Demand for protection does not guarantee supply of a mafia

Evidence

But the absence of trust alone does not constitute a sufficient explanation for the growth of the mafia. If trust is scarce, then it is reasonable to infer a high potential demand for protection. … But, short of falling into the functionalist fallacy (Elster 1982), one cannot argue that such a demand is going to be met as a matter of course, whether by the mafia or by some other agent. Lack of trust implies simply that there will be more opportunities to meet that demand, and hence that meeting it will prove more profitable here than elsewhere. But it does not necessarily follow that someone will do so. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 199

Categorization

• XREF: Directly answers the functionalist-fallacy objection to the reader’s Gambetta/Schelling framework: high protection demand is necessary but not sufficient, requires a supplier to arise.