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| 1 |
ID:
130866
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Curbing corruption is vital for China's future. But the exposure of corruption cases can only damage public confidence in the CCP and the state more generally. Corruption associated with toxic food, bogus medicines, grave abuses of power and criminal 'black societies' has produced a series of public scandals in China. Without reform, further occurrences could rapidly erode the legitimacy not just of the police and other judicial organs, but also of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The recent trial of Bo Xilai, the former Chongqing party secretary and member of the party's elite 25-member Politburo, showcased the kind of corruption that China's past president Hu Jintao warned could lead to 'the collapse of the Party and the downfall of the state'. In 2011, the Bank of China inadvertently reported that between 1994-2008 as many as 18,000 corrupt officials had fled the country for destinations in Europe, America and other parts of Asia, plundering an estimated $120 billion from state-owned enterprises and other criminal activities. The costs of maintaining domestic public order have also grown rapidly, and, for the first time, domestic security outlays approved by the 2012 National People's Congress (NPC) exceeded defence, in part over concerns about the growth of mass protests, fraud, corruption and organised crime, and the need to strengthen weiwen (stability) and social harmony.
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| 2 |
ID:
151797
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| 3 |
ID:
080435
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| Publication |
2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
For much of the past twenty-five years, the US-led war on drugs has been premised on a fundamental misunderstanding of Colombian drug trade. Instead of being run by a handful of massive, price-fixing 'cartels', the Colombian drug trade, then and now, was characterized by a fluid social system where flexible exchange networks expanded and retracted according to market opportunities and regulatory constraints. To support this interpretation, I draw on primary and secondary source data I collected in Colombia and the US, including interviews with several dozen hard-to-reach informants. I analyze these data to analyze the organisational form and functioning of 'Colombian' trafficking networks, focusing on how these illicit enterprises communicate, coordinate their activities, and make decisions, with an eye towards deflating some of the more persistent myths that have grown up around these transnational enterprises
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| 4 |
ID:
115400
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| 5 |
ID:
087811
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| 6 |
ID:
059085
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| 7 |
ID:
066304
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| 8 |
ID:
022872
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| Publication |
Nov 2002.
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| Description |
26-29
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| 9 |
ID:
122928
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| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article argues that understanding why Somali piracy has resisted control efforts requires understanding that it is a criminal business rather than a conventional international security problem. We statistically model Somali piracy and draw two conclusions: first, piracy increases with economic stability, and second, naval interdiction efforts are stabilising but not significantly reducing piracy. We argue that these conclusions are not surprising if piracy is understood as an organised crime. Our argument has four components. First, Somali piracy is a land-based problem, and naval control mechanisms are not deterring pirates. Second, improving Somalia's anarchic political situation will not necessarily stop piracy: our statistical analysis demonstrates that piracy is a business which improves with a more stable operating environment. Third, piracy is organised criminal activity, and like other organised crime groups, will be difficult to control, especially if it becomes embedded in state structures. Finally, we argue that few of the relevant players have any real incentives to alter their behaviour.
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| 10 |
ID:
074775
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| Publication |
2006.
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| Summary/Abstract |
More than most issues surrounding the American Mafia, the history of the Castellammare War is contestable at both theoretical and empirical levels. As the alleged pivotal event in the creation of the contemporary structure of the US Mafia or Cosa Nostra, it is of obvious importance as a topic of historical investigation. But a survey of published works on the War and its consequences reveals confusion, inaccuracies, erroneous assumptions and missing information. This is the first major systematic attempt to explore the War and its consequences made since the 1970s. Aside from adding substantially to the stock of knowledge of the War and its participants, debates on the War are critically evaluated, using original source materials where possible. The Castellammare War did not have the ramifications assumed, when placed either in a broader context or from the vantage point of internal American Mafia dynamics.
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| 11 |
ID:
067477
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| 12 |
ID:
131175
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| 13 |
ID:
122240
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| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Experience of conflict over the last two decades - from Haiti to Liberia to Afghanistan - points towards the likelihood that armed groups will adopt criminal strategies as a way of maintaining power during and after conflict, exploiting the state's vulnerability. However, policy responses have yet to prove effective in dealing with this threat. James Cockayne explores the relationship between criminal groups and political power, debunking longheld myths that such groups are primarily economic actors, before considering how a more strategic, evidence-based approach to tackling organised crime in conflict-affected states might be developed and implemented.
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| 14 |
ID:
118111
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| 15 |
ID:
080442
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| Publication |
2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The smuggling of contraband cigarettes is discussed in relation to numerous financial and social issues. Cigarette smugglers are often portrayed as ruthless and dangerous individuals, and according to official and media accounts a clear link has been established between cigarette smuggling and 'criminal and terrorist organisations'. The aim of this article is to challenge this stereotypical image of the cigarette smugglers based on the presentation of the stories of four smugglers interviewed in Greece and the UK
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| 16 |
ID:
151777
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| 17 |
ID:
122241
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| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
What is corruption and is it always harmful? These are the two key questions that Frank G Madsen assesses in his exploration of this public- and private-sector phenomenon. After surveying various academic and legal definitions, Madsen analyses corruption as a 'social bad', born of the inter-personal relationships within social groups, such as those involved in organised crime, and shaped by the structure and values of the society in which they operate. The article concludes by reviewing the range of international anti-corruption laws and measures currently in force before considering the role of governments in mitigating the domestic reach and impact of corruption.
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| 18 |
ID:
084649
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| 19 |
ID:
083098
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| Publication |
2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the current cost of protection rackets in Sicily. By means of a database constructed on judicial evidence, it has been possible to come up with an estimate of the average and total costs of the protection-money system, as well as finding out in which sectors of economic activity and in which provinces is most pervasive. The average monthly payment is approximately 600 euros per business, with stronger effects in those areas with a relatively more traditional economic structure. As a whole, in monetary terms, the protection racket in Sicily accounts for over 1.4% of gross regional product. Finally, the paper supports the hypothesis that in most cases, the pervasive presence of the mafia represents a considerable constraint on business growth.
This paper partially draws on an earlier study of the same authors for the Fondazione Rocco Chinnici, and published in Italian in 2008 as 'Un tentativo di stima del costo delle estorsioni sulle imprese a livello regionale: il caso Sicilia', in A. La Spina (eds.) , Bologna, Il Mulino. This paper partially draws on an earlier study of the same authors for the Fondazione Rocco Chinnici, and published in Italian in 2008 as 'Un tentativo di stima del costo delle estorsioni sulle imprese a livello regionale: il caso Sicilia', in A. La Spina (eds.) I costi dell'illegalitBologna, Il Mulino.
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| 20 |
ID:
129607
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