Mafia favors operate as a reciprocal exchange economy alongside protection

Evidence

There are times when mafiosi appear to behave in a typically Mediterranean way, busily engaging in a constant exchange of favors. Like patrons and political brokers, they secure jobs, exam results, licenses, pensions, military exemptions, and so on. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 459

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Gambetta’s own model of protection markets; the favor economy may be a collateral tool that induces the obligation for protection, echoed in Schelling’s coercion-by-obligation mechanics.