Crimine organizzato e sviluppo economico in prospettiva storica

This chapter offers a critical review of the economic and historical-institutional literature on the economic origins of organized crime and its impact on economic development in Italy, with particular attention to the Mezzogiorno. By reconstructing the historical roots of the mafia presence, the chapter highlights how organized crime emerged and consolidated in contexts characterized by a particular combination of geographical and topographical features, fragile institutions, and economic factors. The chapter then shows how the mafias negatively affect economic development and growth by reducing the accumulation of productive factors, discouraging firm entry into the market, reducing competition and incentives for innovation, and diverting public resources away from productive uses. In the conclusions, the chapter offers some reflections on anti-mafia policies.