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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:35 am
Time: 11:35 am
Results for sicilian mafia
1 results foundAuthor: 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 |