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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 3:15 am
Time: 3:15 am
Results for mafia (sicily)
2 results foundAuthor: Buonanno, Paolo Title: On the Historical and Geographic Origins of the Sicilian Mafia Summary: This research attempts to explain the large differences in the early diffusion of the mafia across different areas of Sicily. We advance the hypothesis that, after the demise of Sicilian feudalism, the lack of publicly provided property-right protection from widespread banditry favored the development of a florid market for private protection and the emergence of a cartel of protection providers: the mafia. This would especially be the case in those areas (prevalently concentrated in the Western part of the island) characterized by the production and commercialization of sulphur and citrus fruits, Sicily's most valuable export goods whose international demand was soaring at the time. We test this hypothesis combining data on the early incidence of mafia across Sicilian municipalities and on the distribution of sulphur reserves, land suitability for the cultivation of citrus fruits, distance from the main commercial ports, and a variety of other geographical controls. Our empirical findings provide support for the proposed hypothesis documenting, in particular, a significant impact of sulphur extraction, terrain ruggedness, and distance from Palermo's port on mafia's early diffusion. Details: Unpublished Paper 2011. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: MPRA Paper No. 37009: Accessed July 24, 2012 at: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/37009/1/MPRA_paper_37009.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Italy URL: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/37009/1/MPRA_paper_37009.pdf Shelf Number: 125761 Keywords: Mafia (Sicily)Organized Crime |
Author: Dimico, Arcangelo Title: Origins of the Sicilian Mafi a: The Market for Lemons Summary: Since its first appearance in the late 1800s, the origins of the Sicilian mafi a have remained a largely unresolved mystery. Both institutional and historical explanations have been proposed in the literature through the years. In this paper, we develop an argument for a market structure-hypothesis, contending that mafi a arose in towns where fi rms made unusually high profi ts due to imperfect competition. We identify the market for citrus fruits as a sector with very high international demand as well as substantial fi xed costs that acted as a barrier to entry in many places and secured high profi ts in others. Using the original data from a parliamentary inquiry in 1881-86 on all towns in Sicily, we show that ma fia presence is strongly related to the production of orange and lemon. This result contrasts recent work that emphasizes the importance of land reforms and a broadening of property rights as the main reason for the emergence of ma fia protection. Details: Nottingham, UK: University of Nottingham, 2012. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: CREDIT Research Paper 12/01: Accessed November 2, 2012 at: http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/handle/10419/65483?langselector=en Year: 2012 Country: Italy URL: http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/handle/10419/65483?langselector=en Shelf Number: 126855 Keywords: Economics and CrimeMafia (Sicily)Organized CrimeSicilian Mafia |