An offer they couldn't refuse: Causes and consequences of the Sicilian Mafia

The presence of a local criminal organisation can be linked to slower economic and social growth, and this holds true of the Sicilian Mafia. Giuseppe De Feo discusses his recent research on how the Mafia came to be, and its impact on Sicilian growth since its inception. The threat of Peasant Fasci organisations in the 1890s led landholders and politicians to turn to the Mafia to combat pressure from the peasant class. Since then, the Mafia's existence seems to have reduced literacy and health outcomes, and limited the provision of a variety of local public goods.