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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Going For The Gold: The Economics Of The Olympics, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Going For The Gold: The Economics Of The Olympics, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Economics Department Working Papers
In this paper, we explore the costs and benefits of hosting the Olympic Games. On the cost side, there are three major categories: general infrastructure such as transportation and housing to accommodate athletes and fans; specific sports infrastructure required for competition venues; and operational costs, including general administration as well as the opening and closing ceremony and security. Three major categories of benefits also exist: the short-run benefits of tourist spending during the Games; the long-run benefits or the "Olympic legacy" which might include improvements in infrastructure and increased trade, foreign investment, or tourism after the Games; and intangible benefits …
Unemployment And Public Budget Impacts Of The Auto Bailout, Robert Baumann, Andrea Thompson
Unemployment And Public Budget Impacts Of The Auto Bailout, Robert Baumann, Andrea Thompson
Economics Department Working Papers
We estimate the impact of the 2009 financial rescue of two large American automobile companies (General Motors and Chrysler) on unemployment in Michigan. We conservatively estimate that the auto bailout saved about 7,700 workers from unemployment each month over a period of four-and-a-half years. This translates to a public savings of between $1.3 and $1.6 billion via lower transfer payments and higher tax revenues.
Should Gambling Markets Be Privatized? An Examination Of State Lotteries In The United States, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Should Gambling Markets Be Privatized? An Examination Of State Lotteries In The United States, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
State lotteries currently operate in 43 states across the US. Recently, three states have privatized their lottery operations, handing over the management of their lotteries to private companies in hopes of generating greater revenues for the state governments. Questions arise regarding the economic rationale for this decision and an economic model is presented to determine whether one state, Illinois, has been successful at generating more state transfer revenues as a result of privatization in its first year of results. The issue of lottery privatization is also examined
The Impact Of State Lotteries And Casinos On State, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
The Impact Of State Lotteries And Casinos On State, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Over the past half century, there has been an increasing prevalence of legalized gambling in the US. At the same time there is a general recognition, empirically supported in the economics literature, that spending on lottery and gaming products tends to be regressive in nature. In addition, gambling addiction is a widely acknowledged social problem. This raises the question of whether the increased presence of casinos and state lotteries results in relatively more bankruptcy filings in the states that offer them. This paper adds to the existing literature by comparing the relative impact of the presence of lotteries to that …
The Economics Of Lotteries: An Annotated Bibliography, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
The Economics Of Lotteries: An Annotated Bibliography, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper presents an annotated bibliography of all papers relating to the economics of lotteries as of early to mid 2011. All published scholarly papers that could be identified by the authors are included along with the published abstract where available.
The Economics Of Lotteries: A Survey Of The Literature, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
The Economics Of Lotteries: A Survey Of The Literature, Kent Grote, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Lotteries represent an important source of government revenues in many states and countries, so they are of interest to public finance economists. In addition, lotteries provide researchers interested in microeconomic theory and consumer behavior with a type of experimental lab that allows economists to explore these topics. This paper surveys the existing literature on lotteries organized around these two central themes. The first section examines the microeconomic aspects of lotteries including consumer decision-making under uncertainty, price and income elasticities of demand for lottery tickets, cross-price elasticities of lottery ticket to each other and to other gambling products, consumer rationality and …
Booms, Busts, And Gambling: Can Gaming Revenues Reduce Budget Volatility?, Brad R. Humphreys, Victor Matheson
Booms, Busts, And Gambling: Can Gaming Revenues Reduce Budget Volatility?, Brad R. Humphreys, Victor Matheson
Economics Department Working Papers
Over the past 20 years, state and provincial governments in North America have expanded legal gambling opportunities to consumers. One of the primary policy goals of this expansion of gambling opportunities has been to increase government revenues. Gambling is an attractive source of new government revenues because consumers are relatively insensitive to the implicit “tax” rate imposed on gambling activities and gambling is a voluntary activity, only those who chose to gamble are subject to this implicit tax. In this paper, we document the contribution that gambling revenues make to state and provincial tax receipts, and the extent to which …
Spreading The Fortune: The Distribution Of Lottery Prizes Across Countries, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
Spreading The Fortune: The Distribution Of Lottery Prizes Across Countries, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
Economics Department Working Papers
It has been 15 years since Cook and Clotfelter described the scale economies associated with state-run lotto games in an American Economic Review article entitled “The Peculiar Scale Economies of Lotto.” U.S. states with larger populations are identified as having the ability to offer games with larger jackpots to attract higher sales per capita. The current paper extends this analysis to all current U.S. state and multi-state lotto-style lottery games as well as to a sample of international lotto games for comparative purposes. The development of the two major U.S. multi-state games over time is also examined to illustrate that …
U.S. Lotto Markets, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
U.S. Lotto Markets, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
Economics Department Working Papers
Lotteries as sources of public funding are of particular interest because they combine elements of both public finance and gambling in an often controversial mix. Proponents of lotteries point to the popularity of such games and justify their use because of the voluntary nature of participation rather than the reliance on compulsory taxation. Whether lotteries are efficient or not can have the usual concerns related to public finance and providing support for public spending, but there are also concerns about the efficiency of the market for the lottery products as well, especially if the voluntary participants are not behaving rationally. …
Gamblers’ Love For Variety And Substitution Among Lotto Games, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
Gamblers’ Love For Variety And Substitution Among Lotto Games, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper considers the whether offering multiple lotto games within a state by joining a multi-state lottery increases total ticket sales compared to offering a single state game. The question is considered from two different perspectives, which both lead to the conclusion that states do tend to benefit from increased ticket sales overall by joining a multi-state lottery association. There is, however, a noted difference in the magnitude of that effect depending on the size of the average jackpots of the previously existing state games.
Can New Orleans Play Its Way Past Katrina? The Role Of Professional Sports In The Redevelopment Of New Orleans, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Can New Orleans Play Its Way Past Katrina? The Role Of Professional Sports In The Redevelopment Of New Orleans, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Economics Department Working Papers
Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans in late August 2005, and debates are now underway across the country concerning strategies for reconstructing the City. A key to redevelopment involves encouraging former citizens and businesses to return. Both of New Orleans’s professional sports teams, the National Football League Saints and the National Basketball Association Hornets, have taken up residence in other cities, and the question of what the city should provide in the way of financial accommodation to encourage them to return should be considered in devising a reconstruction plan. Infrastructure to facilitate professional sports and mega-events constitutes a …
Examining The Halo Effect In Lotto Games, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
Examining The Halo Effect In Lotto Games, Victor Matheson, Kent Grote
Economics Department Working Papers
The "Halo Effect" occurs when lotto ticket sales are unexpectedly high following a large jackpot. An examination of the Powerball lottery finds evidence that the halo effect exists and that it is the result of bettors exchanging prize winnings for new tickets.
Have Public Finance Principles Been Shut Out In Financing New Sports Stadiums For The Nfl In The United States?, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Have Public Finance Principles Been Shut Out In Financing New Sports Stadiums For The Nfl In The United States?, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade
Economics Department Working Papers
Over the past 15 years, new stadiums in the National Football League have been built at an unprecedented rate, and most new facilities have utilized significant public funds. This paper looks at whether the methods used to finance these new facilities honored public finance principles regarding equity, efficiency, and transparency. An examination of the 20 NFL stadiums constructed or refurbished since 1992 reveals a trend towards more voter referendums and an increase reliance on taxation of visitors through hotel and rental car taxes. Although taxation of persons living outside one’s own metropolitan area is appealing, this paper suggests that the …
Do Policy-Makers Earmark To Constrain Their Successors? The Case Of Environmental Earmarking, Neva Novarro
Do Policy-Makers Earmark To Constrain Their Successors? The Case Of Environmental Earmarking, Neva Novarro
Economics Department Working Papers
This paper examines whether legislators earmark funds in order to constrain the spending of future legislators with different preferences. Specifically, panel data is used to estimate the probability a new environmental earmarking law is passed as a function of Democrats holding and subsequently losing majority control of the government. The results of this study do not support this hypothesis. In fact, Democrats with a large majority who subsequently lose this majority power following the next election are found to be less likely to earmark funds for the environment. One possible explanation for this finding may be that competing forces make …