Online Gambling Policy Effects on Tax Revenue and Irresponsible Gambling
Publication Date
6-10-2024
Abstract
26 U.S. states have legalized online gambling since 2018. We offer empirical research about gambling legalization consequences to help inform policymakers. We estimate how Online Sports Betting (OSB) policies-both with, and without, Online Casino Gaming (OCG)-changed operator revenue, tax collected, helpline calls, and suicides, as well as gambling behaviors measured in a balanced panel of 717,724 gamblers over five years. Gambling behaviors include gambling adoption, participation, regularity, acceleration, and Rates of Irresponsible Gambling, defined as proportions of potential gamblers spending more 1%, 5%, 10% or 15% of monthly income. We use a generalized synthetic control framework to predict counterfactual outcomes and estimate causal effects of state policy changes on outcomes. The findings indicate that gambling policies that legalize OCG increase tax revenue, irresponsible gambling, and gambling helpline calls significantly more than policies that do not legalize OCG. Lowincome gamblers are most likely to increase irresponsible gambling after policy changes. We do not find that online gambling legalization increases suicide rates.
Document Type
Article
Keywords
Digitization, Gambling, Generalized Synthetic Control, Online Casino Gaming, Online Sports Betting, Quasi-Experiments
Disciplines
Marketing
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.4856684
Source
SMU Cox: Marketing (Topic)
Language
English
