The first two factors affect the long-term durability of mafia protection: if protection depends heavily on a single individual, it is inevitable that a random accident may suddenly deprive his clients of its benefits. At the same time, if internal competition is such that it creates a high rate of bankruptcy, the accident, fatal at times, may not be that random. In both cases, from the client's point of view reconstructing a protection contract with another firm may be arduous and time-consuming, leaving one temporarily at the mercy of predators (for more on these points, see Chapters 3 and 7).

QUESTION: The distinction between random accidents and non-random (competition-driven) bankruptcies raises the question of how clients distinguish these risks when choosing protection.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 65