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The Impact Of Casino Gambling On Personal Bankruptcy Filing Rates

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  • John M. Barron
  • Michael E. Staten
  • Stephanie M. Wilshusen

Abstract

Personal bankruptcies soared in the United States between 1994 and 1998. One activity that can precipitate personal financial crises and that has also experienced dramatic growth is commercial gambling, especially casino gambling. This article builds a simple model of bankruptcy choice and empirically tests the model using unique county‐level data on debt, income, household age, population density, and casino gambling as well as state measures of employment and marital stability, health insurance coverage, and garnishment restrictions. The authors find that the proximity of casino gambling appears to be associated with higher bankruptcy rates, but that the local impact is far more pronounced than the influence of casino gambling on the national filing rate. To quantify the magnitude of the impact, the analysis predicts over a 5% decline in 1998 filing rates for counties surrounding a casino, and a 1% decline in the nationwide filing rate if one were to eliminate casino gambling. Consequently, although casino gambling exerts important local effects, nationwide the incidence and growth of casino gambling does not explain much of the rise in bankruptcies during the past decade.

Suggested Citation

  • John M. Barron & Michael E. Staten & Stephanie M. Wilshusen, 2002. "The Impact Of Casino Gambling On Personal Bankruptcy Filing Rates," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 20(4), pages 440-455, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:20:y:2002:i:4:p:440-455
    DOI: 10.1093/cep/20.4.440
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    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/cep/20.4.440
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Reint Gropp & John Karl Scholz & Michelle J. White, 1997. "Personal Bankruptcy and Credit Supply and Demand," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 112(1), pages 217-251.
    2. Jon P. Nelson, 1999. "Consumer Bankruptcy And Chapter Choice: State Panel Evidence," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 17(4), pages 552-566, October.
    3. William R. Eadington, 1999. "The Economics of Casino Gambling," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 173-192, Summer.
    4. Buckley, F H & Brinig, Margaret F, 1998. "The Bankruptcy Puzzle," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 187-207, January.
    5. Nichols, Mark W. & Grant Stitt, B. & Giacopassi, David, 2000. "Casino gambling and bankruptcy in new United States casino jurisdictions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 247-261, May.
    6. Walker, Douglas M. & Jackson, John D., 1998. "New Goods and Economic Growth: Evidence from Legalized Gambling," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 28(2), pages 47-70, Fall.
    7. David B. Gross, 2002. "An Empirical Analysis of Personal Bankruptcy and Delinquency," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 319-347, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michelle J. White, 2007. "Bankruptcy Reform and Credit Cards," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 175-200, Fall.
    2. Garrett, Thomas A. & Wall, Howard J., 2014. "Personal-Bankruptcy Cycles," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(7), pages 1488-1507, October.
    3. Humphreys, Brad R. & Marchand, Joseph, 2013. "New casinos and local labor markets: Evidence from Canada," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 151-160.
    4. Michael E. Staten & John M. Barron & Andrew B. Chong, 2004. "The Emergence of Captive Finance Companies and Risk Segmentation of the Consumer Loan Market:Theory and Evidence," Econometric Society 2004 Far Eastern Meetings 584, Econometric Society.
    5. Barry Scholnick & Hyungsuk Byun, 2016. "Do Slot Machines Cause Bankruptcy? A Regulatory Natural Experiment with Exogenous Changes to Slot Locations," ERSA conference papers ersa16p607, European Regional Science Association.
    6. Mewse, Avril J. & Lea, Stephen E.G. & Wrapson, Wendy, 2010. "First steps out of debt: Attitudes and social identity as predictors of contact by debtors with creditors," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1021-1034, December.
    7. Ernie Goss & Edward Morse & John Deskins, 2009. "Have Casinos Contributed to Rising Bankruptcy Rates?," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 15(4), pages 456-469, November.
    8. Siew Hoon Lim & Lei Zhang, 2017. "Does Casino Development Have a Positive Effect on Economic Growth?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 409-434, September.
    9. Benjamin J. Keys, 2018. "The Credit Market Consequences of Job Displacement," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(3), pages 405-415, July.
    10. repec:kap:iaecre:v:15:y:2009:i:4:p:456-469 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. 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.
    12. Richard Thalheimer & Mukhtar M. Ali, 2004. "The Relationship of Pari‐mutuel Wagering and Casino Gaming to Personal Bankruptcy," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(3), pages 420-432, July.
    13. Adkisson, Richard V. & Saucedo, Eduardo, 2012. "Emulation and state-by-state variations in bankruptcy rates," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 400-407.
    14. Boardman, Barry & Perry, John J., 2007. "Access to gambling and declaring personal bankruptcy," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 789-801, October.
    15. Garrett, Thomas A. & Nichols, Mark W., 2008. "Do casinos export bankruptcy?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1481-1494, August.
    16. Kent R. Grote & Victor A. Matheson, 2014. "The Impact of State Lotteries and Casinos on State Bankruptcy Filings," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 121-135, March.
    17. Thomas A. Garrett, 2007. "The rise in personal bankruptcies: the Eighth Federal Reserve District and beyond," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 89(Jan), pages 15-38.
    18. Daniel M. Hungerman, 2014. "Do Religious Proscriptions Matter?: Evidence from a Theory-Based Test," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(4), pages 1053-1093.
    19. Michelle J. White, 2008. "Bankruptcy: Past Puzzles, Recent Reforms, and the Mortgage Crisis," NBER Working Papers 14549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. John M. Barron & Byung‐Uk Chong & Michael E. Staten, 2008. "Emergence of Captive Finance Companies and Risk Segmentation in Loan Markets: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(1), pages 173-192, February.
    21. Michelle J. White, 2007. "Bankruptcy Reform and Credit Cards," NBER Working Papers 13265, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Michael Wenz, 2014. "Valuing Casinos as a Local Amenity," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 136-158, March.

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