Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Organized crime and public spending: a panel data analysis

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Economics of Governance Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate, empirically, what components of public spending imply a decreasing effect on organized crime and what components create opportunities for organized crime, discussing also the role of government efficiency. Using a panel data analysis, the results show a strikingly consistent pattern for the EU Member States. Organized crime mainly operates in the distribution of government spending for local public goods and public provision of private services. There is a decreasing effect on organized crime of the public expenditure devoted to education and social policy. Government efficiency in public spending is beneficial to limit the opportunities of the organized crime.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albanese JS (2015) Organized crime. from the mob to transnational organized crime, 7th edn. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandiera O (2003) Land reform, the market for protection, and the origins of the Sicilian mafia: theory and evidence. J Law Econ Organ 19:218–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barone G, Narciso G (2015) Organized crime and business subsidies: Where does the money go? J Urban Econ 86:98–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker GS (1968) Crime and punishement: an economic approach. J Polit Econ 76:169–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Porath Y (1967) The production of human capital and the life-cycle of earnings. J Polit Econ 75:352–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buonanno P, Montolio D (2008) Identifying the socio-economic and demographic determinants of crime across Spanish provinces. Int Rev Law Econ 28(2):89–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caruso R (2009) Public spending and organized crime in Italy. A panel-data analysis over the period 1997–2003. Istituto di Politica Economica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano

  • Cayli B (2013) Italian civil society against the Mafia: from perceptions to expectations. Int J Law Crime Justice 41:81–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson A (2013) The social determinants of the rule of law: a comparison of Jamaica and Barbados. World Dev 45:314–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gambetta D (1993) The sicilian mafia: the business of private protection. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Gennaioli C, Onorato M (2010) Public spending and organized crime: the case of the 1997 Marche and Umbria Earthquake. Mimeo, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutmann J, Voigt S (2015) The rule of law: measurement and deep roots. CESifo Working Paper, No. 5670

  • Kollias C, Mylonidisb N, Paleologou S (2013) Crime and the effectiveness of public order spending in Greece: policy implications of some persistent findings. J Policy Model 35(1):121–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konrad K, Skaperdas S (2012) The market for protection and the origin of the state. Econ Theor 50:417–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotera G, Okada K (2017) How does democratization affect the composition of government expenditure? J Econ Behav Organ 137:145–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt S, Rubio M (2005) Understanding crime in Colombia and what can be done about it Institutional Reforms: the case of Colombia. MIT Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Lochner L, Moretti E (2004) The effect of education on crime: evidence from prison inmates, arrests and self-reports. Am Econ Rev 94:155–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neanidis KC, Rana MP (2014) Crime versus organized crime in Italy: Do their drivers differ? Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research, Discussion Paper Series, University of Manchester

  • Paoli L, Varese F (2014) The Oxford handbook of organized crime. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pascual DS (2017) Measuring organized crime: complexities of the quantitative and factorial analysis. In: Larsen HL, Blanco JM, Pastor RP, Yager RR (eds) Using open data to detect organized crime threats: factors driving future crime. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Dijk J (2007) Mafia markers: assessing organized crime and its impact upon societies. Trends Organ Crime 10(4):39–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varese F (2011) Mafias on the move: how organized crime conquers new territories. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Berrittella.

Appendix: Description of variables, data source and summary statistics

Appendix: Description of variables, data source and summary statistics

See Tables 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Table 8 Government expenditure by function
Table 9 List of countries
Table 10 Summary statistics of variables
Table 11 Summary statistics of alternative control and policy variables
Table 12 Summary statistics of the instruments

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Berrittella, M. Organized crime and public spending: a panel data analysis. Econ Gov 19, 119–140 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-018-0206-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-018-0206-3

Keywords

JEL Classification

Navigation