Open AccessRegulation of online gambling
Author(s) -
Ingo Fiedler
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
economics and business letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.197
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 2254-4380
DOI - 10.17811/ebl.7.4.2018.162-168
Subject(s) - normative , externality , psychological intervention , variety (cybernetics) , public economics , business , order (exchange) , state (computer science) , public health interventions , socioeconomic status , economics , marketing , microeconomics , political science , environmental health , psychology , law , medicine , population , finance , algorithm , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , computer science
In most jurisdictions gambling is considered a demerit good that causes negative externalities and requires market interventions. Such interventions are based on (1) consumer protection and public health, (2) crime prevention and public order, and (3) fiscal motives. Despite a relative homogeneity among Western cultures in normative values, a broad variety of regulatory systems for online gambling can be observed, ranging from free markets to licensing systems, state monopolies and prohibitions—even within the same nation state. It is hypothesized that these differences stem from insufficient knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of online gambling rather than from different regulatory goals. A comparative study is thus needed to explore the socioeconomic effects of different regulatory regimes and to educate regulators.