The national business crime survey analyses crime against companies and their employees, and the harm caused by such crime. The 2018 survey will focus on crime targeted at the retail and hotel and restaurant sectors.

In 2018, the University of Helsinki will perform the second national survey of crime against businesses. The survey will cover around 3,000 workplaces across the whole of Finland. It will be conducted via telephone interviews. The findings will provide information on the problems caused by crime and disruption, and on preventing and combating such crime.

Crime affects the safety of employees and imposes costs on businesses

The national business crime survey analyses issues affecting companies such as theft and damage, and the subjection of employees to violence and threatening situations at work. The amount, characteristics and risk of crime directed at businesses is analysed. So too is the harm caused to employees and the costs incurred by crime against companies.

The results are used to improve, monitor and study security within companies and at work. They provide valuable information on how crime and the related harm might be reduced and avoided. The study also provides information on how the security of companies and employees can be improved.

The survey uncovers hidden crime

Most crimes and threats made against companies and their employees are never brought to the attention of the police or other officials. This is why it is necessary to use survey methods to analyse crimes and threats of crime posed to companies and their facilities. In terms of methodology, the project is a criminological victim survey. It involves direct questioning in the workplace on the kinds of crimes and threats to security encountered, and the harms caused to companies and their employees. This also provides information on crime that is not brought to the attention of the authorities.

The survey will be conducted via telephone interviews from the beginning of 2018

Telephone interviews will be conducted from early 2018 onwards by Kantar TNS Oy, commissioned by the University of Helsinki. In the interviews, respondents will be asked about issues such as crimes encountered in the workplace, the costs they impose, and precautions taken against crime.

In total, 3,000 places of business in trade and industry have been selected for the survey, by lottery, from the Register of Enterprises and Establishments of Statistics Finland. The survey will cover both large and small workplaces in the retail and hotel and restaurant sectors, throughout Finland.

All information related to the survey is handled confidentially, and it is only used for research purposes. Both the researchers and the interviewers are bound by confidentiality. The results are reported and published in such a way that individual places of business and companies cannot be identified.

The second national business crime survey

The project is Finland’s second national survey of crime against businesses. The first was conducted in 2010 and focused on workplaces in retail and industry. The current survey will enable a comparison across time within the retail sector.

The findings of the 2010 survey are available in the publication, Kauppa ja teollisuus rikosten kohteena – Vuoden 2010 yritysuhritutkimuksen tuloksia (study in Finnish, includes an English summary: Crimes against retail and manufacturing premises in Finland).

The survey has been commissioned by the University of Helsinki

It will be carried out by the Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, operating as part of the University of Helsinki. The survey is being funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior.

A survey report will be published in early 2019, which will be freely available on the website of the University of Helsinki.

Further information

For further details on the content of the study, contact Postdoctoral Researcher Elsa Saarikkomäki (elsa.saarikkomaki(at)helsinki.fi, tel. +358 2941 20872).

Survey dates

1.10.2017–31.1.2019

Project team

Elsa Saarikkomäki, Postdoctoral Researcher, (Lead Researcher)
Professor Janne Kivivuori (Project Director)
Petri Danielsson, Planner
Martti Lehti, University Researcher