Accountants’ hybridization and juridification: a critical reflection on the fight against organized crime

Abstract

Policy-makers and regulators are increasingly focusing on fighting organized crime. Preventing criminal organizations infiltrating an economy involves multiple groups of professionals operating in complex regulatory environments. This paper looks at whether the current regulations for the management of assets seized from organized crime are adequate. The focus is on the Italian setting, and the research included interviews with accountants, judges and police officers involved in the management of seized entities. The results have application worldwide.

Keywords:

• Accountant
• hybridization
• juridification
• organized crime
• regulation

Notes

* The notion of structural coupling refers to the relationship between systems and their environments, in terms of a dynamic interaction between various elements. It is the process through which structurally-determined transformations in each of two or more systemic unities induce (for each) a trajectory of reciprocally triggered change. A system is said to be structurally coupled to its environment (or other systems in its environment) if its structures are in some way ‘adjusted’ to the structures of the environment (or systems in the environment) (Seidl, 2004). Structural coupling creates a situation that is opposite to the decoupling one.

** The self-reproductive capacity of an organization can be explained as the ability of an organization to continue to survive and operate by reproducing its lifeworlds over time.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rosanna Spanò

Rosanna Spanò is a post doctoral fellow, Department of Economics, Management, Institutions Federico II University of Naples, Italy.

Nadia Di Paola

Nadia Di Paola is a post doctoral fellow, Department of Economics, Management, Institutions Federico II University of Naples, Italy.

Adele Caldarelli

Adele Caldarelli is Professor of Accounting, Department of Economics, Management, Institutions Federico II University of Naples, Italy.

Roberto Vona

Roberto Vona is Professor of Management, Department of Economics, Management, Institutions Federico II University of Naples, Italy.