Is lottery gambling addictive?

Jonathan Guryan, Melissa S. Kearney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present an empirical test for the addictiveness of lottery gambling that exploits an exogenous shock to local market consumption of lottery gambling. It uses the sale of a winning jackpot ticket in a zip code as an instrument for present consumption and tests for a causal relationship between present and future consumption. This test estimates the time path of persistence nonparametrically. Data from the Texas State Lottery suggests that after 6 months, roughly half of the initial increase in lottery consumption is maintained. After 18 months, roughly 40 percent of the initial shock persists, though estimates become less precise.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)90-110
Number of pages21
JournalAmerican Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)

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