PurposeThe conventional wisdom regarding economic crime analysis has so far mainly focused upon “structural” issues. The field has been analysed mostly under the organisational aspect (how criminals organisations are structured, how illicit activities they perform are organised). Attention has been paid to “methods” – more in terms of case‐studies and search of “models” than in terms of opportunities dynamics – rather than to the economic profile (what are the special features of markets, supply, demand, production and distribution of illicit goods and services). It seems useful to increase the analysis by opening the quest to economic and sociologic aspects. The paper is an attempt to introduce a wider conceptual framework for a complementary approach, and a proposal aimed at deepening some focal points.Design/methodology/approachIllegal economic activity is – not less than the legal one – a process of making choices among the alternatives available, for the aim of achieving a profit. It is therefore intrinsically an open, flexible activity, which may assume all the schemes and formulas that contingency suggests. In this perspective, the paper addresses observation and analysis towards detecting features and mechanisms of illegal economy market in a market approach, trying to give account thereby of structure and functioning processes of economic crime.FindingsA crucial element resides in the possibility of gathering wider information on the structure and internal dynamics of grey economy. Grey markets may indeed provide supporting structures like optional channels, instruments, or professional expertise, which show fungible for different legal or illegal goals. The goal of preserving the system from the threatens of economic crime must be rooted in an adequate knowledge of the internal operational dynamics of the system itself. Equipping more proactive instruments becomes essential. There is a need for awareness of the trends taking place in the markets: their causes, the alternative option they may grant to illegal players, the probable choice these players will consequently make, and the final effect of such choice on the system. It is necessary to gain the capability to foresee, anticipate and influence behaviour changes.Originality/valueThe paper offers a contribution to more robust methodology for confronting systemic issues.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse more in depth the vision which is behind this formula of “organised crime” exploring to what extent it affects the interpretation and understanding of the phenomenon it designates, in its internal structure and relationships, its cause‐effect processes, and the answering strategies that have been developed in this regard. The differences that an alternative vision would entail for such answering strategies are discussed.Design/methodology/approachThe use of metaphors in the epistemic process is preliminarily explored, since it engenders a mode of thinking and of conceiving, which set the grounds of the way in which we understand things. The traditional notion of “organised (economic) crime” is considered comparatively with interactions between market players in their different shapes and formulas.FindingsThe vision on how financial crime dynamics crosses the financial system might have to be somewhat revisited. A different interpretation of the criminal world might give account of its structure and functioning processes and possibly also explaining some aspect that the former formula finds harder to clarify. Legal and illegal (or semi‐legal) services markets frequently overlap, especially in the ideal settings provided by grey economy, wherever and to whatever extent it exists.Research limitations/implicationsAn alternative vision is sketched and explored, which more extended research might further investigate and assess. According to such vision, what we often see as the assumption of specific roles within some organisations, or as an alliance among separate criminal entities, may appear in a market perspective just as a trade between the supply of specific illegal goods or services that may be offered by the various players present in the market, and a payment of some sort. The existence of the need, or opportunity, on part of the buyer or of the supplier is more decisive an element than the organisational factor for the transaction to occur. This is particularly crucial in the field of white collar crime, where both the product and the traders appear to be respectable in principle.Practical implicationsIf criminal phenomena follow more a market than an organisational model, the remedies will have to include transparency much more than control. Supervising free markets mainly means conditioning their routes, by opposing and removing the potential for illicit action and conditions or opportunities which may foster collusion between legal and less‐than‐legal segments, and by encouraging law‐abiding behaviour and information symmetry. Appropriate incentives may also introduce higher levels of transparency in the grey economy.Originality/valueIt is possible that the market perspective may allow better understanding of the underworld of illegal and criminal behaviour, and to deploy more effective action. In so far as the paper analysis is reasonably grounded, this appears to be the best way to achieve full effectiveness in the fight against organised crime and its perva...
Outlines a modelling approach which gives a powerful conceptual tool for both fact‐finding and problem‐solving, with the objective of defeating organised crime by prediction and prevention. Indicates all aspects that can give useful information about the financial system’s functioning; these include the legal and organisational framework, professional expertise, economic analysis, sociological studies, and statistical analysis, and shows how they can be integrated to allow the setting out of a three‐pronged kit of instruments ‐ a map of possible transactions, a data set that can be organised heuristically for modelling, and a range of criteria for behaviour motivation.
The last few years have seen a steady crescendo in the panic over the threat of organised crime in society. In fact, society is increasingly realising that it is involved in a life and death situation, a war whose battleground is continually expanding as every clash uncovers new frontiers to be broken down and new elements to be fought — just like the fight against some new and unknown disease — a struggle society cannot afford to lose.
Reviews briefly the apparent inevitability of growth in electronic trade; the constraining factors seem to be security risks such as problems of transparency and symmetry of information, the need for defence from intrusive technologies and against threats from fraud, embezzlement, counterfeiting, false identities and privacy. Relates e‐trade to the preferences of money launderers for the internet because of its low transparency, multiplier effects, low control, and high risks. Outlines three types of strategy for confronting money laundering: adapting current procedures, developing countering IT techniques like encryption, and singling out possible patterns of suspicious transactions for intermediaries’ consideration. Concludes that existing machinery cannot be expected to curb the transition to an electronic future, and that a combination of strategies is necessary.
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