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Casino gambling and crime: a panel study of Wisconsin counties
Author(s) -
Gazel Ricardo C.,
Rickman Dan S.,
Thompson William N.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
managerial and decision economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.288
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1099-1468
pISSN - 0143-6570
DOI - 10.1002/mde.998
Subject(s) - spillover effect , criminology , space (punctuation) , demographic economics , sociology , economics , advertising , business , microeconomics , linguistics , philosophy
The potential relationship between gambling and crime has been a key issue among supporters and opponents of the recent spread of casino gambling in the US. This paper empirically investigates the potential link between casino gambling and crime for Wisconsin counties using the theoretical framework of Becker. Our results show that the existence of a casino within the boundaries of a county led to an increase in the county's crime rates. The results also suggest that a strong spillover effect took place across space, with counties adjacent to casino‐counties experiencing higher crime rates. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.