But violence is not employed for enforcement purposes alone; competition among guarantors is perhaps the most common reason for its use. Protectors compete in terms of toughness: he who fights hardest not only eliminates his vanquished competitors but also advertises himself to customers as a reliably tough character. Several accounts in the literature describe how honor—better defined as the reputation for supplying credible protection—among mafiosi is a variable attribute which has nothing to do with birth (see Hess 1973; Arlacchi 1983). By winning violent contests, a mafioso increases his honor at the expense of potential or established competitors in what amounts to a zero-sum game (see Bonanno 1983: 127).

DEFINE: Defines mafioso 'honor' as the earned reputation for supplying credible protection, not a birthright — a contestable, zero-sum commodity.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 105