TY - JOUR
T1 - Green Energy and Black Economy: Mafia Investments in the Wind Power Sector in Italy
AU - Caneppele, Stefano
AU - Riccardi, Michele
AU - Standridge, Priscilla
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - In recent years, the EU has supported actions to develop the green economy. Among these, incentives to sustain the growth of the wind power (WP) sector were welcomed as strategic for promoting environmental sustainability. This paper argues that the enthusiasm in supporting the green economy, without a preliminary assessment for crime opportunities, could end up fueling the black one. In particular, looking at the Italian case, the intention to facilitate wind farm construction provided remarkable (economic and procedural) incentives but neglected the issue of crime infiltration in the legitimate economy. Consequently, investments in wind farms also became a very lucrative business for organized crime (OC) groups. Through an analysis of the WP sector in Italy, this paper aims to show that, in territories characterized by a significant presence and control of OC groups, regulation could have an adverse effect providing opportunities for OC infiltrations in the legitimate economy. In particular this paper discusses whether investments in the WP sector in Italy are more likely in those regions with higher levels of OC presence and analyzes the role played by OC groups in cases of criminal infiltrations in the WP sector.
AB - In recent years, the EU has supported actions to develop the green economy. Among these, incentives to sustain the growth of the wind power (WP) sector were welcomed as strategic for promoting environmental sustainability. This paper argues that the enthusiasm in supporting the green economy, without a preliminary assessment for crime opportunities, could end up fueling the black one. In particular, looking at the Italian case, the intention to facilitate wind farm construction provided remarkable (economic and procedural) incentives but neglected the issue of crime infiltration in the legitimate economy. Consequently, investments in wind farms also became a very lucrative business for organized crime (OC) groups. Through an analysis of the WP sector in Italy, this paper aims to show that, in territories characterized by a significant presence and control of OC groups, regulation could have an adverse effect providing opportunities for OC infiltrations in the legitimate economy. In particular this paper discusses whether investments in the WP sector in Italy are more likely in those regions with higher levels of OC presence and analyzes the role played by OC groups in cases of criminal infiltrations in the WP sector.
KW - organized crime
KW - wind power
KW - organized crime
KW - wind power
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/41589
UR - http://link.springer.com.ezp.biblio.unitn.it/article/10.1007/s10611-013-9418-1
U2 - 10.1007/s10611-013-9418-1
DO - 10.1007/s10611-013-9418-1
M3 - Article
SN - 0925-4994
VL - 59
SP - 319
EP - 339
JO - CRIME LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE
JF - CRIME LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE
ER -