18693: The Micro-Geography of Heterogenous Crime Experiences in the Township Informal Economy (session 26066)

Designated as a “Best Paper” by ENT
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Crime is a major concern for entrepreneurs operating in the informal economy. Extant research has advanced our understanding of the socioeconomic and demographic factors that increase entrepreneurs’ susceptibility to crime. However, we still have limited knowledge of the role that physical space and place play in shaping how informal economy entrepreneurs experience crime. We use a unique 'small area census' dataset of entrepreneurs in a South African township to examine entrepreneurs’ experiences of crime, looking at several antecedents at the individual-, firm-, and contextual-level. Our findings suggest that there is significant heterogeneity among entrepreneurs in the informal economy in how they experience crime. Specifically, we identity spatially bound crime hotspots within the township and explore factors that lead entrepreneurs to report feeling relatively safe in areas that others consider to be high crime (safety mismatch) or entrepreneurs to report feeling unsafe in locations where others report crime not to be a significant issue (crime mismatch). We contribute to existing literature by advancing a micro-geographic perspective that shows how place and space intersects with individual and firm characteristics to explain how entrepreneurs experience the institutional pressure of crime differently.

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