Fewer, larger mafia families reduce inter-firm violent conflict

Evidence

The greater restraint of the American cartel may well depend on its relative stability. Mafia families in the United States are also fewer in number and larger—five in New York as opposed to eighteen in Palermo alone—presumably decreasing the tension between firms and making succession within firms less contentious. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 108

Categorization

• XREF: Instantiation of standard industrial-organization logic: market structure (number and size of firms) shapes competitive intensity; parallels Milgrom et al.’s point that dense groups sustain cooperation better than fragmented ones.