- Seminars
- The Institutional Role of the Italian Mafia: Enforcing Contracts When the State Does Not (Federica Braccioli)
The Institutional Role of the Italian Mafia: Enforcing Contracts When the State Does Not (Federica Braccioli)
Speaker
Federia Braccioli - University of Geneva and Institute for Economic Analysis (Barcelona School of Economics)
Date
Apr 26, 2023 - Time:
12:00
Italy has one of the slowest judicial systems in Europe. At the same time, there exists anecdotal evidence suggesting that informal contract enforcement can be provided by organized crime. I present a simple theoretical framework to explain why citizens may turn to the Mafia for contract enforcement when the State is increasingly unable to fulfill this service. I empirically test the main model prediction using a novel database of Mafia-controlled areas across Italy between 2014 and 2019. I obtain confidential yearly data from the Superior Council of the Judiciary about the judge’s retirement, which I use as a source of exogenous variation in the State’s enforcement capacity. Results indicate that the Mafia expands its control over the territory when the State weakens its contract enforcement capacity.
- Data pubblicazione
- Feb 3, 2023
- Contact person
- Martina Menon
- Department
- Economics
- School
- Economics and Management