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Place Based Economic Development and Tribal Casinos

Author

Listed:
  • Randall Akee
  • Maggie R. Jones
  • Emilia Simeonova

Abstract

Tribal lands in the U.S. have historically experienced some of the worst economic conditions in the nation. We review some existing research on the effect of American Indian tribal casinos on various measures of local economic development. This is an industry that began in the early 1990s and currently generates more than $40 billion annually. We also review the state of the literature on the effects of casino operations on communities in or adjacent to tribal areas. Using a new dataset linking individual and enterprise-level data longitudinally, this study examines the industry- and location-specific impacts of tribal casino operations. We focus in particular on the employment of American Indians. We document positive flows from unemployment and non-casino geographies to work in sectors related to casino operations. Tribal casinos differ from other standard place-based economic development projects in that they are focused on a single industry; we discuss these differences and note that some of the positive spillover effects may be similar to other, more standard place-based policies. Finally, we discuss additional and open-ended questions for future research on this topic.

Suggested Citation

  • Randall Akee & Maggie R. Jones & Emilia Simeonova, 2025. "Place Based Economic Development and Tribal Casinos," Working Papers 25-24, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:25-24
    as

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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2025/adrm/ces/CES-WP-25-24.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2025
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employment; Business Enterprises; Regional Economic Development; American Indians; Place Based Policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • O2 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy

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