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State Lotteries for Public Revenue
Author(s) -
Mikesell John L.,
Zorn Kurt
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
public budgeting and finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.694
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1540-5850
pISSN - 0275-1100
DOI - 10.1111/1540-5850.00772
Subject(s) - lottery , revenue , excise , economics , vendor , state (computer science) , government revenue , tax revenue , population , public finance , government (linguistics) , public economics , revenue sharing , equity (law) , business , finance , microeconomics , marketing , macroeconomics , algorithm , sociology , computer science , political science , law , linguistics , philosophy , demography
Lotteries, the state fiscal gimmick of the eighties, operate in jurisdictions encompassing substantially more than half the nation's population and enjoy considerable public acceptance. The revenue they generate is small, rarely more than two percent of state general revenue, it is subject to major year‐to‐year swings, and it is very expensive to generate, particularly when vendor commissions are recognized as part of cost. Furthermore, lotteries bear a high implicit excise tax rate and, because of the pattern of play across income classes, appears to worsen the overall equity of the revenue system. Their economic impact appears to be that of an internal transfer, although states with major lottery equipment suppliers have most to gain, particularly if they do not operate their own lottery. Lotteries are not destined to become mainstays of government finance, although their spread is likely, even with the fiscal questions they raise.