Although protectors have an interest in restricting the number of proteges, they are also subject to a countervailing drive to increase it in order to strengthen both their sources of revenue and their independence from any single source. In addition, supporting a monopoly is risky because it provides disappointed competitors with an incentive to seek protection from either police or rival racketeers (Reuter 1987: 6). As we shall see in Chapter 8, it is thus more advantageous to protect groups rather than individual firms.

XREF: Connects to economic theory on monopolies and incentives, and to the reader's broader understanding of criminal governance structures.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 58