There is evidence suggesting the presence of "natural" alliances and groupings among mafia firms. Smaller families, for instance, cluster around larger ones: Stefano Bontade, for example, "controlled the whole of Palermo between the train station and the district of Ciaculli, even though in this area there were individual families with their own smaller territories; all of them depended on Stefano Bontade, and would gather on his estate to make every decision" (SC: IV, 62). This kind of clustering is best seen as a form of licensing, whereby a large protection family hands out portions of its territory or particular markets to its smaller colleagues.

DEFINE: Introduces 'licensing' as a framework for understanding hierarchical mafia groupings.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 277