Does Crime Influence Investment in Renewable Energy Sources? Empirical Evidence from Italy

Giuseppe Scandurra (), Alfonso Carfora and Antonio Thomas
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Giuseppe Scandurra: Department of Management Studies and Quantitative Methods, University of Naples Parthenope, 80134 Naples, Italy
Alfonso Carfora: Department of Management Studies and Quantitative Methods, University of Naples Parthenope, 80134 Naples, Italy
Antonio Thomas: Department of Business and Economics, University of Naples Parthenope, 80134 Naples, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals are significantly increasing investments in the production of energy from renewable sources (RESs). To this end, the supply of monetary incentives by public institutions has increased sharply. This flow of money inevitably attracts the attention of criminal organizations (henceforth COs) that use their power to increase the volumes of investments, while public authorities might react by deciding not to make investments in RESs in areas at risk of distorted use of incentives. In this context, the research question is as follows: does the presence of COs slow down or encourage investment in RESs? Until now, this topic has received little attention from researchers, at least in the European Union. In particular, the presence of COs is particularly pervasive in the economic system of Italy. Given the heterogeneity of this country, a spatial econometric approach was used, taking into account geographical dependency relationships and their impact on the relevant variables. The main result of the research shows a negative relationship between Italian areas with higher CO levels and RES investments. In other words, investments are discouraged in these regions. This situation is detrimental to the target regions in terms of sustainable development and increasing the gross national product (GNP). Furthermore, we found that micro-crime cannot in any way influence investments in RESs.

Keywords: renewable energy sources; sustainability; organized crime; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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