Economic Origins of the Mafia and Patronage System in Sicily

In the Proceedings of the 27th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 26-29, 2009

27 Pages Posted: 12 Jun 2017

See all articles by Jason Sardell

Jason Sardell

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

Oleg V. Pavlov

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

Khalid Saeed

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

Date Written: July 8, 2009

Abstract

Organized crime satisfies a demand for necessary social services in the absence of effective government institutions. This paper examines the rise of the Sicilian mafia. Using system dynamics, we model this system and test various policies to determine what factors have the greatest impact on mafia power. Based on the experiments, the most effective policies for reducing mafia power are those that decrease the demand for private protection services by reducing the threat of banditry in society, and not those policies that act against the mafia directly. We also examine historical examples of other mafia-type organizations and discover that our findings apply not just to Sicily, but also to other societies including present-day Iraq and Afghanistan.

Suggested Citation

Sardell, Jason and Pavlov, Oleg V. and Saeed, Khalid, Economic Origins of the Mafia and Patronage System in Sicily (July 8, 2009). In the Proceedings of the 27th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 26-29, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2983507 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2983507

Jason Sardell

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) ( email )

100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609
United States

Oleg V. Pavlov (Contact Author)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) ( email )

100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.wpi.edu/people/faculty/opavlov

Khalid Saeed

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) ( email )

100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609
United States

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