Citizen Demand for Exposure to Street Crime

If individuals gain utility from activities which expose them to the risk of being a victim of crime, then a higher risk of victimisation per unit of time exposed to crime should imply a lower quantity of exposure. This hypothesis leads to the distinction between the 'real' crime rate (probability of victimisation per unit of exposure time) and the 'nominal' crime rate (crimes per capita). Empirical evidence is presented which indicates that some dimensions of exposure are negatively related to proxies for the real crime rate.