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Spreading the Fortune: The Distribution of Lottery Prizes across Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Victor Matheson

    (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross)

  • Kent Grote

    (Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College)

Abstract

It has been 15 years since Cook and Clotfelter described the scale economies associated with state-run lotto games in an American Economic Review article entitled “The Peculiar Scale Economies of Lotto.” U.S. states with larger populations are identified as having the ability to offer games with larger jackpots to attract higher sales per capita. The current paper extends this analysis to all current U.S. state and multi-state lotto-style lottery games as well as to a sample of international lotto games for comparative purposes. The development of the two major U.S. multi-state games over time is also examined to illustrate that changes in the structure of those games can be explained by an application of the scale economies concept offered by Cook and Clotfelter.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Matheson & Kent Grote, 2009. "Spreading the Fortune: The Distribution of Lottery Prizes across Countries," Working Papers 0904, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hcx:wpaper:0904
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    File URL: https://hcapps.holycross.edu/hcs/RePEc/hcx/HC0904-Matheson-Grote_SpreadingFortune.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Victor Matheson & Kent Grote, 2007. "Gamblers' Love for Variety and Substitution among Lotto Games," Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, University of Buckingham Press, vol. 1(2), pages 85-99, June.
    2. Garrett, Thomas A. & Sobel, Russell S., 1999. "Gamblers favor skewness, not risk: Further evidence from United States' lottery games," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 85-90, April.
    3. Thiel, Stuart E., 1991. "Policy, Participation and Revenue in Washington State Lotto," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 44(2), pages 225-35, June.
    4. Thomas Garrett, 2001. "An International Comparison and Analysis of Lotteries and the Distribution of Lottery Expenditures," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 213-227.
    5. Thomas A. Garrett & Russell S. Sobel, 2004. "State Lottery Revenue: The Importance of Game Characteristics," Public Finance Review, , vol. 32(3), pages 313-330, May.
    6. Kearney, Melissa Schettini, 2005. "State lotteries and consumer behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(11-12), pages 2269-2299, December.
    7. Cook, Philip J & Clotfelter, Charles T, 1993. "The Peculiar Scale Economies of Lotto," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(3), pages 634-643, June.
    8. Matheson, Victor A. & Grote, Kent R., 2004. "Lotto fever: do lottery players act rationally around large jackpots?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 233-237, May.
    9. Quiggin, John, 1991. "On the Optimal Design of Lotteries," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 58(229), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Thiel, Stuart E., 1991. "Policy, Participation and Revenue in Washington State Lotto," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 44(2), pages 225-235, June.
    11. Vaughan Williams,Leighton (ed.), 2005. "Information Efficiency in Financial and Betting Markets," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521816038.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Levi Pérez & à lvaro Muñiz, 2021. "The income elasticity of lottery revisited: a worldwide perspective," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 403-407.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    lotto; lottery; public finance; gambling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

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