Wage discrimination inside the mafia-run market reflects perceived skill and investment in equipment.

Evidence

The carrier’s skill consists of transporting as much as possible with the least possible damage. African immigrants, regarded as less skilled, are paid 1,000 lire per load, while locals receive up to three or four times as much. The few who make this a permanent job buy their own carts (for the considerable sum of 300,000 lire). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 1005

Categorization

• XREF: The Italian 1980s lire amounts map to roughly a decade of pay for a cart — evidence that the mafia-run wholesale market invested capital like a real firm, not just a protection racket.