In 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), ending a nearly 30-year federal ban on sports betting and paving the way for dozens of states to legalize such operations. The sports betting market has experienced triple- and double-digit growth every year since the PASPA decision. Yet the downstream consequences of the legalization of sports betting remain understudied. In this paper, we examine the impact of the legalization of both off-line and online sports betting on the well-being of individuals in those jurisdictions. We focus on two outcomes: the number of calls to the National Problem Gambling Hotline and the number of suicides reported per state as a result of legalization of sports betting. Our results indicate that, whereas the number of calls associated with problem gambling is uncorrelated with the legalization of physical sportsbooks, it is strongly correlated with the legalization of online sports betting. Further, results suggest that the legalization of online betting is correlated with an increase in suicides, an outcome historically associated with problem gambling. Finally, we observe that these deleterious effects are more pronounced for certain groups, in particular, for young, unmarried, and less educated men.

Practice and Policy-Based Abstract Externalities stemming from digital platforms have had a profound impact on the daily lives of people across the globe. In this work, we examine one such externality that contributes to urban quality of life, the noise stemming from home-sharing platforms, which has been subject to aggressive scrutiny by policymakers and the popular press but has received limited rigorous empirical attention. Against a backdrop of significant investment by municipalities to curb extant levels of urban noise, our findings suggest that these platforms are instead correlated with a decrease in noise complaints in New York City (notably when occupancy rates are lower or the residence is located near tourist attractions). These findings suggest that investments in abating the noise stemming from such short-term rentals are less necessary than indicated by anecdotal evidence and are better directed at other forms of urban noise sources, chiefly because such rental units are frequently unoccupied and therefore remain quieter than residential units. However, these findings also underscore the extent to which home-sharing networks may be further straining the already stressed housing market in large metropolitan areas like New York City.

Access to short-term capital remains a pressing problem for many people, especially those facing medical emergencies or needing immediate care. Peer-to-peer lending platforms have the ability to resolve these capital constraints by providing access to small to medium sums of money in an environment that is private and protective of personal information. In this study, we consider how the introduction of P2P lending platforms, and the resulting access to capital, influences local abortion rates, a medical procedure characterized by significant financial barriers and social stigma. We find that the entry of the P2P platform LendingClub is associated with an increase in the rate at which women choose to not carry to term. We argue that the availability of capital through these platforms, when combined with privacy protections, is able to reduce the financial barriers women face when accessing abortion services. This observed effect is stronger in more religious areas and areas with lower levels of education, indicating that social frictions and stigma may be higher in these areas, and also showing where providing an additional channel for funding is more influential.