This study explains the emergence of the Sicilian mafia in the XIX century as the product of the interaction between natural resource abundance and weak institutions. We advance the hypothesis that the mafia emerged after the collapse of the Bourbon Kingdom in a context characterized by a severe...

Institutional quality has both short-term and long-term impacts on economic growth. Its short-term impact comes from the quality of institutions ex ante while its long-term impact comes from the quality of institutions ex post. Ex post institutions are shaped by the direct impact of resource...