Fear of crime, on top of being victimized by crime 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. Using a household survey dataset of 1,200 respondents, this paper tested for the influence of fear of crime on saving behavior. We found evidence that affective, or emotional, fear of crime has a negative effect on the likelihood of saving but has a positive effect on the likelihood of saving through formal channels. In contrast, cognitive fear, or the rational risk perception, of crime has an insignificant effect.
