Public disorder and business crime victimization in the retail sector

Although research on business crime victimization has increased in recent years, few studies have explained variation in the crime risk of businesses. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of retail premises (N=1197), this study describes the prevalence and correlates of business crime victimization in Finland, using England and Wales as a point of comparison. We subject the Finnish data to theory-driven risk factor analysis, focusing on environmental factors, the influence of which is examined controlling for local socio-economic disadvantage. Indicating that public disorder is a predictor of crimes against retail premises, the findings are consistent with routine activity approach in general and the incivilities thesis in particular.