Supplying Slot Machines to the Poor

Melisa Bubonya () and David Byrne
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Melisa Bubonya: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, https://melbourneinstitute.com/staff/mbubonya/default.html

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: As gambling becomes increasingly accessible both in the U.S. and worldwide, governments face an important policy question: how should they exploit the industry’s growth to raise tax revenues while protecting individuals from the detrimental effects of gambling? Using data on slot machines from the largest per-capita gambling market in the world, Australia, we estimate a structural oligopoly model to: (1) quantify firms’ incentives to make gambling accessible among socio-economically disadvantaged groups; and (2) evaluate the effect of government policy (gambling taxes, supply caps and venue smoking bans) on the distribution of slot machine supply, tax revenue and problem gambling prevalence. Classification-H71, L13, L83, L88, I31

Keywords: Oligopoly; taxes; smoking ban; supply caps; slot machines; problem gambling; structural estimation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55pp
Date: 2015-08
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Related works:
Journal Article: Supplying Slot Machines to the Poor (2020)
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