Jens Beckert and Matías Dewey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
Taking an economic sociology perspective, this introduction offers a systematic overview of the social organization of arenas of exchange prohibited by state law. We first distinguish different types ...
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Taking an economic sociology perspective, this introduction offers a systematic overview of the social organization of arenas of exchange prohibited by state law. We first distinguish different types of illegal markets, examine their internal functioning, and address state and political reactions to them, paying particular attention to the selective enforcement of the law and the role of informal rules. Second, we introduce the distinction between illegality and legitimacy, which is crucial for an understanding of the prevalence and form of illegal markets, and address two sources of social acceptance of illegality: externalities and expectations of the future. Third, considering the completely transformed role of the state, we allude to the architecture of illegal markets, indicate actors’ specific coordination problems, and illustrate how actors cope with them using cases contained in this volume. Finally, we elucidate the role of tax havens and the role of illegality in capitalist dynamics.Less
Taking an economic sociology perspective, this introduction offers a systematic overview of the social organization of arenas of exchange prohibited by state law. We first distinguish different types of illegal markets, examine their internal functioning, and address state and political reactions to them, paying particular attention to the selective enforcement of the law and the role of informal rules. Second, we introduce the distinction between illegality and legitimacy, which is crucial for an understanding of the prevalence and form of illegal markets, and address two sources of social acceptance of illegality: externalities and expectations of the future. Third, considering the completely transformed role of the state, we allude to the architecture of illegal markets, indicate actors’ specific coordination problems, and illustrate how actors cope with them using cases contained in this volume. Finally, we elucidate the role of tax havens and the role of illegality in capitalist dynamics.
Nina Engwicht
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0011
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
The study of legality and illegality in markets usually relies on the assumption of “consolidated” statehood. This is surprising given that the strong state is by far an exception rather than the ...
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The study of legality and illegality in markets usually relies on the assumption of “consolidated” statehood. This is surprising given that the strong state is by far an exception rather than the norm in the international system. It raises the question of how illegality is socially defined and enacted in contexts in which statehood is limited; that is, when the legitimacy, capability, and willingness of political authorities to develop and enforce a coherent body of laws is restricted. Analyzing social interactions in Sierra Leone’s illegal diamond market, this chapter argues that in order to understand illegality in situations of limited statehood it is crucial to take into account how illegal economies and their relation to the legal sphere are shaped by social norms of legitimacy.Less
The study of legality and illegality in markets usually relies on the assumption of “consolidated” statehood. This is surprising given that the strong state is by far an exception rather than the norm in the international system. It raises the question of how illegality is socially defined and enacted in contexts in which statehood is limited; that is, when the legitimacy, capability, and willingness of political authorities to develop and enforce a coherent body of laws is restricted. Analyzing social interactions in Sierra Leone’s illegal diamond market, this chapter argues that in order to understand illegality in situations of limited statehood it is crucial to take into account how illegal economies and their relation to the legal sphere are shaped by social norms of legitimacy.
Vadim Radaev
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0012
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
The study examines the evolution of heterogeneous illegal markets, including markets for homemade alcohol, counterfeit alcohol, and illegally manufactured alcohol in Russia. A variety of statistical ...
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The study examines the evolution of heterogeneous illegal markets, including markets for homemade alcohol, counterfeit alcohol, and illegally manufactured alcohol in Russia. A variety of statistical sources and survey data is used to demonstrate that the compositions of these markets have come through four different stages since late socialism, depending on the constellation of political, legislative, and economic factors. At each stage, some of these markets prevail, whereas others remain undeveloped. Overall, illegal alcohol markets tend to grow in periods of exogenous political or economic shocks and shrink in periods of economic growth. Changes in the structure of illegal markets are backed by a continuous requalification of products, organizations, and transactions contesting the boundaries between legality and illegality. Some illegal activities retain their legitimacy due to the ignorance or tolerance of enforcement agencies and final consumers.Less
The study examines the evolution of heterogeneous illegal markets, including markets for homemade alcohol, counterfeit alcohol, and illegally manufactured alcohol in Russia. A variety of statistical sources and survey data is used to demonstrate that the compositions of these markets have come through four different stages since late socialism, depending on the constellation of political, legislative, and economic factors. At each stage, some of these markets prevail, whereas others remain undeveloped. Overall, illegal alcohol markets tend to grow in periods of exogenous political or economic shocks and shrink in periods of economic growth. Changes in the structure of illegal markets are backed by a continuous requalification of products, organizations, and transactions contesting the boundaries between legality and illegality. Some illegal activities retain their legitimacy due to the ignorance or tolerance of enforcement agencies and final consumers.
Jens Beckert and Matías Dewey (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
From illegal drugs, stolen artwork, and forged trademarks, to fraud on financial markets—the phenomenon of illegality in market exchanges is pervasive. Illegal markets have great economic ...
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From illegal drugs, stolen artwork, and forged trademarks, to fraud on financial markets—the phenomenon of illegality in market exchanges is pervasive. Illegal markets have great economic significance, have relevant social and political consequences, and shape economic and political structures. Despite the importance of illegality in the economy, the field of economic sociology unquestioningly accepts the premise that the institutional structures and exchanges taking place in markets are law-abiding in nature. This volume seeks to challenge this. Questions that stand at the center of the chapters are: What are the interfaces between legal and illegal markets? How do demand and supply in illegal markets interact? What role do criminal organizations play in illegal markets? What is the relationship between illegality and governments? Is illegality a phenomenon central to capitalism? Anchored in economic sociology, this book contributes to the analysis and understanding of market exchanges in conditions of illegality from a perspective that focuses on the social organization of markets. Offering both theoretical reflections and case studies, the chapters assembled in the volume address the consequences of the illegal production, distribution, and consumption of products for the architecture of markets. It also focuses on the underlying causes and the political and social concerns stemming from the infringement of the law. This book provides insights into the trades in diamonds and counterfeit clothing, rhino horn and human organs, alcohol and doping products, marihuana and smuggled goods, stolen antiquities and personal information, and illegal practices in finance and price setting.Less
From illegal drugs, stolen artwork, and forged trademarks, to fraud on financial markets—the phenomenon of illegality in market exchanges is pervasive. Illegal markets have great economic significance, have relevant social and political consequences, and shape economic and political structures. Despite the importance of illegality in the economy, the field of economic sociology unquestioningly accepts the premise that the institutional structures and exchanges taking place in markets are law-abiding in nature. This volume seeks to challenge this. Questions that stand at the center of the chapters are: What are the interfaces between legal and illegal markets? How do demand and supply in illegal markets interact? What role do criminal organizations play in illegal markets? What is the relationship between illegality and governments? Is illegality a phenomenon central to capitalism? Anchored in economic sociology, this book contributes to the analysis and understanding of market exchanges in conditions of illegality from a perspective that focuses on the social organization of markets. Offering both theoretical reflections and case studies, the chapters assembled in the volume address the consequences of the illegal production, distribution, and consumption of products for the architecture of markets. It also focuses on the underlying causes and the political and social concerns stemming from the infringement of the law. This book provides insights into the trades in diamonds and counterfeit clothing, rhino horn and human organs, alcohol and doping products, marihuana and smuggled goods, stolen antiquities and personal information, and illegal practices in finance and price setting.
Marcelo Bergman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190608774
- eISBN:
- 9780190608804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190608774.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance, Economic Sociology
This chapter shows that as prosperity increased in the region, new secondary markets for stolen goods emerged prosperity in order to satisfy demand for consumption goods. Overall demand and appetite ...
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This chapter shows that as prosperity increased in the region, new secondary markets for stolen goods emerged prosperity in order to satisfy demand for consumption goods. Overall demand and appetite for illegal goods in the region had increased dramatically since the 1990s, especially in low-income households. This chapter examines types of victimization, and their rates, to prove that it was these crimes that partly fueled these illicit marketplaces. After reviewing several of these illegal markets, such as those for cellular phone, digital goods and firearms, this chapter exemplifies this trend with an understudied yet very important crime-driven market, namely the car-theft industry.Less
This chapter shows that as prosperity increased in the region, new secondary markets for stolen goods emerged prosperity in order to satisfy demand for consumption goods. Overall demand and appetite for illegal goods in the region had increased dramatically since the 1990s, especially in low-income households. This chapter examines types of victimization, and their rates, to prove that it was these crimes that partly fueled these illicit marketplaces. After reviewing several of these illegal markets, such as those for cellular phone, digital goods and firearms, this chapter exemplifies this trend with an understudied yet very important crime-driven market, namely the car-theft industry.
Renate Mayntz
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
The study of illegal markets needs to distinguish illegality from legality, and to relate both to legitimacy. There is no conceptual ambiguity about the distinction between legal and illegal if ...
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The study of illegal markets needs to distinguish illegality from legality, and to relate both to legitimacy. There is no conceptual ambiguity about the distinction between legal and illegal if legality is formally defined. In practice, (formal) legality and (social) legitimacy can diverge: illegal markets are empirically related to organized crime, mafia, and even terrorist organizations, and they interact both with legal markets and the forces of state order. Where legal and illegal action systems are not separated by clear social boundaries, they are connected by what has come to be called “interfaces”: actors moving between a legal and an illegal world, and grey zones of actions that are neither clearly legal or illegal, nor clearly legitimate or illegitimate. Interfaces facilitate interaction between legal and illegal action systems, but they are also sources of tension and can lead to institutional change.Less
The study of illegal markets needs to distinguish illegality from legality, and to relate both to legitimacy. There is no conceptual ambiguity about the distinction between legal and illegal if legality is formally defined. In practice, (formal) legality and (social) legitimacy can diverge: illegal markets are empirically related to organized crime, mafia, and even terrorist organizations, and they interact both with legal markets and the forces of state order. Where legal and illegal action systems are not separated by clear social boundaries, they are connected by what has come to be called “interfaces”: actors moving between a legal and an illegal world, and grey zones of actions that are neither clearly legal or illegal, nor clearly legitimate or illegitimate. Interfaces facilitate interaction between legal and illegal action systems, but they are also sources of tension and can lead to institutional change.
Letizia Paoli and Victoria A. Greenfield
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0013
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
This chapter concerns itself with the nature of the supply of doping products and the relevance of market-based concepts, with specific reference to conditions in Italy. Notwithstanding concerns ...
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This chapter concerns itself with the nature of the supply of doping products and the relevance of market-based concepts, with specific reference to conditions in Italy. Notwithstanding concerns about doping and the role of the criminal underworld in sport, relatively little is known about the supply of doping products. Against this backdrop, we analyze the supply of doping products by revisiting and building on the central findings of an empirical study of supply and demand in Italy and argue, first, that supply and demand come together to form a “market”; second, that this market is “quasi-illegal”; and third, that this conceptualization can help inform policymaking in Italy and elsewhere and might have bearing on future research in criminology and other disciplines.Less
This chapter concerns itself with the nature of the supply of doping products and the relevance of market-based concepts, with specific reference to conditions in Italy. Notwithstanding concerns about doping and the role of the criminal underworld in sport, relatively little is known about the supply of doping products. Against this backdrop, we analyze the supply of doping products by revisiting and building on the central findings of an empirical study of supply and demand in Italy and argue, first, that supply and demand come together to form a “market”; second, that this market is “quasi-illegal”; and third, that this conceptualization can help inform policymaking in Italy and elsewhere and might have bearing on future research in criminology and other disciplines.
Matías Dewey
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
That illegal markets thrive is something of a puzzle to sociology. Despite the lack of legal frames—crucial for conflict resolution, regulation of competition, and formal sources of credit—new ...
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That illegal markets thrive is something of a puzzle to sociology. Despite the lack of legal frames—crucial for conflict resolution, regulation of competition, and formal sources of credit—new illegal markets continue to emerge. Thus an analysis of informal social mechanisms is essential for a better understanding of illegal markets’ internal coordination. The main goal of this chapter is to dissect the role of one of these mechanisms—state-sponsored protection rackets—in the context of illegal markets. This type of protection racket means a selective non-enforcement of the law, an action carried out intentionally by politicians and police forces in order to capture economic resources. I provide evidence that such an informal mechanism is present on a massive scale at La Salada, a huge illegal and informal marketplace close to Buenos Aires city center. The chapter seeks to make a contribution on informal mechanisms fostering unlawful exchanges.Less
That illegal markets thrive is something of a puzzle to sociology. Despite the lack of legal frames—crucial for conflict resolution, regulation of competition, and formal sources of credit—new illegal markets continue to emerge. Thus an analysis of informal social mechanisms is essential for a better understanding of illegal markets’ internal coordination. The main goal of this chapter is to dissect the role of one of these mechanisms—state-sponsored protection rackets—in the context of illegal markets. This type of protection racket means a selective non-enforcement of the law, an action carried out intentionally by politicians and police forces in order to capture economic resources. I provide evidence that such an informal mechanism is present on a massive scale at La Salada, a huge illegal and informal marketplace close to Buenos Aires city center. The chapter seeks to make a contribution on informal mechanisms fostering unlawful exchanges.
Cyrus Dioun
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
How did entrepreneurs and activists establish medical marijuana markets in the United States despite more than a half-century of social stigma and state prohibition? In this chapter, I draw upon ...
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How did entrepreneurs and activists establish medical marijuana markets in the United States despite more than a half-century of social stigma and state prohibition? In this chapter, I draw upon interviews with medical marijuana market pioneers to show how an exogenous shock and endogenous actors laid the foundation for a multi-billion dollar industry. Interviews suggest that the death and devastation of the AIDS epidemic compelled value-rational entrepreneurs to openly defy the law and build informal market institutions, such as organizational forms and rules of exchange, to supply marijuana to AIDS patients. Market proponents legitimized and legalized these informal institutions by deploying strategic frames portraying marijuana as a compassionate palliative for the dying and by passing ballot initiatives allowing medical marijuana use, first in San Francisco (1991) and then in California (1996).Less
How did entrepreneurs and activists establish medical marijuana markets in the United States despite more than a half-century of social stigma and state prohibition? In this chapter, I draw upon interviews with medical marijuana market pioneers to show how an exogenous shock and endogenous actors laid the foundation for a multi-billion dollar industry. Interviews suggest that the death and devastation of the AIDS epidemic compelled value-rational entrepreneurs to openly defy the law and build informal market institutions, such as organizational forms and rules of exchange, to supply marijuana to AIDS patients. Market proponents legitimized and legalized these informal institutions by deploying strategic frames portraying marijuana as a compassionate palliative for the dying and by passing ballot initiatives allowing medical marijuana use, first in San Francisco (1991) and then in California (1996).
Thomas F. Babor, Jonathan Caulkins, Benedikt Fischer, David Foxcroft, Keith Humphreys, María Elena Medina-Mora, Isidore Obot, Jürgen Rehm, Peter Reuter, Robin Room, Ingeborg Rossow, and John Strang
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198818014
- eISBN:
- 9780191859410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198818014.003.0005
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
Illegal drugs are commodities that are bought and sold in markets. Many farmers are engaged in small amounts of drug growing in the producing countries, but there are comparatively small numbers of ...
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Illegal drugs are commodities that are bought and sold in markets. Many farmers are engaged in small amounts of drug growing in the producing countries, but there are comparatively small numbers of refiners, smugglers, and top-level importers. Compared to most legal markets, there are many sellers relative to the number of buyers in drug markets. One consequence of the network character of drug distribution is its resilience. Eliminating individual players or even entire organizations within a mature drug distribution network has little impact on the ability of the network as a whole to transport drugs from their source to the customers. This adaptability of mature drug distribution networks limits the ability of enforcement authorities to eradicate mass-market drugs.Less
Illegal drugs are commodities that are bought and sold in markets. Many farmers are engaged in small amounts of drug growing in the producing countries, but there are comparatively small numbers of refiners, smugglers, and top-level importers. Compared to most legal markets, there are many sellers relative to the number of buyers in drug markets. One consequence of the network character of drug distribution is its resilience. Eliminating individual players or even entire organizations within a mature drug distribution network has little impact on the ability of the network as a whole to transport drugs from their source to the customers. This adaptability of mature drug distribution networks limits the ability of enforcement authorities to eradicate mass-market drugs.
Anja P. Jakobi
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199674602
- eISBN:
- 9780191752452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674602.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This concluding chapter summarizes the book and evaluates its findings with respect to world society theory and IR. It also sheds light on future developments of the global crime agenda, including ...
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This concluding chapter summarizes the book and evaluates its findings with respect to world society theory and IR. It also sheds light on future developments of the global crime agenda, including the likely broadening, intensification and further rationalization of global crime governance. The chapter starts with a summary of the main findings presented in the book. It then elaborates on the implications of concepts like institutional entrepreneurship and rationalization, and the relevance of analyzing fragmentation in global governance. The chapter also provides an outlook to broader questions relevant in the field of crime, like the role of numbers in global governance and the important relationship between machinery and substance. The chapter also presents additional perspectives on global crime governance, for example that of Foucault and governmentality.Less
This concluding chapter summarizes the book and evaluates its findings with respect to world society theory and IR. It also sheds light on future developments of the global crime agenda, including the likely broadening, intensification and further rationalization of global crime governance. The chapter starts with a summary of the main findings presented in the book. It then elaborates on the implications of concepts like institutional entrepreneurship and rationalization, and the relevance of analyzing fragmentation in global governance. The chapter also provides an outlook to broader questions relevant in the field of crime, like the role of numbers in global governance and the important relationship between machinery and substance. The chapter also presents additional perspectives on global crime governance, for example that of Foucault and governmentality.
Annette Hübschle
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198794974
- eISBN:
- 9780191836442
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794974.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking, International Business
This chapter shows that the illegalization of an economic exchange is not a straightforward political decision with fixed goalposts, but a protracted process that may encounter unexpected hurdles ...
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This chapter shows that the illegalization of an economic exchange is not a straightforward political decision with fixed goalposts, but a protracted process that may encounter unexpected hurdles along the way to effective implementation and enforcement. While political considerations informed the decision to ban trade in rhino horn initially, diffusion of the prohibition has been uneven and lacks social and cultural legitimacy among key actors along the supply chain. Moreover, some market actors justify their participation in illegal rhino horn markets based on the perceived illegitimacy of the rhino horn prohibition. The concept of “contested illegality” captures an important legitimization device of market participants who do not accept the trade ban.Less
This chapter shows that the illegalization of an economic exchange is not a straightforward political decision with fixed goalposts, but a protracted process that may encounter unexpected hurdles along the way to effective implementation and enforcement. While political considerations informed the decision to ban trade in rhino horn initially, diffusion of the prohibition has been uneven and lacks social and cultural legitimacy among key actors along the supply chain. Moreover, some market actors justify their participation in illegal rhino horn markets based on the perceived illegitimacy of the rhino horn prohibition. The concept of “contested illegality” captures an important legitimization device of market participants who do not accept the trade ban.
Marcelo Bergman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190608774
- eISBN:
- 9780190608804
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190608774.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance, Economic Sociology
This book reviews the rapid rise of crime and violence in Latin America over the last few decades and offers an explanation to a striking paradox: In the midst of decreasing poverty, economic growth, ...
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This book reviews the rapid rise of crime and violence in Latin America over the last few decades and offers an explanation to a striking paradox: In the midst of decreasing poverty, economic growth, and democratization crime has risen throughout the region. Drawing from large data sets, I argue that this is because crime has become a profitable industry in weak states with outdated criminal justice systems unable to withstand the challenge posed by new criminal enterprises. Prosperity has enhanced consumer demand for illicit goods, fueling the growth of secondary and illegal markets, including markets for stolen goods and narcotics that can provide an income for millions of youngsters willing to take the risk of arrest and loss of life. While some countries have experienced moderate increases in criminality others have experienced catastrophic rates of violence, resulting in two types of stable equilibria: Low- and high-crime countries. I explain why different equilibria, between the profit opportunities provided by criminality and a weak criminal justice system, have triggered a rapid upward spiral of crime and a sharp increase in the intensity of violence in some states but a moderate upward trend in others, and why certain countries have transitioned from low- to high-crime environments with vicious cycles of high criminality that are very difficult to reverse. The resulting severe, undesired outcomes are studied in this book: serious predatory crime diversification, consolidation of organized crime, ineffective justice reforms, weak policing, and overcrowded prisons.Less
This book reviews the rapid rise of crime and violence in Latin America over the last few decades and offers an explanation to a striking paradox: In the midst of decreasing poverty, economic growth, and democratization crime has risen throughout the region. Drawing from large data sets, I argue that this is because crime has become a profitable industry in weak states with outdated criminal justice systems unable to withstand the challenge posed by new criminal enterprises. Prosperity has enhanced consumer demand for illicit goods, fueling the growth of secondary and illegal markets, including markets for stolen goods and narcotics that can provide an income for millions of youngsters willing to take the risk of arrest and loss of life. While some countries have experienced moderate increases in criminality others have experienced catastrophic rates of violence, resulting in two types of stable equilibria: Low- and high-crime countries. I explain why different equilibria, between the profit opportunities provided by criminality and a weak criminal justice system, have triggered a rapid upward spiral of crime and a sharp increase in the intensity of violence in some states but a moderate upward trend in others, and why certain countries have transitioned from low- to high-crime environments with vicious cycles of high criminality that are very difficult to reverse. The resulting severe, undesired outcomes are studied in this book: serious predatory crime diversification, consolidation of organized crime, ineffective justice reforms, weak policing, and overcrowded prisons.
Anna L. Bailey
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501724374
- eISBN:
- 9781501724381
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501724374.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Russian Politics
Examines how alcohol has been constructed as a “social problem” in Russia in the post-Soviet period. For many years the dominant construction of the problem was that of illegal alcohol, with ...
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Examines how alcohol has been constructed as a “social problem” in Russia in the post-Soviet period. For many years the dominant construction of the problem was that of illegal alcohol, with alcohol’s negative effects on the demographic situation only gaining prominence in the latter half of the 2000s. The chapter explains why and why the large consumption peaks in 1994–5 and 2002–3 failed to provoke alarm among the ruling elite at the time, in spite of efforts by public health activists to problematise the issue, finding that the crises provoked by the transition from communism detracted attention from demographic issues.Less
Examines how alcohol has been constructed as a “social problem” in Russia in the post-Soviet period. For many years the dominant construction of the problem was that of illegal alcohol, with alcohol’s negative effects on the demographic situation only gaining prominence in the latter half of the 2000s. The chapter explains why and why the large consumption peaks in 1994–5 and 2002–3 failed to provoke alarm among the ruling elite at the time, in spite of efforts by public health activists to problematise the issue, finding that the crises provoked by the transition from communism detracted attention from demographic issues.
Angela K. Dills, Jeffrey A. Miron, and Garrett Summers
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226153742
- eISBN:
- 9780226153766
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226153766.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter focuses on illegal markets for drugs and for one class of possible contributions to the study of crime in Latin America. But this is possible only if the importance of drugs in Latin ...
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This chapter focuses on illegal markets for drugs and for one class of possible contributions to the study of crime in Latin America. But this is possible only if the importance of drugs in Latin America is provided and given the study of markets is an area where economists can be expected to have substantive comparative expertise. This chapter provocatively provides a pessimistic view of the state of knowledge in the field, arguing that the broad trends in crime over the past forty years suggest that few things have worked. It focuses on what happens to supply and demand when an artificial law prevents market clearing, connecting drug prohibition and violent crime. According to the chapter, a large part of the problem arises because government prohibition policies affect the nature and amount of dispute resolution that takes place through legal means.Less
This chapter focuses on illegal markets for drugs and for one class of possible contributions to the study of crime in Latin America. But this is possible only if the importance of drugs in Latin America is provided and given the study of markets is an area where economists can be expected to have substantive comparative expertise. This chapter provocatively provides a pessimistic view of the state of knowledge in the field, arguing that the broad trends in crime over the past forty years suggest that few things have worked. It focuses on what happens to supply and demand when an artificial law prevents market clearing, connecting drug prohibition and violent crime. According to the chapter, a large part of the problem arises because government prohibition policies affect the nature and amount of dispute resolution that takes place through legal means.
