Using Spatial Distribution of Outlets to Estimate Gambling Incidence

45 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2017

See all articles by Momi Dahan

Momi Dahan

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - School of Public Policy; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Date Written: July 31, 2017

Abstract

The paper proposes a simple and innovative methodology for measuring the incidence of gambling expenditure in countries for which household survey data is unavailable or unreliable. A first application of this methodology is presented by merging data on the geographical location of gambling outlets, together with residents’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics around that location across all of the 1,600 statistical areas in Israel. It was found that the Israel National Lottery (Lotto) and Toto tend to set up significantly more sales points in disadvantaged neighborhoods after controlling for standard list of factors such as population size and composition. The Suit Index is calculated based on the spatial estimation results and yields a measure of -0.42, which implies that the implicit tax associated with gambling is highly regressive.

Keywords: incidence, gambling, location policy

JEL Classification: H220, H230, H270

Suggested Citation

Dahan, Momi, Using Spatial Distribution of Outlets to Estimate Gambling Incidence (July 31, 2017). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 6583, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3023786 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3023786

Momi Dahan (Contact Author)

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - School of Public Policy ( email )

Mount Scopus
Jerusalem 91905
Israel
972-2-5883709 (Phone)
972-2-5880047 (Fax)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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