Crime and corruption: a symbiotic relationship? Hints from Italy

• In Event: Euroc - Corruption across the globe (2)

Abstract

As in many other European countries, corruption is peculiarly linked to other crimes. The main relationship is not, in fact, with violent crimes and—at least in Italy—not even with the drug or prostitution markets. However, there are clear connections with reported crimes of criminal association (not necessarily of a mafia type) and with the crime of money laundering. More in-depth investigations are needed to deconstruct the connections between these offenses. While criminal organizations can act as corrupting agents, money laundering could be both an effect and a cause of the corruption phenomenon.

In this sense, it is important to note that corruption, only seemingly, does not follow the geography of GDP when looking at the regional areas of the country. However, if we consider the volume of corrupt practices, we notice that the areas with the highest intensity of development—characterized by a high concentration of investments—are also those where the most significant corruption phenomena have occurred. On the other hand, petty corruption (as measured by the Istat survey) reveals a geography linked to the impoverishment of public employment.

Authors

• Annalisa Di Benedetto, Italian National Statistical Institute

• alberto violante, Italian Statistical Institute