DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03078.v1
title: Crime-Induced Business Relocations in the Austin [Texas] Metropolitan Area, 1995-1996
title: Version 1

description: There were three key objectives to this study: (1) to determine the relative importance of crime-related as well as business-related factors in business relocation decisions, including business ownership, type of business, and business size, (2) to ascertain how businesses respond to crime and fear of crime, such as by moving, adding more security, requesting police protection, or cooperating with other businesses, and (3) to identify the types of crime prevention measures and assistance that businesses currently need and to assess the roles of business associations and police departments in providing enhanced crime prevention assistance. From November 1995 through February 1996 a mail survey was distributed to a sample of three different groups of businesses in Austin's 14 highest crime ZIP codes. The groups consisted of: (1) businesses that remained within the same ZIP code between 1990 and 1993, (2) new firms that either moved into a high-crime ZIP code area between 1990 and 1993 or were created in a high-crime ZIP code between 1990 and 1993, and (3) businesses that relocated from high-crime ZIP code areas to other locations in Austin's metropolitan area or elsewhere in Texas. Variables include type of business, ownership of business, number of employees, reasons for moving or staying in neighborhood, types of crime that affected business, owner's response to business crime, customer safety, and the role of business associations and the police in preventing crime.
description: Historically, business location decisions have been analyzed and decided on the basis of predominantly economic criteria. While that still appears to be the case, an increasing number of businesses and business owners may be considering crime as a factor in making business relocation decisions. There were three key objectives to this study: (1) to determine the relative importance of crime-related as well as business-related factors in business relocation decisions, including business ownership, type of business, and business size, (2) to ascertain how businesses respond to crime and fear of crime, such as by moving, adding more security, requesting police protection, or cooperating with other businesses, and (3) to identify the types of crime prevention information and assistance that businesses currently need and to assess the roles of business associations and police departments in providing enhanced crime prevention assistance.
description: From November 1995 through February 1996 a mail survey was distributed to a sample of three different groups of businesses in Austin's 14 highest crime ZIP codes. The groups consisted of: (1) businesses that remained within the same ZIP code between 1990 and 1993, (2) new firms that either moved into a high-crime ZIP code area between 1990 and 1993 or were created in a high-crime ZIP code between 1990 and 1993, and (3) businesses that relocated from high-crime ZIP code areas to other locations in Austin's metropolitan area or elsewhere in Texas.
description: Variables include type of business, ownership of business, number of employees, reasons for moving or staying in neighborhood, types of crime that affected business, owner's response to business crime, customer safety, and the role of business associations and the police in preventing crime.
description: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Standardized missing values.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes..
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: Response Rates: The overall response rate was 18 percent. The response rate was 15 percent for Movers (Part 1), 15 percent for New Businesses (Part 2), and 22 percent for Stayers (Part 3).
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS0: Study-Level Files 
 DS1: Business Movers Data 
 DS2: New Businesses Data 
 DS3: Business Stayers Data
description: The user guide, codebook, and data collection instruments are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.
description: All businesses in the Austin, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area.
description: Random sampling.