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Casinos, Crime, and Community Costs

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Author Info

  • Earl L. Grinols

    (University of Illinois)

  • David B. Mustard

    (University of Georgia)

Abstract

We examine the relationship between casinos and crime using county-level data for the US between 1977 and 1996. Casinos were non-existent outside Nevada before 1978, and expanded to many other states during our sample period. Most factors that reduce crime occur before or shortly after a casino opens, while those that increase crime, including problem and pathological gambling, occur over time. The results suggest that the effect on crime is low shortly after a casino opens, and grows over time. Roughly 8 percent of crime in casino counties in 1996 was attributable to casinos, costing the average adult $75 per adult per year.

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File URL: http://128.118.178.162/eps/le/papers/0501/0501001.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Law and Economics with number 0501001.

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Length: 34 pages
Date of creation: 05 Jan 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwple:0501001

Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 34
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Web page: http://128.118.178.162

Related research

Keywords: Crime; Casinos; Social Costs; Problem and Pathological Gambling;

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References

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  1. Grinols,Earl L., 2004. "Gambling in America," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521830133.
  2. Levitt, Steven D, 1998. "Why Do Increased Arrest Rates Appear to Reduce Crime: Deterrence, Incapacitation, or Measurement Error?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(3), pages 353-72, July.
  3. Ricardo C. Gazel & Dan S. Rickman & William N. Thompson, 2001. "Casino gambling and crime: a panel study of Wisconsin counties," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1-3), pages 65-75.
  4. David B. Mustard, 2003. "Reexamining Criminal Behavior: The Importance of Omitted Variable Bias," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 205-211, February.
  5. William N. Evans & Julie H. Topoleski, 2002. "The Social and Economic Impact of Native American Casinos," NBER Working Papers 9198, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Mocan, H Naci & Gittings, R Kaj, 2003. "Getting Off Death Row: Commuted Sentences and the Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(2), pages 453-78, October.
  7. Ian Ayres & Steven D. Levitt, 1997. "Measuring Positive Externalities from Unobservable Victim Precaution: An Empirical Analysis of Lojack," NBER Working Papers 5928, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Grogger, Jeff, 1998. "Market Wages and Youth Crime," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(4), pages 756-91, October.
  9. H. Naci Mocan & R. Kaj Gittings, 2001. "Pardons, Executions and Homicide," NBER Working Papers 8639, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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Citations

RePEc Biblio mentions

As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
  1. > Industrial Organization > Industry studies > Sports, recreation and tourism > Gambling
  2. > Industrial Organization > Industry studies > Sports, recreation and tourism
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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Cited by:
  1. Luca Bossi & Pedro Gomis-Porqueras & David L. Kelly, 2007. "Optimal Second Best Taxation of Addictive Goods," Working Papers 0708, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
  2. Lindo, Jason M. & Stoecker, Charles, 2010. "Drawn into Violence: Evidence on 'What Makes a Criminal' from the Vietnam Draft Lotteries," IZA Discussion Papers 5172, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  3. Ernie Goss & Edward Morse & John Deskins, 2009. "Have Casinos Contributed to Rising Bankruptcy Rates?," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 456-469, November.
  4. Humphreys, Brad & Marchand, Joseph, 2012. "New Casinos and Local Labor Markets: Evidence from Canada," Working Papers 2012-16, University of Alberta, Department of Economics, revised 01 Nov 2012.
  5. Hyclak, Thomas, 2011. "Casinos and campus crime," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 31-33, July.
  6. Daniel M. Hungerman, 2011. "Do Religious Proscriptions Matter? Evidence from a Theory-Based Test," NBER Working Papers 17375, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  7. Cotti, Chad D. & Walker, Douglas M., 2010. "The impact of casinos on fatal alcohol-related traffic accidents in the United States," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 788-796, December.
  8. Robert E. Hoyt & David B. Mustard & Lars S. Powell, 2005. "The Effectiveness of Insurance Fraud Statutues: Evidence from Automobile Insurance," Risk and Insurance 0501001, EconWPA.

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