Cartelized protection is one possible equilibrium, not an inevitable end state

Evidence

In conclusion, the age difference between Sicilian bosses and those in the rest of the South suggests that, in relative terms, firms in Sicily are more established, better organized internally, and, up to a point, better coordinated among themselves. It also suggests that the Sicilian situation is not unique; in other words, the relatively high degree of organization and coordination is not an inevitable condition of equilibrium toward which every protection universe automatically tends. Some simply remain in a permanent state of warfare, a fate that others strive, with uncertain results, to avoid. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 276

Categorization

• XREF: Challenges any functionalist reading of Mafia organization — some regions stay in permanent war, contradicting equilibrium-driven institutionalism. Compare with Milgrom’s claim that institutions emerge where information is costly, not inevitably.