From Sicilian mafia to Chinese "scam villages"
arXiv:1905.03108v11 citations
Originality Synthesis-oriented
AI Analysis
This research addresses the problem of understanding localized scam activities in China for policymakers and economists, but it appears incremental as it applies an existing theory to a new context.
The paper investigates the geographic concentration of scams in China, drawing inspiration from Gambetta's mafia theory, and proposes a new economic explanation for this phenomenon, with policy implications.
Inspired by Gambetta's theory on the origins of the mafia in Sicily, we report a geo-concentrating phenomenon of scams in China, and propose a novel economic explanation. Our analysis has some policy implications.