As for the production and sale of commodities, performing "Peppe's" role requires certain resources. Let us conduct a thought experiment and ask ourselves how we would go about producing and selling guarantees and protection. Assume, therefore, that among our options for a career, if not necessarily a brilliant one, is that of becoming a "Peppe." If we live in a country where there is already an established class of "Peppes," our imagination is less severely taxed by envisioning this possibility; also the costs of apprenticeship are reduced relative to those for someone who must start from scratch.

XREF: Connects to economic literature on barriers to entry and how incumbent industries reduce costs for later entrants, echoing ideas about learning spillovers and established market infrastructure.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 89