their inefficiency to satisfy the goals they were thought for, or that they are applied to obtain scopes, which are different from the ones they were conceived for. Design/methodology/approach - Different methodological approaches, both deductive and inductive, are combined in the present paper, together with comparative and philosophical insights on national court decisions, scholarly writings, national and international entities' official reports and statistics. Findings - Because EU member states' experts are discussing about common guidelines, policies and standards to manage migration fluxes and EU integration process, this study highlights some critical points arising from the specific condition of a peculiar human trafficking victim: a migrant. Originality/value - The study offers insights into the possible answers in terms of awarding prize to and humanitarian protection of victims to fight human trafficking and smuggling in a constructive way, emphasising that these instruments (awarding and humanitarian) are not mutually exclusive and can be mixed together. © Emerald Publishing Limited.

Compliance Social inclusion Residence permit for social protection Human trafficking migration studies

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