Does crime affect entrepreneurship? A discussion of the current literature

Purpose There are countless factors that affect where an entrepreneur chooses to open a business that have been studied in the literature, including local socio-economic conditions, government policy, and agglomeration economies. One important aspect to the location decision that has not received as much attention from researchers thus far is the impact of crime on entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current literature on this topic, with a particular emphasis on the empirical issues present that have likely caused the research in this area to be scarce. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct an analysis of the current state of the literature examining the relationship between crime and entrepreneurship. Looking at what has been done in the past, as well as improvements in the data, the authors discuss what has been done and what can be done in the future. Findings The authors discuss areas related to entrepreneurship and crime that the authors see as an emerging literature, based largely on the improvements in data and identification strategies that allow the authors to answer questions that the authors previously could not. Originality/value This paper is a review of the current literature, which also discusses areas that future researchers should consider and analyze further.