The Spatial Economic Impact of Crime: Evidence from the Construction Sector in Italian Municipalities

IF 0.8 4区经济学 Q3 ECONOMICS

Cesifo Economic Studies Pub Date : 2023-09-01 DOI:10.1093/cesifo/ifad009

Leonzio Rizzo, Massimiliano Ferraresi, Riccardo Secomandi

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Abstract

Abstract Literature has mainly focused on understanding whether organized crime impacts on economic growth, broadly intended. Yet, at the local level, little is known as to how crime may affect economic activities. Using a unique geo-localized dataset on Italian firms, we exploit the strengthening of policy enforcement against corruption to show that when municipalities where the city council is dissolved because of organized-crime infiltration, the construction sector suffers a 7% reduction in the value added of firms located in the same area where the council dissolution occurred. We also find that the effect is larger, the longer the commissioner is present in the municipal council. Taken together our findings suggest that the action of the commissioner depresses the economic activity in the construction sector of the area where the temporary-administered municipality is located, given that it blocks all those relationships with firms related with criminality. This calls for a contemporaneous intervention stimulating public procurements with ‘good’ firms. (JEL codes: K42, D73, R10 and H32)

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犯罪的空间经济影响:来自意大利城市建筑部门的证据

摘要文献主要集中于了解有组织犯罪是否对经济增长产生影响。然而，在地方层面，人们对犯罪如何影响经济活动知之甚少。利用意大利公司独特的地理定位数据集，我们利用加强反腐败政策的执行来表明，当市议会因有组织犯罪渗透而解散时，位于议会解散同一地区的建筑部门的公司增加值减少了7%。我们还发现，专员在市议会任职的时间越长，影响越大。综上所述，我们的调查结果表明，专员的行动抑制了临时管理城市所在地区建筑部门的经济活动，因为它阻止了所有与犯罪有关的公司的关系。这就需要同时进行干预，刺激“好”公司的公共采购。(JEL代码:K42、D73、R10、H32)

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cesifo Economic Studies ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

7.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： CESifo Economic Studies publishes provocative, high-quality papers in economics, with a particular focus on policy issues. Papers by leading academics are written for a wide and global audience, including those in government, business, and academia. The journal combines theory and empirical research in a style accessible to economists across all specialisations.