Socio-Economic Inequalities and Organized Crime: An Empirical Analysis (original) (raw)

The social consequences of organized crime in Italy

WIDER Working Paper

This study is published within the UNU-WIDER project Inequality and governance in unstable democracies-the mediating role of trust, implemented by a consortium led by Institute of Development Studies.

Measuring the presence of organized crime across Italian provinces: a sensitivity analysis

European Journal of Law and Economics

The existing literature identifies different indicators to construct organized crime indices and places equal importance to different concepts of organized crime. This paper examines the sensitivity of organized crime across Italian provinces when different set of indicators and weights are used to combine crime indicators. Our findings suggest that there is a remarkable variation in the distribution of organized crime across Italian provinces based on the choice of indicators and the importance given to different crime indicators. It is also found that the relationship of organized crime with socioeconomic and political factors varies depending on the normative choices made in the construction of an organized crime index.

Measuring the Presence of the Mafias in Italy

2014

ABSTRACT Despite the relevance of the mafias for the Italian society, official and academic attempts to measure the presence of the mafias in the country are scarce. This loophole may affect the quality of research and policies against the mafias. This chapter discusses the measurement and the mapping of different types of mafias developed by Transcrime for the Italian Ministry of Interior. It presents the mafia index, which measures the presence of the mafias at the municipal level for the period 2000–2011. Further, it analyses the presence of five main types of mafias (Cosa Nostra, Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta, Apulian organised crime and other mafias). Finally, it discusses implications for research and policy in Italy and other countries.

Estimating a crime equation in the presence of organized crime: evidence from Italy

International Review of Law and Economics, 1997

We estimate a crime equation using a panel dataset of Italian regions for the period 1980 to 1989. Four different crimes are considered: murder, theft, robbery, and fraud. To take account of the presence of criminal organizations--a salient feature of the Italian context and a relevant factor usually disregarded by the empirical literature--we exploit the panel structure with unobservable individual components. Our results suggest that: (i) the probability of punishment is relatively more effective than both the severity of punishment and the efficiency of police authority in deterring crime; (ii) among the variables representing the opportunity costs of participating in illegal activities, the rate of unemployment, the value of public works started by government, and the proportion of people employed in the service sector have a significant effect; (iii) for three types of crime the regional unobservable component is correlated with the regressors; (iv) spillovers from drug consumption to theft are substantial; and (v) with the exception of fraud, the results are in contrast with the predictions of the standard economic model of crime. © 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc.

Economic structure and vulnerability to organised crime: Evidence from Sicily

Global Crime, 2008

The economic analysis of organized crime suggests that some economic activities are particularly vulnerable to penetration by criminal organizations. This paper provides an analysis of the structure of the Sicilian economy and shows that, when compared to other Italian regions, it is characterized by a disproportionate presence of such activities. In particular, the economy of Sicily appears characterized by: (i) a large dimension of traditional sectors, such as the Construction sector, which also has a strong territorial specificity; (ii) a large presence of small firms; (iii) a low level of technology; (iii) a large public sector. The joint presence of these features creates fertile soil for the typical activities of organized crime, such as extortion and cartel enforcement. Hence, we propose an alternative explanation of the persistence of organized crime with respect to explanations based on cultural and social factors.

Organized crime and regional development. A review of the Italian case

Trends in Organized Crime, 2009

This paper offers a review of the effects of organized crime on regional economic development, with particular reference to the case of Italy. After reviewing the empirical studies that analyse the relationship between crime and economic development, the paper examines the regional distribution and the social costs of some crimes (in particular extortion) that can be linked to mafia type criminality. Jel: K42, K 49, R 59.

Organised crime in Italy: Mafia and illegal markets–Exception and normality

Organised Crime in Europe, 2004

In Europe and elsewhere, southern Italian mafia organisations have long been considered a paradigm of organised crime or tout court identified with it. In the core sections of this article (4 and 5), the specificities of the southern Italian mafia phenomenon are singled out and ...