The Impact of Crime on Small Business
| Author | Alan Marlow,Melanie Wells |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9707000205 |
| Published date | 01 April 1997 |
| Date | 01 April 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ALAN MARLOW
Department
of
Professional Social Studies, University
of
Luton, UK
MELANIE WELLS
University
of
Luton
THE IMPACT OF CRIME ON
SMALL BUSINESS
Introduction
Government ministers frequently state that the role of small business and
the environment in whichit operatesare criticalfor job and wealth creation.
Until recently, detailed research on the impact of crime on small business
was surprisingly lacking but therewas someevidence thatthe marginalcost
of crime may lead some businesses to fail and others to relocate (Tilley,
1993). Little attention has been paid to "the effects that crime, fear and
disorders have on neighbourhood business areas" (Fisher, 1991).
It
is also
known, as with domestic crime, that not all crimes against business were
reported to the police and that high insurance premiums may have a
negative effect on reporting behaviour.
In December 1995, the Home Officepublished Research Study No. 146,
Crime AgainstRetail and Manufacturing Premises: Findingsfrom the
i994
Commercial Victimization Survey, (Mirrlees - Black &Ross, 1995). Almost
4,000 businesses in the retail and manufacturing sectors were surveyed
nationwide. Amongst the conclusions was the finding that "the chance of
a retail or manufacturing premises being burgled was six times higher than
that for domestic premises" and "there were nine times as many incidents
per 100 targets, which indicates that repeat victimization was much higher
for commercial premises." The fact that there are so many more domestic
premises than commercial premises masks the disproportionate
victimization of business.
The study also compared other crimes - "for instance, there were four
times as many thefts of vehicles per hundred commercial owners in 1993
as for domestic owners." Not only were the risks for commercial premises
higher than domestic premises, but the costs per crime were higher -
burglaries were one-third more costly in retail and three-quarters more
costly in manufacturing.
In 1990, the Home Office published the landmark study Trends in
Crime
and
Their interpretation (Field, 1990). That study demonstrated that
economic factors have a major influence on trends in property crime. In
essence, it concluded that the incidence of property crime is inversely
related to the level of consumption within society. For business, the
implications of the research are that as the general level of consumption
and thus profitability reduces, crime victimization is likely to rise.
Therefore, not only will the absolute cost of crime to business increase, but
the "marginal cost" will increase at a greater rate. In recession or times of
low economic activity, the capacity of business to respond to increasing
victimization will decrease. The cost of crime, if not a primary cause of
April 1997 The Police Journal 117
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