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14:00 | Room 402 | Applied Micro Research Seminar
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
Join online
Meeting number: 2744 202 4927
Meeting password: 936127
Abstract: Italy has one of the slowest civil 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 fulfil this service. I empirically test the main model prediction using a novel database of Mafiacontrolled 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.
Keywords: Contract enforcement, Criminal organizations, Mafia, Tribunals
JEL: P16, K40, H11
Full Text: The Institutional Role of the Italian Mafia: Enforcing Contracts when the State Does Not
