THE The Political Economy of Illicit Markets

Abstract

Transactions involving arms, drugs, human trafficking, theft of intellectual property, criminal money transfers, trade in human organs, exotic animal and plant species, piracy, illegal disposal of toxic waste, trade in stolen art or antiques, smuggling, and tax evasion generate trillions of dollars annually throughout the world. However, these are criminal activities that cause harm on a global scale. Thus, this article aims to outline the Political Economy of these activities that make up the so-called Illicit Markets. It is, therefore, a theoretical work. To this end, we initially seek to define what is an Illicit Market, encompassing part of criminal and civil offenses, as well as the causes of its enormous expansion at the end of the 20th century. These include: the increase in the global circulation of people and goods, the technological revolution involving productivity gains in logistics and Information and Communication Technologies, especially with the spread of the Internet, and the weakening and reduced intervention of National States in the economy. Subsequently, issues related to the dynamics of illicit markets are discussed, including the role played by violence which, in the absence of formal rules, serves as an instrument for enforcing behaviors and contracts, in addition to the network structure of criminal organizations that gives rise, as in licit trade, to an international division of tasks. The interaction between the social actors that participate in these markets, which can be competitive or collaborative, is also focused on in this section. Finally, the final considerations of the work are made, in which we seek to indicate fruitful lines for future research.