A Commonsian approach to crime: The Mafia and the economic power to withhold

Abstract

This paper is a plea for an institutionalist approach to crime. The argument is based on the Italian Mafia's infiltration of legitimate businesses. The focus is on the power dimension of this infiltration. I begin by emphasising how the traditional branch of crime economics is unable to correctly address this issue. I then use the tools provided by Commons, especially his definition of property and the capacity to withhold and his distinction between will-in-vacuo and will-in-action. Access to property rights over productive entities for Mafiosi provides a perfect illustration of how the capacity to hold rights turns into a power to withhold them from others. Legal Mafia-owned enterprises should not be seen as a step toward normalisation of the Mafia, but rather as a mark of the extension of their criminal power.