Mafia reputation persists long after actual enforcement capacity has decayed.

Evidence

There is evidence that reputation persists even when it is unfounded, maintaining in business those who if challenged would retire. Since the Prohibition wars mafia families in the United States have lived largely off their names while in fact becoming weaker and meeker than both the press and the underworld itself assume (Reuter 1983: chap. 6). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 115

Categorization

• XREF: Confirms that reputation is a durable stock that outlasts the underlying enforcement — relevant to how commitments remain credible after capacity fades.