Vox:
Smaller firms suffer far more from organised, mafia-style crime
19 August 2017
Article by Roberto Ganau and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose
Whether organised crime undermines productivity has been studied extensively in broad terms, but not at the firm level. This column uses extensive firm-level data from across Italy to suggest that this is firmly the case, both through direct and indirect channels. The results point to a substantial negative direct effect of organised crime on firms' productivity growth. Moreover, any positive impact derived from industrial clustering and agglomeration economies is thoroughly debilitated by a strong presence of organised criminality.
Related publications
Ganau, R and A Rodríguez-Pose (2017), “Industrial clusters, organized crime and productivity growth in Italian SMEs”, Journal of Regional Science, forthcoming
Related links
Andrés Rodríguez-Pose webpage
Urban and Spatial Programme webpage