Protection services can be paid in prestige rather than money

Evidence

On the surface, much was still unchanged from the past when I visited in 1987. A few greengrocers and fruit merchants still arrived on the traditional Sicilian cart pulled by a donkey and embellished with yellow and red patterns. Less innocently, tax evasion was rampant, and the idiom of protection, respect, and aggressive commercial determination was still widespread. The commissionari act as internal police, guarding against damage and theft and making sure that pickpockets do not enrich themselves at the farmers’ expense. The commissionari of “great respect” intervene to settle the frequent disputes among the colorful characters of the market. These tasks are undertaken not for money but for prestige: “to gain points in the eyes of other agents,” “so farmers feel safe when buying at my stand.” — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 545

Categorization

• XREF: Supports Gambetta’s thesis that reputation itself is the mafia’s currency: the commissionari’s enforcement is compensated in status, not cash, showing the ‘reputation as asset’ mechanism operates even at the market micro-level.