Fear of Crime and Saving Behavior

Abstract

Fear of crime, on top of crime victimization itself, is an important social concern because the literature suggests that it can affect behavior and decision-making. Some studies argue that negative emotions can induce present consumption; thus, one behavior that crime can potentially influence is saving. Applying Logit model and the Heckman Probit model to a household survey dataset of 1,200 respondents, this paper tested for the relationship between fear of crime and saving behavior. We found evidence that fear of crimes involving physical violence has a negative relationship with the likelihood of saving but has a positive relationship with the likelihood of saving through formal channels. Fear of crimes against property, on the other hand, shows no such relationship. Moreover, overall fear of crime in the immediate community has no relationship with saving, but fear of crime in the larger region where the individual lives has.