Smoke-Free Law Did Affect Revenue from Gaming in Delaware
FRB of St. Louis Working Paper No. 2005-028B
11 Pages Posted: 29 Jul 2005
Date Written: June 2005
Abstract
A paper recently published in the journal Tobacco Control purports to show that the implementation of a smoking prohibition in Delaware had no statistically significant effect on the revenues of three gaming facilities in that state. After undertaking a thorough analysis of the data, I find that the smoke-free law did affect revenues from gaming in Delaware. Total gaming revenues are estimated to have declined by at approximately $6 1/2 million per month after the implementation of Delaware's Clean Indoor Air Law. This represents a loss nearly 13% relative to average monthly revenues in the year preceding the smoking ban.
Keywords: Gambling, smoking, revenues, slot-machines
JEL Classification: L83, I18
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation