Mafia protection requires maintaining relations with the underworld it polices

Evidence

But what exactly is the mafia? The hypothesis developed here is that the mafia is a specific economic enterprise, an industry which produces, promotes, and sells private protection. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 10 (#expands, via linked claim)

This conclusion has three consequences. Other things being equal, (a) there will be more lemons sold under the auspices of the mafia even if the mafia itself had no direct interest in their sale. Even assuming that (b) the proportion of dishonest sellers is not higher than in other parts of the world, (a) still holds true. Finally, from (a) it follows that (c) even without an active and intentional effort on the part of the mafioso, the demand for protection will increase. In short, distrust, once addressed through mafioso protection, becomes self-perpetuating and self-expanding. Distrust, in other words, becomes endogenous and need no longer be thought of as a precondition external to the mafia protection market. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 70 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Mafia services arise where unstable transactions lack state enforcement; Thieves need protection as badly as their victims do; Mafia theft recovery operates through an information network of fences (+4 more)

Related

• Mafia protection makes distrust self-perpetuating and endogenous. (similarity 0.90)
• Mafia protection treats crime as disputes, not offenses (similarity 0.89)
• The mafia can be understood as an industry selling private protection (similarity 0.89)
• Mafia protection suppresses the emergence of honest-dealing business norms. (similarity 0.88)
• The mafioso profits directly from maintained distrust in the market. (similarity 0.88)
• Thieves need protection as badly as their victims do (similarity 0.87)
• Mafia protection of thieves both encourages crime and drives victims to seek protection (similarity 0.87)
• The mafia protects everyone from peasants to arms dealers (similarity 0.87)
• A free market in quality can dissolve the demand for mafia protection (similarity 0.87)
• Mafia protection customers range from spot buyers to kin (similarity 0.87)
• Mafia protection is a demanded commodity substituting for trust (similarity 0.86)
• Demand for protection does not guarantee supply of a mafia (similarity 0.85)
• Private enforcement can perversely suppress self-policing among market participants. (similarity 0.85)
• Mafia protection signals that distrusting others is rational (similarity 0.84)
• Mafiosi are fundamentally protection entrepreneurs, not dealers in any protected good. (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Mafia protection of thieves both encourages crime and drives victims to seek protection #expands (0.72)
• The mafia can be understood as an industry selling private protection #expands (0.72) — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 10
• Mafia protection makes distrust self-perpetuating and endogenous. #expands (0.72) — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 70