Organized Crime, Violence, and the Quality of Politicians: Evidence from Southern Italy

The study looks at the problems facing coastal fishing communities. It highlights the impacts that, in the complex framework of the EU reforms, have manifested themselves on economic activities and on society. The aim of the paper is twofold: to examine small-scale artisanal fishing in an area of Southern Italy in order to develop resilience and diversification and at the same time to outline the profiles of local bluefish buyers to highlight development strategies for the sector. The research carried out through a direct survey by administering a questionnaire to fishermen operating in areas of Southern Italy and the data cross-referenced with the opinions of local consumers. A conjoint experiment, followed by a multiple correspondence analysis and cluster identification, was used to outline the profiles of local bluefish buyers. The results of the analysis reveal that the fish market and the restaurant sector are the main distribution channels preferred by fishermen. Furthermore, fishermen are very sensitive to environmental issues and are willing to collaborate and actively participate in the environmental protection of the sea. Consumers recognise the quality of local bluefish, and they implicitly perceive the sustainability of the method of capture. The results show the need to undertake synergistic actions for the fishing industry, capable of activating marketing strategies adequately to support, promote and develop the sector. The results of the study provide helpful information for food companies in order to better segment their market and target their consumers, as well as to effectively promote their product using brands, certifications and traceability.

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SMEs: Trust and judicial system

Journal of Governance and Regulation ◽

10.22495/jgr_v5_i2_p1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 7-13

Author(s):

Marilene Lorizio ◽

Antonia Rosa Gurrieri

Keyword(s):

Economic Crisis ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Judicial System ◽

Global System ◽

High Level ◽

Resilience Capacity

Italian SMEs share capabilities and routines that permit them to reach high level of competition. But in a global system that is affected by structural deficiencies and negative performance of judicial system, it is very hard to maintain high performances. In this work, starting from the resilience capacity of a group of SMEs of surviving to the crisis, we try to analyse the quality of the expectations of a sample of resilient firms. Our study leads to the hypothesis that the economic crisis is in line with a crisis of confidence in the judicial system. This is all the more serious when considering that this distrust is rooted in those firms located in Southern Italy, where the inefficiency of the judicial system is particularly pronounced.

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Democracy and Vigilantism: The Case of Michoacán, Mexico

International Journal for Crime Justice and Social Democracy ◽

10.5204/ijcjsd.v5i4.320 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 17-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa ◽

Casimiro Leco Tomas

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Qualitative Analysis ◽

Organized Crime ◽

Municipal Government ◽

Institutional Quality ◽

The United States ◽

High Demand ◽

Self Defense ◽

Organized Crime Groups

The so-called self-defense forces in Mexico must be seen as a form of vigilantism generated by an incipient process of democratization that has not produced the institutional quality necessary to contain the activity of organized crime groups driven, essentially, by the high demand for drugs in the United States. Our qualitative analysis of Mexico’s Tierra Caliente (‘Hotlands’) revealed profound processes of institutional deterioration in politics and the economy that have created conditions ripe for vigilantism. In the absence of substantial improvements in the quality of Mexico’s democracy, especially at the levels of state and municipal government, the emergence of other forms of vigilantism and ongoing violence are foreseeable.

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Actors in Social Agriculture Cooperatives Combating Organized Crime in Southern Italy: Cultivating the Ground

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12219257 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (21) ◽

pp. 9257

Author(s):

Luca Fazzi ◽

Susanne Elsen

Keyword(s):

Organized Crime ◽

Coming Out ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Poverty Rate ◽

Social Enterprises ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

Small Organizations ◽

Social Environmental ◽

High Level

Southern Italy suffers from a high poverty rate, unemployment, emigration flows, and a strong presence of organized crime in the field of agriculture. This study seeks to investigate the potential of social enterprises as driving forces for the legal and eco-social development of fragile Southern Italian areas. To work in such challenging contexts requires the development of a high level of resilience, which implies the ability to adapt to difficulties and to overcome crises by coming out stronger than before. The initiatives we detected in Southern Italy are examples for the strength that can come from ideal motivations. In the case of social agriculture initiatives in Southern Italy counteracting organized crime, these motivations are an indispensable condition for their survival and growth. The accumulation of problems and difficulties, however, risks corroding motivations of the actors. This can lead to the withdrawal of members, which can have a serious impact on these small organizations. Thus, idealism is a necessary condition to face the challenges of legal and social environmental development, but it is not sufficient on its own, except in the short term, to allow social enterprises to emerge from extremely precarious conditions. Idealism can support resilience, but by itself, it cannot create a sustainable change. There is, therefore, the need to invest in these social enterprises, in the training of the actors involved, and in the selection and acquisition of the skills for strengthening the efficiency and sustainability of businesses and to foster horizontal structures of mutuality and solidarity to create a supportive environment for these social enterprises and their mission.

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