Determinants and consequences of the Anti-mafia entrepreneurial behavior: an empirical study on southern italian small-medium entreprises

Abstract

In this study we question what determinants lead firms to adopt anti-mafia behaviors and whether firms adopting anti-mafia behaviors “pay the piper” for their conduct through reduced financial performance. A sub-sample of 111 Southern Italian Small and Medium Enterprises whose entrepreneurs have publicly opposed the mafia extortion was initially selected. By adopting a matched-pair design, anti-mafia firms were subsequently matched against a sub-sample of neutral firms. Determinants of anti-mafia behavior were investigated by using a regression logistic model in order to regress the anti-mafia choice on a set of financial, demographic, governance, and control variables. Performance and financial structure was compared by adopting both different “between analysis” of the full sample and a “within analysis” of the sub-sample of the anti-mafia firms in order to investigate the statistical significance of the differences of means and medians. Results show that the financial variables are the more significant determinants of the anti-mafia behavior, while the analysis performed seem to confirm that anti-mafia behavior implies lower performance in the short term.