Organized Crime Research (kvl-homepage) Transnational Organized Crime

Below is a selection of papers that address transnational organized crime from different angles. Some deal primarily with the concept of transnational organized crime while others pertain to various manifestations of cross-border and international crime and criminal networks. For a complete list of published papers, click here.
Re-conceptualizing transnational organized crime: Offenders as problem-solvers
This paper, published in the International Journal of Security and Terrorism in 2011, presents a conceptual framework for the analysis of transnational organized crime which centers on the practical problems offenders face. The framework breaks down the elusive concept of transnational organized crime to categories that highlight differences in the extent and nature of the transnationality of crime and that identify key logistical challenges to cross-border offenders. Conventional wisdom establishes a close link between transnational organized crime and globalization, as a result of which criminals supposedly are free to roam an increasingly borderless world. This paper argues that such a view is over-simplistic. Political borders continue to divide the globe, and perhaps even more so in the aftermath of 9/11; and legal, cultural and language barriers continue to create additional obstacles for the transnational mobility of offenders.
Transnational organised crime connecting Eastern and Western Europe: Three case studies
This paper, published as a book chapter in 2009, examines the cross-border mobility of established smuggling enterprises that try to establish new trafficking routes and markets. Three cases of cigarette smuggling between Eastern and Western Europe are analyzed to determine how illegal entrepreneurs manage to extend their areas of operation into another country despite existing cultural and language barriers..
Transnational Organized Crime in Europe
This chapter from the book Transnational Organized Crime: An Overview from Six Continents edited by Jay Albanese and Philip Reichel, examines the various cross-border crime connections within Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world.
Organized Crime in Europe
This paper, published in Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 2(1), 2008, pp. 7-17, provides an overview of the criminal landscape on the European continent.
The Illegal Cigarette Trade
This paper, published in 2011 as a chapter in International Crime and Justice, a book edited by Mangai Natarajan, presents an overview of the global illegal cigarette trade.
Explaining the Emergence of the Cigarette Black Market in Germany
This chapter from the book The Organised Crime Economy, published in 2005, discusses the relevance of factors commonly believed to cause cigarette black markets to develop with regard to the situation in Germany in the first half of the 1990s. Data were obtained from unpublished law enforcement statistics and the analysis of 47 criminal files. The findings suggest that many commonly held assumptions concerning the root causes of cigarette smuggling on a grand scale are not accurate. Specifically, high levels of taxation, cross-border price differential and the involvement of crime syndicates are not adequate or sufficient explanations.
Organized Crime Book Reviews
A number of books on transnational organized crime are reviewed in the book review section.
Links
Links to web sites on organized crime and transnational organized crime.


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