A mafioso’s name alone can compel a transaction to be undone.

Evidence

Settling disputes is not simply a sanitized description of what mafiosi do. In his short and busy life Stefano Bontade often played the role of guarantor, much as in the story of the equine lemon a century earlier. For instance, he persuaded a used car dealer to replace a faulty car sold to a man who lived in his district. The dealer had previously refused, but when the buyer returned and, following instructions, said, “Don Stefano Bontade told me to give you back the car keys,” the vehicle was replaced without further ado (Galante 1986: 97). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 431

Categorization

• XREF: The invoked-name enforcement is a pure credible-commitment mechanism — the buyer’s words reroute the dealer’s incentive without any physical coercion. Directly parallels Schelling’s commitment devices and Milgrom’s private-judge reputation mechanism.
• STORYSTEM: The plot device of a single proper name spoken aloud reversing a commercial decision is a strong engine for a scene in crime fiction.