← Search

Casinos, Crime, and Community Costs

Earl L. Grinols¹; David B. Mustard^2,3

¹ Baylor University · ² United States Department of Labor · ³ University of Georgia

We examine the relationship between casinos and crime using county-level data for the United States between 1977 and 1996. Casinos were nonexistent outside Nevada before 1978, and expanded to many other states during our sample period. Most factors that reduce crime occur before or shortly after a casino opens, whereas those that increase crime, including problem and pathological gambling, occur over time. The results suggest that the effect on crime is low shortly after a casino opens, and grows over time. Roughly 8% of crime in casino counties in 1996 was attributable to casinos, costing the average adult $75 per year.

DOI

10.1162/rest.2006.88.1.28

Volume

88 (1)

Pages

28-45

Language

en

Export

BibTeX

Sources

openalex crossref