Are All Lotteries Regressive? Evidence From the Powerball

Emily Oster

National Tax Journal, 2004, vol. 57, issue 2, 179-87

Abstract: The regressivity of lotteries has become an increasingly important issue in the U.S. as the number of state–run lotteries has increased. Despite this, we still know relatively little about the nature of lottery regressivity. I use a new dataset on Powerball lotto sales to analyze how regressivity varies with jackpot size within a single lotto game. I find that this large–stakes game is significantly less regressive at higher jackpot sizes. Out–of–sample extrapolation of this result suggests the possibility of progressivity at jackpots substantially higher than those currently experienced. This may indicate that concerns about regressivity might be allayed by concentrating lotto games to produce higher average jackpots.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (31)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2004.2.02 (application/pdf)
https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2004.2.02 (text/html)
Access is restricted to subscribers and members of the National Tax Association.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ntj:journl:v:57:y:2004:i:2:p:179-87

Access Statistics for this article

National Tax Journal is currently edited by Stacy Dickert-Conlin and William M. Gentry

More articles in National Tax Journal from National Tax Association, National Tax Journal Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by The University of Chicago Press ().